Lonie Salkowski Receives R37 Grant  

Posted on May 2022

Lonie Salkowski, MD, PhD, FACR received an R37 grant for her project, “Defining and Optimizing Critical Interpretation Skills in Screening Mammography to Improve Cancer Detection” by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her team was awarded $1.76 million in direct costs and $2.72 million in total costs to be used by April 1, 2027.  

According to Research Services Assistant Director, Phil Danzer, “A R37/R01 is a newer NCI mechanism that qualifies a grant to receive two additional years of expedited review and funding after the traditional five-year R01 period. R37 grants are awarded to Early-Stage Investigators with research areas that NCI deems to have significant promise in advancing the mission of the institute. The R37 mechanism allows researchers to focus more time and energy on performing research rather than applying for competitive renewals.” 

The objective of this project is to understand cognitive and perceptual skill development in a specialized simulation system by bringing together experts in radiology, computer science, educational psychology, and psychology. Dr. Salkowski explains, “The central hypothesis of this project is that a systemized simulation screening mammography system within residency training will aid in identifying critical cognitive and perceptual errors that negatively impact patient care and outcomes. It will provide residents with independent mammographic interpretation and objective measures and feedback.” 

Dr. Salkowski’s research team includes: Mai Elezaby, MD, Amy Fowler, MD, PhD, John Garrett, PhD, Tyler Bradshaw, PhD, Iman Banerjee, PhD, Emily Ward, PhD, Wally Peppler, PhD, Elizabeth Krupinski, PhD, C. Shawn Green, PhD, and Dan Bolt, PhD.