DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This requested state-of-the-art plus next-generation 3T MR scanner through the high end instrumentation grant program (S10) will prevent disruption of and significantly enhance NIH funded research and will contribute to Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC)'s long-range biomedical research goals, particularly WCMC's newly formed imaging-based research institutes in cardiovascular imaging, molecular imaging and magnetic resonance imaging. Our current obsolete 3T MR scanner will lose service contract on February 1, 2016, due to the difficulty in finding replacement parts needed for service. This obsolete 3T MR scanner will then be at risk of being permanently out of commission after that date, which will disrupt the majority of our major users' NIH funded projects. This S10 request for a state-of-the-art plus next-generation 3T MR scanner would be timely in preventing this risk of disruption. This request will also significantly enhance our imaging capability in both RF and gradient technologies, which will improve the spatial, temporal and spectral resolution, as well as signal-to- noise ratio. This requested 3T MR scanner will not only benefit human research in neuroimaging, body imaging and cardiovascular imaging, but also benefit preclinical translational imaging in animal models, particularly in cancer diagnosis and therapy researches. This request will benefit not only current NIH funded projects but also research projects pending, particularly those of young investigators just beginning their academic careers. Recently, WCMC has invested very significantly in forming three imaging based institutes, the Dalio Cardiovascular Imaging Institute, the Molecular Imaging Innovation Institute, and the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Institute. New faculty members have been hired for translational bench-to-bedside research targeting daunting health challenges including cancer, cardiovascular disease, children's health, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Imaging will play a critical role for these investigative researches, and this requested state-of-the-art plus next-generation 3T MR scanner will serve an important imaging tool to further these biomedical research goals. Since the MR scanner will be housed within our dedicated research imaging core that is used by multiple academic institutions in New York City as well as the surrounding Northeast region, this NIH investment will also benefit many researchers not only within WCMC, but also the surrounding area. Additionally, the placement of the MRI platform in a multimodality dedicated imaging research core enables truly integrated, multimodality imaging science from cells through humans.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The S10 project requests the acquisition of a state-of-the-art 3T MRI system to replace the current obsolete and soon-to-be-out-of-service MR scanner at Weill Cornell Medical College. This requested MR scanner will provide capabilities to continue and enhance the execution of many on-going NIH funded projects, and to expand basic, translational, and clinical research directed towards the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of many diseases.