PLEASE READ: Updates to HIRO service turnaround times due to staffing shortage   Read more

Acknowledging the HIRO in Your Research

If you utilize the services of the HIRO for your research study or clinical trial, we would greatly appreciate acknowledgment in any resulting academic presentations or publications. Similarly, if you are writing a grant proposal and need to provide a description of the University's available facilities and resources, including the HIRO will strengthen your application. To properly acknowledge and/or describe the HIRO, please utilize the boilerplate language below. For questions regarding acknowledgment, please contact us at hirohelp [at] bsd [dot] uchicago [dot] edu.

In the "Acknowledgments" section of a publication or presentation

The authors would like to thank The University of Chicago's Human Imaging Research Office (HIRO, RRID:SCR_018372) for their assistance in coordinating the imaging aspects of this study and providing de-identified, compliant images for evaluation. The HIRO is supported in part by pilot research funding provided by the Virginia and D. K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research via the Imaging Research Institute in the Biological Sciences Division of the University of Chicago and through Cancer Center Support Grant number P30 CA014599 from the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Within the text of a publication

Acknowledgement and citation

Subjects were scanned according to trial protocol with the assistance of The University of Chicago's Human Imaging Research Office (HIRO, RRID:SCR_018372)1,2, which also provided de-identified, compliant images for evaluation.

  1. Armato SG, Gruszauskas NP, MacMahon H, Torno MD, Li F, Engelmann RM, Starkey A, Pudela CL, Marino JS, Santiago F, Chang PJ, Giger ML. Research imaging in an academic medical center. Acad Radiol 2012; 19(6): 762-771. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2012.02.002
  2. Gruszauskas NP, Armato SG. Critical Challenges to the Management of Clinical Trial Imaging: Recommendations for the Conduct of Imaging at Investigational Sites. Acad Radiol 2020; 27(2): 300-306. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2019.04.003

Cancer Center Members should also include the following acknowledgement

This project was supported, in part, by the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant (#P30 CA14599) and the services provided by the Human Imaging Research Office (RRID:SCR_018372).

Facility Research Resource Identifier (RRID)

The HIRO's CoreMarketplace RRID is RRID:SCR_018372 (click here for facility listing).

Within the "Facilities & Resources" section of a grant application

The Human Imaging Research Office (HIRO, RRID:SCR_018372) in The University of Chicago's Biological Sciences Division provides a dedicated infrastructure to assist with issues related to the acquisition, collection, and distribution of clinical imaging examinations and associated data for use in research. The HIRO provides services for almost all types of medical imaging, including: X-ray (radiographs, fluoroscopy, mammography, angiography, cardiac cath), DXA, CT, MRI, ultrasound (general, echocardiography, vascular, ob/gyn), nuclear medicine (planar, SPECT, MIBG), PET, radiation oncology, ophthalmology imaging, endoscopy and bronchoscopy, and many types of specialty imaging. The HIRO was created with three primary responsibilities: (1) coordinate the acquisition of images for clinical research per the study protocol's imaging guidelines and parameters, (2) provide reliable and consistent assessment of disease response for clinical research, and (3) manage and distribute medical imaging exams for research purposes in a compliant manner. The HIRO's services ensure research-related imaging fulfills protocol requirements and allow investigators to obtain HIPAA- and IRB-compliant clinical research data.

The HIRO currently provides assistance for over 350 clinical research studies from 15 sections and departments within our medical center. The HIRO has fulfilled over 13300 requests for medical imaging data, delivering over 345000 imaging examinations and related reports to investigators for research purposes. The HIRO also provides support and data for basic science research projects including machine learning and artificial intelligence research, and has facilitated our institution's contribution to national imaging data projects like the NCI's Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) and the NIH's Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC). The HIRO supports prospective clinical trials at our institution that have been sponsored by numerous different companies, including: Abbott, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Astrellas, Bayer, Biogen, Boston Scientific, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Hoffman-La Roche, Genentech, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, MedImmune, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi Aventis, and others. The HIRO also supports clinical trials at our institution that are sponsored by cooperative groups like ACOSOG, ACRIN, Alliance, CALGB, COG, ECOG, GOG, NCI, RTOG and SWOG. The HIRO's staff has extensive experience working with leading contract research organizations, including BioTel, Calyx, Clario, ERT, Icon, Invicro and Median, and they are familiar with nearly every imaging data management platform including Ambra, AG Mednet, Clario Smart Submit, Medidata Rave and TrialTracker. The HIRO has also authored academic manuscripts on its operations and impact, consulted other institutions on the establishment of their own research imaging infrastructure, and participated in panel discussions and seminars on a wide variety of topics related to medical imaging and clinical research. Implementation of the HIRO has increased the level of satisfaction and interaction among investigators, research participants, radiologists, and other imaging professionals.

Authorship status and HIRO staff members

Due to the nature of the HIRO's mission as a disinterested third-party (or "neutral intermediary") support service, HIRO staff are generally not considered to be "engaged in the research" they provide services for. As such, listing HIRO staff as co-authors on manuscripts or abstracts is usually not necessary and may be considered inappropriate. If you believe the nature of the services the HIRO provides for your research study may warrant authorship status (for example, if you were to utilize the HIRO's consulting services), please contact the HIRO's Technical Director for discussion.