MI Weekly

In an effort to develop our Medical Imaging Clinical Practice Improvement initiatives, and in alignment with recommendations of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for training of our workforce in Quality Improvement (QI) & Safety we encourage those interested in QI to register for the CQuIPS Co-Learning Curriculum in Quality Improvement Course. 

What is the CQuIPS Co-Learning Curriculum in Quality Improvement?
It is a teaching program on basic fundaments to the successful execution of a QI initiative. Example of parts of a QI project: choosing a QI project focus, aim statements, QI measures, process tools, mapping solutions to problems that account for local context, stakeholder engagement, rapid cycle change (i.e. PDSA), and run charts.

Short-term goal of the CQuIPS Co-Learning Curriculum in Quality Improvement
This innovative program teaches QI to faculty members and trainees (residents, fellows) at the same time, achieving the dual goal of developing core QI competencies for residents/fellows while creating faculty capacity to teach QI and supervise QI projects.

Long-Term Goal
To create capacity within our Department for faculty who is interested in QI & Safety to learn basic skills about how to conduct a QI project ad mentor future trainees in their field of interest within QI, and to prepare the new generation of leaders of radiology for the challenges and opportunities that technology and AI methods will bring to our medical system. The final goal is expected to be achieved on a multi-phase fashion.

Phase 1: In this year (September 2024-June 2025) registrants from Medical Imaging should attend the curriculum in-person (at SickKids) within the Pediatric CQuIPS group led by Dr. Olivia Ostrow, Program Director of CQuIPS, or on-line (run by Sunnybrook) within the Adult CQuIPS group led by Dr. Brian Wong.

The in-person workshops are going to be held in September 2024 (September 27th 2024 8:30 AM-12:00 PM) and January 2025 (TBA).

Phase 2: Based on the outcomes of the pilot project we hope to be able to create our own Medical Imaging CQuIPS group, and/or to expand the Co-Learning opportunity to embrace faculty and trainees as participants of other existing CQuIPS groups.

What is the opportunity? 
Once the faculty or trainee (resident, fellow) of any program affiliated to Medical Imaging registers for the course (link below) he/she agrees to participate in two half-day in-person workshops to be held at SickKids, one in September 2024 and one in January 2025. Approval of time to attend the workshops by the Division Chief is important, but there will be no costs for the home department of the trainee/faculty. The workshops involve didactic and interactive learning, a faculty-resident team-based QI project, and a final session in June that features an invited keynote speaker and group project presentations.

REGISTER HERE

Having a project in mind is NOT required for registration for the program, but having a field of interest and a problem in quality, safety or systems to be solved can be helpful for the initial session when a project is selected by the group for the learning experience. Groups of faculty and trainees (residents and fellows) will be formed for the workshops, but these groups do not need to be made up upfront. Nevertheless, it is easier for the groups to work together when trainees are rotating in the hospital where the faculty has his/her clinical appointment.

For more information please visit the CQuIPS website: https://cquips.ca/co-learning-curriculum-in-quality-improvement/

Thanks in advance for your interest in this course which can be very helpful for your career and for the development of a QI project during your residency, fellowship or academic appointment. 

The European Society of Radiology’s ESR 2025 conference in Vienna on February 26 – March 2, 2025, and the Canadian Association of Radiology’s (CAR) Annual Scientific Meeting in Montreal from April 3 – 6, 2025, are coming up soon, and the Department of Medical Imaging is excited to showcase the involvement of our faculty and learners. We would like to highlight this work in our weekly newsletters and on our social media channels in the weeks/months leading up to the conferences.

If you are participating in either of these conferences, please submit your presentations, abstracts and exhibits to mi.communications@utoronto.ca, as well as your headshot and any relevant photos or files. Please submit your work with the following information:

• Your name, faculty title and division/residency or fellowship program and PG year
• Names of MI faculty/trainees involved in the work (if others besides yourself)
• Link(s) to presentations/materials (if any)
• Brief summary (1-3 sentences) of your work

If you would like to be tagged in the posts about your work on social media, please also provide your social handles for X/Twitter, Bluesky, and follow the Department on LinkedIn.

The Canadian Institutes of Health (CIHR) Project Grant program is designed to capture ideas with the greatest potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, health research, health care, health systems, and/or health outcomes. It supports projects with a specific purpose and a defined endpoint. The best ideas may stem from new, incremental, innovative, and/or high-risk lines of inquiry or knowledge translation approaches.

Registration for the CIHR’s Spring 2025 Project Grant competition is currently open. 

Important Dates

• Registration Deadline: February 5, 2025
  Registration is mandatory: All applicants must submit their registration before the deadline. The application stage will open as soon as the registration has been submitted. 
• MRA Deadline: February 26, 2025
  The internal MRA requirement is for all applicants applying for this award through the University of Toronto: Your application will not be submitted to CIHR until MRA has been approved by all required institutional officials. For all other applicants, please contact the Research Office of the institution through which you are applying.
• Application Deadline: March 5, 2025, 8pm ET
  This deadline is strictly enforced by CIHR and no exceptions will be made. CIHR will not accept updates to applications after the application deadline.

Optional Editorial Review

Research Services is offering an optional editorial review for CIHR Project Grant proposals for on-campus applications only. If you would like to receive an editorial review of your proposal, please do the following:

• Confirm to Research Services (Deanna Pong and Shanna Pritchard ) by January 30 that you intend to take advantage of this support and are able to meet the internal editorial deadline of February 6; this information allows the editorial staff to coordinate their workload.
• Submit a complete, near-final draft of the proposal (as a Word document) to Shanna or Deanna by February 6. The editorial reviews will be returned to you by end of day February 14.

Please note that the editorial team may not be able to accommodate proposals submitted after this deadline.

NOTE: Faculty research offices may also offer editorial review for its on-campus applicants.  For divisional grant support and deadlines, contact your divisional research office support staff.

For more information please visit the Spring 2025 Project Grant Funding Opportunities page (for University of Toronto applicants).

CIHR Project Grant Applicant Webinars   

CIHR will be hosting webinars to support participants with the requirements of the funding opportunity and answer questions.  

English Sessions
Duration: 60 minutes
When: Wednesday, January 22, 2025 at 11:00 AM ET | Join
When: Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET | Join

French Sessions
Duration: 60 minutes
When: Wednesday, January 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET | Join
When: Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 11:00 AM ET | Join

The Department of Medical Imaging is committed to fostering research and academic productivity among residents, and to support this, we are launching the Department of Medical Imaging Academic Productivity Resident Award. This award was developed to encourage, support and motivate academic productivity among residents. The inaugural award launched on December 16, 2024, with proposals due on March 1, 2025.

Award

• $1000 prize for one resident
• The eligibility period runs January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024

Eligibility

• Applicants must:

1. Be a diagnostic radiology resident at the University of Toronto Department of Medical Imaging in the 2023/2024 academic year

• The award will be based on academic productivity in the 2024 calendar year, determined by:

2. Peer-reviewed manuscripts published in 2024 with weighting based on author position and journal impact factor
3. Other considerations will include non-peer reviewed manuscripts, scientific presentations, grants, and research awards

• Residents are only eligible to win the award once

Application Process
December 16, 2024 – Call for applications posted
March 1, 2025, 5pm ET – Deadline for applications
End-March 2025 – Notification of award winner

Applicants will be reviewed by a selection committee appointed by the Department Chair and Vice Chair, Research. Please see attached the award description for more information on the application process.

Please find the full application details here and the Academic Productivity Template here. 

Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) continues to offer the Medical Humanities Education Matching Funding Grant in the amount of $5,000 per project proposal, distributed on a semi-annual basis. 

The Office of PGME has announced the call for the Spring 2025 submissions. The submission deadline is Friday, March 28, 2025, with grants awarded to the successful applicants in June. 

The Department of Medical Imaging’s Chairs office will sponsor one proposal. Interested applicants must send their proposals to Dr. Michael Patlas via email – michael.patlas@utoronto.ca – by Friday, March 1, 2025.

The integration of humanities in medical education curricula has the potential to improve observation skills, self-reflection, and enhance learner competencies in the CanMEDS roles. Projects and proposals may reflect a variety of curricular designs which identify how medical humanities will be integrated into curricula and further enhance CanMEDS competencies.

Each proposal will require a matching funding commitment from the submitting department/division, i.e., if the project budget is $4,500 – a letter from the department chair committing to $2,250 is required. Funding will be provided for a one-year period, and applicants must agree to submit a project report at end of the period.

PGME will transfer the awarded funds to the successful applicant’s Academic Department in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Business Managers will provide Financial Information Services (FIS) account numbers to facilitate this transfer within four weeks of application approval or the funding offer will be withdrawn. The Academic Department will be responsible for the disbursement of funds to the successful applicant.

Attached here is further background on the purpose of the grant as well as a template for the application. 

We look forward to receiving applications for the Medical Humanities Education Grant by Friday, March 28, 2025.

Please submit your package by email to Arlene McKinley at arlene.mckinley@utoronto.ca

The purpose of the Postgraduate Medical Trainee Leadership Award is to recognize up to six postgraduate trainees on an annual basis who through their efforts and innovations have contributed positively either internally (i.e. Program, Department, Faculty, University, Hospital) or externally (i.e. locally, nationally, internationally) in any one or more of the following four areas: leadership, excellence in teaching, cultural competency, or diversity advocacy. 

The awards are to be distributed amongst six registered postgraduate trainees who are:

·      Canadian Medical Graduate(s) – 2

·      International Medical Graduate(s) – 2

·      Internationally Funded Resident – 1

·      Clinical Fellow – 1

Each Postgraduate Medical Trainee Leadership Award prize is $500.

NOMINATION GUIDELINES

1.   Applicants must be registered postgraduate trainees at the University of Toronto for the current academic year.

2.   Each nomination package must have the following:

• Nomination form (see link below; to be completed by the nominator)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Nomination letter from Chair, Program Director or Faculty Member (Letter to be a maximum of two pages with a word limit of 500)
• Maximum of three Letters of Reference (note that nominator cannot be a reference)

The deadline for submission of completed packages to the Postgraduate Office is Friday, March 14, 2025. Please submit your package by email to Arlene McKinley at arlene.mckinley@utoronto.ca.

Additional award information can be found at the PGME website:

https://pgme.utoronto.ca/postgraduate-medical-trainee-leadership-award

If you have any questions, contact Arlene McKinley at arlene.mckinley@utoronto.ca.

Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) is now accepting applications for the 2025 Postgraduate Research Award for the 2025-2026 academic year. The purpose of the 2025 Postgraduate Research Awards is to provide financial assistance to students engaged in medical research.

Applications must be sent to Dr. Michael Patlas, Chair, Medical Imaging, for signature by March 21, 2025. Full applications are due via the Judgify platform by end of day April 4, 2025.

Please note due to the large number of applications for this award it may take us longer than expected to notify applicants of the outcome. The results will be announced in December 2025 and all applicants will be notified of the results.

Application requirements to be submitted here:

• A one-page research proposal
• Three academic reference letters (including one from the proposed research supervisor)
• Completed signature page for Department Chair, Proposed Research Supervisor and Applicant

Award Guidelines:

• Most awards are for Postgraduate Trainees (MDs) registered with the PGME office. Awards will range from $500 to $12,500
• A small number of awards are for graduate students who are conducting medical research and are registered with the University of Toronto, School of Graduate Studies. Awards will range from $50 to $1,300
• All applicants are rated and the top ranked applicants are assigned the awards according to the terms and conditions of each award
• The research funding awarded from this competition is for future research to be completed during the 2025-2026 academic year. Funds (prize money) will be paid in 12 equal monthly installments, with the first payment commencing by December 2025
• Applicants are not required to apply for a particular award. Applicants complete and submit a general application using the Judgify platform at the following site:  https://www.judgify.me/uoftpgmeresearchawards2025
• Applicants must be supported by their Supervisor and Chair where they will be conducting their research
• You must be registered for the full academic year (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026) to be eligible for funding
• Please ensure the reference letters are uploaded to the Judgify platform as part of your application. Referees are not required to send their letters to PGME separately
• The deadline for submitting your application to the Judgify platform is end of day on Friday, April 4, 2025

Details concerning education, research, publications, etc. will be collected via the application form. If you have any questions, please contact Arlene McKinley at arlene.mckinley@utoronto.ca. Additional award information can be found at the PGME website here.

The University of Toronto’s Department of Medical Imaging is committed to fostering research collaboration across hospital systems and sites that fall under the Department’s umbrella. This seed grant was developed to foster research collaboration between hospital systems and radiology groups at the University of Toronto. The objective of this Seed Grant is to generate new knowledge, promote innovation, and support interdisciplinary research and collaboration. The inaugural cross-city collaboration seed grant was launched and awarded in 2024/25.

Award

• This 2025/2026 seed grant will award up to $20,000 for one project
• The funding period runs July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026

Eligibility

• Principal applicants must:

a)Hold a faculty appointment at the University of Toronto Department of Medical Imaging (including adjunct); and

b)Have a primary affiliation at one of the affiliated hospital groups

• Co-PIs (up to two) with primary affiliations at separate hospital groups are encouraged
• The project must:

c) Involve collaboration between at least two separate radiology groups affiliated with the Department of Medical Imaging (for example, JDMI and Sunnybrook)

d)Focus on creation of a multi-disciplinary team and generation of pilot data

e)Outline a plan for future external funding

• At least one co-investigator with primary appointment outside of the Department of Medical Imaging is encouraged
• Only one application per principal applicant is permitted

Application Process

• February 18, 2025 – Call for applications posted
• May 16, 2025, 5pm ET – Deadline for applications
• Mid-June 2025 – Notification of funding decision
• July 1, 2025 – Funding period begins

Please see the attached background sheet for more information on this grant, including how to apply, requirements, budget details and more.

We are delighted to invite you to the 4th Annual UofT VIR Research Symposium! 

Event Details

• Date & Time: June 12, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
• Location: Hy's Steakhouse 
• Address: 365 Bay St., Toronto, ON M5H 2V1
• Registration: https://tinyurl.com/5334bmed

Abstract Submission
Submit your abstract here: https://tinyurl.com/3yh4b2ut  by May 23, 2025 
We welcome:

• Research & Quality improvement projects 
• Abstracts previously submitted to any conference (SIR, CAIR, CIRSE, etc.) 
• NEW This Year: Amazing Case Submission to highlight the amazing work happening in VIR in Toronto!

Top abstracts will be selected for presentation. 

Awards
Three prestigious awards will be presented:

• Dr. Chia-Sing Ho Non-Vascular Research Award
• Dr. Kenneth Sniderman Vascular Research Award
• The Dr. Kong Teng Tan Trailblazer Case Award (New this year!)

Distinguished Speaker
We're honored to announce this year's Dr. Martin Simons' Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Gilles Soulez, vascular and interventional radiologist and researcher at CHUM, University of Montréal.

Dr. Soulez is dedicated to advancing vascular and interventional radiology in aortic and peripheral arterial diseases, liver embolization, and management of vascular anomalies.

Registration & RSVP
Please RSVP by April 30, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. 
Event Registration: https://tinyurl.com/5334bmed

Additional instructions are included in the provided attachment.

We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions or would like further information, please reach out to Dr. Arash Jaberi at arash.jaberi@uhn.ca.

Institute of Medical Science: Advancing Health through Graduate Research
Learn about undergrad and graduate research programs in Temerty Faculty of Medicine. 
Presentation slides

Research Security - CIHR Implementation
See new CIHR policies and implementations here.

UofT Library Resources
https://gerstein.library.utoronto.ca/systematic-scoping-review-service-ssrs
https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/copyright/oa-agreements-apc-discounts
https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/copyright/oa-publishing-options
https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/copyright/open-access-investment
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/?refresh=true
https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/researchdata/research-data-management

Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC)
On January 16^th 2024, the Minister of Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC). The new policy aims to enhance Canada’s research security by ensuring Federal grant applications (NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR and CFI) that involve conducting research that may advance a sensitive technology research area will not be funded if any of the researchers involved in activities supported by the grant are affiliated with, or in receipt of funding or in-kind support, from a university, research institute or laboratory connected to a military, national defence or state security entities of foreign state actors that pose a risk to Canada’s national security.

The policy includes two lists, both of which will be updated regularly to address evolving threats to Canada’s national security. The policy will come into effect in early 2024.

• Sensitive Technology Research Areas (STRA) List
• Named Research Organization (NRO) List
  
  For faculty/principal investigators whose research is not on the STRA list, no further action is required. 
  
  For researchers whose work is in a Sensitive Technology Research Area, there are new requirements when applying for grant funding from the federal Tri-council agencies and CFI:
• All researchers listed on an application must provide an attestation that they do not have any affiliation with entities on the Named Research Organization list and they have “read, understood, agree with, and are compliant with this policy. They and their research team(s) will be required to comply with the policy for the duration of the federal grant.”
• If any of the researchers named on the application are receiving funding or in-kind support from an organization on the NRO list, the application would be ineligible.
  
  U of T has a dedicated Research Security Team within the Division of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation to provide support and information to the research community regarding developments relating to safeguarding research and developing research relationships and grant applications in alignment with best practices, guidelines, and requirements. Further information is available at https://research.utoronto.ca/safeguarding-research/safeguarding-research.
  
  Researchers who have questions or concerns are strongly encouraged to contact the Research Security Team researchsecurity@utoronto.ca. That team is available to help the research community understand the application of this new government requirement and other existing government requirements.
  
  Specifically:
• Is my area of research covered under the STRA?
• Would I be considered to have an affiliation with an NRO?   
• How do I provide an attestation?
• How do I prove that my previous affiliation has ended?
  
  We appreciate that this adds additional requirements and responsibilities for our research community and will share additional information as it becomes available. The University of Toronto continues to work closely with the Government of Canada, the U15, and Universities Canada to ensure that the needs of the research community are reflected in the implementation of this new policy. 

McMaster University: Free EMB Services for Residents & Fellows
The McMaster University Health Information Research Unit (HiRU) offers 3 free McMaster PLUS products to help residents & fellows keep up to date with current best evidence for patient care (EMB).
Here's how you can use content from McMaster PLUS to stay current on evidence-based health care:
 

1. Sign up for personalized free alerts on new high-quality studies within your discipline of interest on EvidenceAlerts. https://www.evidencealerts.com/
2. Have a point-of-care question? Search the literature for high-quality studies, reviews, and evidence-based guidelines according to the pyramid of evidence using ACCESSSS. https://www.accessss.org/
3. Ready to practice your critical appraisal skills? Sign up to be a McMaster Online Rating of Evidence (MORE) rater to contribute your rating of hot-off-the-press articles and keep track of what you read for maintaining CME. https://hiru.mcmaster.ca/MORE/physicians/contact_us.html
   
   MORE raters receive notifications about new articles within their specified areas of clinical interest that have passed McMaster PLUS criteria. They vote on the relevance and newsworthiness of the article for clinical practice in their disciplines of interest using two simple Likert scales. This takes less than 5 minutes. You can receive as many or as few articles as you would like.
   
   Benefits to becoming a MORE rater:

• Stay current with the best clinical care evidence as it matures.
• See what your peers are saying about the same article.
• Provide insightful comments and you may be selected to write a formal Commentary on the article for ACP Journal Club, published monthly in Annals of Internal Medicine.
• Articles reviewed are tracked and can be used to qualify for CME credits where permitted (e.g., MAINPORT Section 2 credits in Ontario)

The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is extending a complimentary online membership to medical students, residents and fellows to support those in medical and radiology training.

ARRS provides a variety of practical educational resources and professional development tools, including our most popular member benefit, AJR Online, which can significantly enhance the training and development of future radiologists.

You can apply for your complimentary membership through the following steps:

1. Create an account at: arrs.org/createprofile
2. Once the account is created, go to arrs.org/join and select In-Training Membership
3. Complete the application online and input promotional code AJR2024

• Congratulations to Dr. Kamaldine Oudjhane who was recently awarded the 2022 Reviewer Award with Distinction from Skeletal Radiology for his exceptional service to the journal. 
• Congratulations to Dr. Michael Patlas who was recently recognized by several associations, including:
  Honorary Membership with the Association of Radiologists of Ukraine for his humanitarian work during the ongoing war;
  Appointed as Fellow of the American College of Radiology (CAR) for his many contributions to the profession of radiology throughout his career;
  And invited to sit on the Governance Committee for the Toronto Addis Ababa Acadmic Collaboration (TAAAC). Congratulations on these incredible achievements, Dr. Patlas!
• Congratulations to Dr. Vivianne Freitas who was recently appointed as Assistant Editor for the American Journal of Roentgenology from January 2024 - December 2025, as well as Associate Editor on the Radiology Advances Editorial Board from October 2023 - December 2024.
• Congratulations to Dr. Karl Narvacan on his recent appointment as Editor-in-Training with the Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal (CARJ) for the January 2024 - December 2024 term. He will also serve on the CARJ Editorial Board. 
• Congratulations to Drs. Birgit Ertl-Wagner, Ania Kielar, and Sebastian Mafeld, who were recently awarded the 2023 CARJ Outstanding Reviewer Awards.

• Congratulations to Drs. Pejman Maralani, Roger Smith and Viviane Freitas for their recent recognition from Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario)!

Dr. Pejman Maralani was recognized for his contributions to the Program in Evidence-Based Care (PEBC) from Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario), for authoring "Organizational guideline for planning and delivery of spine stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment in Ontario."

Dr. Roger Smith was recognized for his contributions to the Program in Evidence-Based Care (PEBC) from Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario), for participating as expert panel member for "Organizational guideline for planning and delivery of spine stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment in Ontario."

Dr. Viviane Freitas was recognized for her contributions to the Program in Evidence-Based Care (PEBC) from Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario), for participating as expert panel member on "Preoperative Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Guideline." 

Published papers to be posted here. 

Grants received to be posted here.