"I wanted a program where I could receive excellent clinical training but also continue to pursue my research interests. UCSF has been extremely supportive of this goal, particularly in providing twelve months of dedicated research time during my residency."
-- Greg Zaharchuk, MD, PhD
Residency Class of 2005

The UCSF Department of Radiology currently ranks fourth in National Institutes of Health funding among diagnostic radiology departments.

Our department, like the other research-oriented academic radiology departments in the country, has recognized that research is vital for the continued success and future development of our field. Although radiologists, both academic and private, have never been in greater demand, radiology is in danger of losing control of the direction of the specialty if radiologists do not recognize the need for future research and development and take initiative in this endeavor.

UCSF has decided to invest in the future of radiology by incorporating research into the residency program, in the hope that we will train more academic radiologists who are actively engaged in research and education and/or are savvy consumers of medical literature. UCSF radiology residents perform research at some point during their residency, but the time during residency at which the resident engages in research is not legislated. Rather, when residents feel comfortable and have found someone they want to work with, they may then engage in a project. To facilitate this process, residents are exposed, through numerous conferences, to the many research programs (clinical, basic, and translational) in the department.

Any resident may choose to spend up to 12 months of elective time engaging in research without increasing the length of residency. The hallmark of our program is flexibility. Residents may choose to spend as little as one month or as much as a year on academic activities. A resident with extensive research training and experience may choose to take one or more months of research elective early in the residency. After establishing a clinical or laboratory research project, this resident would be free to take additional blocks of elective time, or alternatively obtain protected time every week to keep the project going. The program director and research mentor help the resident to design a research program tailored to the resident's needs.

To make the research experience enjoyable, rewarding, and enticing, the department will fund the resident's trip to a national meeting to present the research. The department also provides resources for residents involved in research. These resources include education (through the core curriculum and journal club) regarding research methods and design, equipment (computers, software, etc), money (through intradepartmental grants), and most importantly, time.

There are many active radiology research programs in the Department of Radiology, ranging from purely clinical to basic science. There are numerous faculty members who engage in innovative clinical research. In addition, the department has several active research laboratories; investigators in these labs always welcome the involvement of radiology residents. Some of the research laboratories are:

1. Osteoporosis and Arthritis Research Group
2. Dynamic Neuroimaging Laboratory
3. Laboratory for Radiological Informatics
4. Biomagnetic Imaging Laboratory
5. Center for Pharmaceutical and Molecular Imaging
6. Magnetic Resonance Science Center, involved in neuroimaging, bone imaging (using a micro CT system) breast imaging, prostate imaging, and spectroscopy research
7. 3D Imaging Laboratory: virtual colonoscopy research
8. Veterans' Affairs Medical Center MR Spectroscopy Laboratory
9. Veterans' Affairs Medical Center Vascular Imaging Research Center
10. The Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging
11. Earl Miller Radiologic Imaging Laboratory
12. UCSF Physics Research Center
13. Interventional MRI Program
14. Program in Bioengineering
15. Quantitative Musculoskeletal Imaging Research Group

    The largest laboratory, the Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging has 47,000 square feet of space and an additional 22,000 designated for future expansion.