BIOQIC

BIOQIC mission

In current clinical practice of medical imaging, most diagnostic decisions are made on the basis of qualitative markers whose interpretation is highly subjective and requires thousands of hours of training. The mission of BIOQIC is to teach and promote the skills required for an objective, image-based medical diagnosis by establishing an institutional framework for graduate education and translational research in biophysical and quantitative medical imaging. BIOQIC aims at promoting multidisciplinary research and education in imaging sciences with collaborative arrangements between basic research institutions, clinical sites of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin including Europe’s largest radiological department, and regional enterprises in medical imaging technology beyond the currently existing institutional borders.

The BIOQIC research program will advance medical imaging methods towards the system-independent quantification of the constitution and structure of soft tissues including vascular components, multiscale fluid motility as well as mechanical parameters. Scientific training will be offered in 15 projects in 3 project areas: ‘Fluid Transport’, ‘Tissue Mechanics’ and ‘Tissue Structures’. It will include the quantitative analysis of image parameters related to biophysics and tissue structure over a wide range of spatial scales, from microscopic structures to macroscopic representation, measured by innovative imaging approaches. BIOQIC guarantees multidisciplinary supervision by forming tandem teams of basic scientists and clinical experts. In order to overcome communication barriers, doctoral researchers will learn both, about the clinical challenges and how to investigate new approaches in quantitative imaging.

The program is specifically designed to provide training in imaging sciences and to enhance skills for becoming an independent researcher. In-depth training will be provided through block courses in ‘Imaging Physics & Chemistry‘, ‚Biophysics & Biomechanics’ and ‚Mathematics & Signal Processing’, as well as continuous teaching in ‚Clinical Translation‘ and ‘Enhanced Skills’. In addition, exchange between researchers will be fostered by lab rotations, hands-on training, student-organized seminars and workshops. Embedded within a top-rated teaching hospital, BIOQIC has a comprehensive capability to train and nurture the next generation of imaging scientists and research leaders for the advancement of biophysics-based, quantitative medical imaging.