UNC Imaging Task Force http://microscopy.unc.edu/itf

April 11, 2003

Dear Faculty Members-

A committee of faculty members (list attached) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University has been asked to consider ways to strengthen our capabilities to carry out image based biomedical research.  We see that there are many laboratories that are studying biological processes in animals or humans using a variety of imaging devices: various types of microscopes, MRI, CT, PET, etc.  In addition, there are groups developing imaging instrumentation, image acquisition techniques, and/or image analysis techniques to aid these laboratory studies.  Both campuses have strengths in these areas.  At the same time there is a sense that there are deficits in both personnel and facilities whose filling would strongly increase the abilities of multiple labs at our universities to carry out the cutting-edge research being supported by the institutes of NIH and, in particular, by the new National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.  We wish to identify these deficiencies and the research opportunities that would benefit from correcting them, and we wish ultimately to seek joint funding of additional facilities and faculty and staff personnel.  This is especially timely given our  intention to create a joint Department of Biomedical Engineering between UNC and NCSU and to develop medical imaging as one of the tracks in Biomedical Engineering that have been approved on both campuses.  

This committee wishes to obtain faculty input on identifying these needs through a series of focused discussion sessions on both campuses during the months of April and May 2003 (see the schedule below).  The venues for these sessions have been selected so as to be convenient to specific subsets of the community, so that all stakeholders in this venture can give feedback on what this sort of program should include.  All faculty members may attend any session that is convenient to them, however, so as to be as inclusive as possible.  Please plan to attend whatever session(s) suits your schedule best.

 There are two questions that will be addressed at these discussion sessions:

First, what sort of faculty and staff should be recruited as the core personnel to serve these needs? We are interested in what sorts of research interests the faculty at both institutions believe should become part of this new venture. For example, should this new program increase our abilities in molecular imaging, or proton spectroscopy, optical imaging, or something else?

Second, what sort of facilities and services would be of use to research groups in common at the two institutions?  What sorts of imaging types or facilities are needed to support your research programs? What functions are you currently going to other institutions to get that you would prefer to have available locally?

When you voice your opinions on our needs in these areas, it would be helpful also to know which research projects would be supported by this new venture.

I hope many of you will attend one of the focused discussion sessions listed below so that we may hear from you directly about these important decisions regarding this new and exciting joint program.  If you cannot attend any of these events, please send your comments by email to etta_pisano@med.unc.edu. 

We look forward to hearing from many of you in the next two months!

Sincerely yours,

Tony G. Waldrop, Ph.D.                     William F. Marzluff, Ph.D.                 Stephen M. Pizer, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Research             Associate Dean for Research              Kenan Professor, UNC
UNC                                                    UNC School of Medicine                    Chairman of the committee

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