CA18206 - Glioma MR Imaging 2.0 (GliMR)

In Europe, 50,000 new cases of primary glioma occur each year, and this number is expected to rise with the aging population. Well-established international consortia are putting tremendous research efforts into a better understanding of glioma pathology and improved treatment strategies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) only has a minor role in these research efforts, despite being a widely available medical imaging modality and whilst advanced MRI techniques are emerging with great potential for improved characterisation of glioma. To exploit advanced MRI to the fullest, two issues need to be solved: (1) The scattered research landscape in which advanced MRI is being developed for glioma imaging. (2) The limited presence of advanced MRI research in established consortia for clinical work and research in glioma.

This COST Action aims to build a pan-European and multidisciplinary network of international experts in glioma research, patient organisations, data scientists, and MR imaging scientists by uniting the glioma imaging community within Europe and progressing the development and application of advanced MR imaging for improved decision making in diagnosis, patient monitoring, and assessment of treatment response in clinical trials and clinical practice.

This COST Action will bring Europe to the global forefront on glioma imaging research, by providing recommendations and open-access software tools that will accelerate the bench-to-bedside translation of advanced MRI techniques. These scientific developments will further the understanding of glioma pathophysiology facilitating scientific breakthroughs in novel therapies and improve personalised patient management ultimately increasing the quality of life of glioma patients.