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Massachusetts General Hospital Imaging Trials Center (MITC)

The Massachusetts General Hospital Imaging Trials Center (MITC) is an Academic Research Organization (ARO) that enhances clinical imaging research by providing scientific and informatics expertise to foster, design, conduct, and support clinical trials.

About Us

The Massachusetts General Hospital Imaging Trials Center (MITC) is an Academic Research Organization (ARO) that enhances clinical imaging research by providing scientific and informatics expertise to foster, design, conduct, and support clinical trials.

The primary goals of MITC are to facilitate clinical trials for assessment of medical and device therapies, generate evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative management strategies, determine the value of diagnostic imaging in patient management, and find innovative solutions for improved access and distribution of image data collected during clinical trials.

The MITC consists of several cores to assist with each component of clinical research:

  • Imaging Core
  • Informatics Core
  • Education Core
  • Clinical Trial Coordination Core

By bringing together multidisciplinary imaging and non-imaging faculty, the MITC aims to facilitate a more efficient use of administrative and scientific resources within radiology, and ultimately ensure a faster translation of novel methodology that has been proven to be effective into clinical practice. The MITC also aims to enable faculty to accelerate their translational and clinical research.

News & Events

Single Resting hsTnT Level Predicts Abnormal Myocardial Stress Test in Acute Chest Pain Patients With Normal Initial Standard Troponin - Download PDF
Waleed Ahmed, MD, Christopher L. Schlett, MD, MPH, Shanmugam Uthamalingam, MD, Quynh A. Truong, MD, MPH, Wolfgang Koenig, MD, Ian S. Rogers, MD, MPH, Ron Blankstein, MD, John T. Nagurney, MD, MPH, Ahmed Tawakol, MD, James L. Januzzi, MD, Udo Hoffmann, MD, MPH - JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2013

Will High-Sensitivity Troponin Improve the Evaluation of Patients With Chest Pain in the Emergency Department? - Download PDF
Editorial Comment: Todd D. Miller, MD, Kent R. Bailey, PHD - JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2013

Napkin-ring sign at CT shows vulnerable plaque
AuntMinnie.com - January 9, 2013

Histopathological correlates of the napkin-ring sign plaque in coronary CT Angiography - Download PDF
Harald Seifarth, Christopher L. Schlett, Masataka Nakano, Fumiyuki Otsuka, Mihály Károlyi, Gary Liew, Pál Maurovich-Horvat, Hatem Alkadhi, Renu Virmani, Udo Hoffmann - Elsevier Journal: Atherosclerosis 2012

The Napkin-Ring Sign Indicates Advanced Atherosclerotic Lesions in Coronary CT Angiography - Download PDF
Pal Maurovich-Horvat, MD, PHD, Christopher L. Schlett, MD, MPH, Hatem Alkadhi, MD, MPH, Masataka Nakano, MD, Fumiyuki Otsuka, MD, Paul Stolzmann, MD, Hans Scheffel, MD, Maros Ferencik, MD, PHD, Matthias F. Kriegel, MD, Harald Seifarth, MD, Renu Virmani, MD, Udo Hoffmann, MD, MPH - JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, Vol. 5, No. 12, 2012.

Coronary CT angiography versus standard evaluation in acute chest pain
Hoffmann U, Truong QA, and other ROMICAT-II Investigators. New England Journal of Medicine, July 2012.

Arterial inflammation in patients with HIV
Subramanian S, Tawakol A, Burdo TH, Abbara S, Wei J, Vijayakumar J, Corsini E, Abdelbaky A, Zanni MV, Hoffmann U, Williams KC, Lo J, Grinspoon SK. JAMA. July 2012.

Multicenter Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Cardiac CT vs Alternative Triage Strategies in Acute Chest Pain Patients in the Emergency Department: Results from the ROMICAT II Trial
Udo Hoffmann, Quynh Truong, Hang Lee, Eric Chou, Pamela Woodard, John Tobias Nagurney, James H. Pope, Thomas Hauser, Charles White, Scott Weiner, Alexander Goehler, Pearl Zakroysky, Ruth Kirby, Douglas Hayden, Stephen Wiviott, Jerome Fleg, Scott Gazelle, David Schoenfeld, James E. Udelson, Massachusetts General Hospital - Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Boston, MA, USA.

PROMISE – Improving Diagnostics & Treatment for Heart Disease
Udo Hoffmann, MD, MPH, Director of CVIC Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital is leading the Diagnostic Core component of a first-of-its-kind trial funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. PROMISE (PROspective Multicenter Imaging Study for Evaluation of Chest Pain) seeks to identify the best diagnostic approach for evaluation of chest pain in subjects with chronic stable angina and a low to intermediate risk of coronary heart disease.

 

Dr. Udo Hoffmann, MD, MPH – Director of the MITC and Director of Education

Dr. Hoffmann, is a clinical cardiac radiologist with over ten years of experience in noninvasive cardiovascular imaging. He received his MD from the Medical School at the University of Leipzig, Germany and received an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed his residency in radiology at the University of Vienna, Austria, and is an Associate Professor in Radiology at the Harvard Medical School. He was the American Roentgen Ray Society, Elio Bracco Scholar in 2005. He is also the Director of the MGH Cardiac MR PET CT Program. He has conducted several NIH-sponsored and industry-supported studies, and leads the Imaging Core Lab of the Framingham Heart Study. His research initially focused on the feasibility of cardiac CT for the detection of coronary stenosis and assessment of atherosclerotic plaque. More recently, he has built a multidisciplinary research team to systematically assess the clinical utility of novel imaging technologies. His research has resulted in over 100 publications to date.

Dr. Garry Choy, MD – Director of Informatics of MITC

Dr. Choy is a clinical radiologist with expertise in cardiothoracic, abdominal, and emergency imaging. His academic and research interests are in the areas of medical informatics, teleradiology, healthcare delivery systems, and global health. He brings significant information technology expertise to MITC with prior experience in development of web-based learning tools, online collaboration platforms, and telemedicine platforms.  Dr. Choy also is co-founder and serves additional leadership roles at the MGH Imaging Global Health Programs and International Radiology Exchange. He also currently leads development and efforts of the MGH Radiology Department’s second opinion service. He received his MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University and BS from Columbia University. In addition, Dr. Choy also attended Stanford University and earned a Masters in Management Science & Operations Research. Dr. Choy completed his radiology residency and fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Kristen Salvaggio – Director of Operations of MITC

Kristen SalvaggioKristen has over seven years of in-depth experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. After several years at a leading imaging CRO and over three years with CVIC lab, her experience conducting both NIH-funded and Phase II-III industry funded clinical trials ranges across multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, arthritis, obesity, and cardiovascular studies, as well as many imaging modalities, including CT, MR, DXA, PET, and mammography. As the key operational interface, Kristen is responsible for study management, supervision of research staff, and coordination of educational efforts. Kristen holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University.

Carlo Eracleo – Director of Finance

Carlo EracleoCarlo joined the Cardiac MR PET CT Program in 2011 from Partners Research Management, the corporate research office for MGH. Carlo came with many years of financial and research administration experience, having worked at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and then at Harvard Medical School in various grant management roles. He is responsible for the oversight of all external funding, including federal, foundation and industry sponsored research awards. As Director of Finance for the MITC, Carlo is responsible for the day to day management and administrative strategic planning, in collaboration with Dr. Hoffman, for the program. In addition to his MGH responsibilities, Carlo served as Treasurer for the New England Region of NCURA (National Council of University Research Administrators) from 2011 to 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imaging Core

The MITC’s imaging core is an expansion of the Cardiovascular Imaging Core (CVIC) Lab, is an independent facility dedicated to providing the highest quality services to the imaging community. The Imaging Core operates a professional, compartmented PACS/RIS/Data Management facility capable of handling administrative and scientific aspects of large multicenter trials compliant with FDA/NIH regulations, and can provide qualitative and quantitative analysis of various imaging datasets.

Imaging Core Services include:

  • Data Management: A lab equipped to manage transfer, storage, and analysis of large, complex imaging datasets.
  • Image Interpretation: Expert readers able to perform complex analysis on various dataset types using workstations and software form all major vendors.

Informatics Core

The informatics core of the MITC is focused on providing information technology tools, support, and innovative solutions to enable successful clinical trials.  We specialize in custom development of tailored solutions relevant to clinical trials but we also offer services detailed below.

Furthermore, the informatics core of the MITC plays a significant role in the development and deployment of STATimaging, a robust system for training and reader certification, STATimaging (Software for Training and Testing). STATimaging is available for licensing and customized reader certification and training programs.

Informatics Core Services include:

  • Custom software development in support of research and clinical trials
  • Data registry development and management
  • PACS/RIS Implementation, Design, and Support
  • Software development and tools for image analysis
  • Secure file transfer platform
  • Consulting services for data management, security, and regulatory compliance

Education Core

The educational core of the MITC is aligned with the academic mission of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.  MITC is also dedicated to playing a role education in order to promote clinical excellence and elevate the competence of medical imaging readers.

Based on the success of our in-person advanced courses, the MITC has built STATimaging, a web-based system providing in-depth online training without sacrificing the hands-on approach that made our in-person course successful.

STATimaging, a web-based solution is offered for various training needs:

  • Advanced Training Courses and Continuing Medical Education (CME)
  • Reader Training for Clinical Trials
  • Board Examination Preparation and Training

For more information on STATimaging, please visit http://www.statimaging.org.

Clinical Trial Coordination Core

MITC has significant experience in trial design and consulting.  Over the past several years the MITC has developed a network with over 200 clinical sites in North America with imaging centers conducting CT, MR, PET, SPECT, and Echocardiography.

For collaborators/clients who require expertise in the scientific, policy, and management aspects of clinical trials, the MITC offers services in the following areas:

  • Study design
  • Site selection
  • Treatment allocation
  • Randomization and stratification
  • Quality control
  • Sample size requirements
  • Patient consent
  • Statistical analysis
  • Interpretation of results

Additional consultation can be provided in the areas of matching imaging modalities to drug mechanism-of-action, evaluating strategic decisions (signs of drug bioactivity, go/no-go decisions), and advice on the acceptability of specific imaging endpoints by regulatory agencies.

Mass General Imaging Trials Center

165 Charles River Plaza, Suite 400
Boston, MA 02114

Phone: 617-643-0239
Fax: 617-725-4152


For general inquires, please contact ITC Director:
Dr. Udo Hoffmann
Email: uhoffmann@partners.org

For inquires regarding informatics services or STATimaging, please contact:
Dr. Garry Choy
Email: gchoy@partners.org

For inquiries regarding the Imaging Core, please contact:
Kristen Salvaggio
Email: kkeriakos@partners.org

 

 

 

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