Andrew Larson, PhD, is a professor of radiology and engineering at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. Dr. Larson’s research focuses on the development and validation of MRI techniques for optimal delivery and functional guidance of minimally invasive therapies, early prediction of therapy response and noninvasive staging of carcinogenesis.
Dr. Larson has collaborated closely with IRs throughout his career and has considered them essential collaborators on a myriad of research projects spanning the gamut from nanoparticle development and delivery to optimizing MR techniques to expedite intraprocedural assessment of treatment endpoints. I recently spoke with Dr. Larson to get his view of the role of research scientists in IR research.
Collins: How did you become interested in IR-focused research projects?
Larson: My initial interest in IR came out of collaborations with Reed Omary, MD, MS, FSIR. Around the time I started on faculty here at Northwestern, Dr. Omary was performing research in the area of MR-guided renal stenting, working closely with another research faculty, Debiao Li, PhD. I became interested in some of the technical problems Dr. Omary was trying to address with MR techniques. That was right around the time when Riad Salem, MD, MBA, FSIR, started building the interventional oncology (IO) program here at Northwestern; seeing some of the exciting IO applications stimulated me to think about the potential role for someone with more of a technical background to get involved with this type of research and make an impact. That branched out to where we are now—developing a lab that was originally focused on imaging but that expanded to materials instrumentation and the whole array of interdisciplinary methods that are used to tackle IO problems.
Collins: How would you describe the evolving role of research scientists in IR research?
Larson: If the technical research scientists work in isolation, they can miss the boat in terms of what is clinically important to be working on. Conversely, if clinicians are not aware of late-breaking technologies, they may not be at the forefront of developing technology to push the field forward. So it really takes a combination of the two—where the skill sets of the clinician are informing the direction of the research and, at the same time, the technical folks can come up with the engineering or physics for devices or techniques that aren’t being investigated just because it’s a new mousetrap, but because they are really trying to address an important clinical problem.
Collins: Can you comment on the value of seeking out IR collaborators from the perspective of a research scientist?
Larson: I think the biggest thing is trying to answer the right questions. Even now, I continually struggle with that. That’s why it’s important to have clinician-scientist or clinician collaborators who you can bounce ideas off of or just ask what is important. What are the problems? We have all kinds of technical solutions and we spent years developing the means to come up with solutions, but we have to ask the right research questions—that’s really critical.
Collins: Considering the alternative perspective, what leads IRs performing research to seek out research scientist collaborators?
Larson: The IRs I have enjoyed working with the most are clearly trying to expand their own knowledge base and capabilities. They are really open to new ideas and are the type of investigator who is willing to think outside the box. I think it’s that mindset that’s really critical to move things forward, along with the understanding that it takes a multidisciplinary group effort with give and take in the research interaction.
Collins: The ultimate goal of all research is to improve the patient care, by translating bench-top research successes aimed at addressing a clinical need into improved patient outcomes. How does collaboration between research scientists and IRs help to achieve this goal?
Larson: My impression is often that it does certainly drive us in the direction of coming up with new technology, new techniques, new methods and that’s critical. But in many ways the ultimate translational step is a regulatory question—more than that it is necessarily an issue of the motivation of the investigators or what it is that they are actually working on. I would think that because of the close ties between IR and devices, materials and technology, that this is going to be a recurring issue for advancing IR research.
Collins: What’s the biggest barrier to making the jump with a novel technique/therapy from the lab to the clinic?
Larson: It’s the regulatory hurdles combined with a lack of an understanding of how to overcome them. From my own experience, I think there is an opportunity for education regarding commercialization and regulatory hurdles to make it easier to move technology from the laboratory into the clinic. There may be an opportunity for SIR Foundation to work with other stakeholders to address this need.
Although it’s not my area of expertise, I would imagine that most clinician scientists and basic scientists are not trained in handling this final step and would welcome a better understanding of the process and concrete solutions to overcoming these hurdles. We explored these commercialization and regulatory aspects with some of our projects—it’s very difficult. I know that some IR clinician-scientists are dealing with some of these issues and have done so successfully, but I think its an area where to be impactful we need to make some improvements.
Collins: How can SIR Foundation reduce barriers (real or perceived) to enable IRs to collaborate more closely with research scientists such as yourself?
Larson: Funding is key. Time is the biggest barrier. Some of the SIR Foundation funding mechanisms that have been put into place over the last several years have been immensely helpful to stimulate these sorts of collaborations. I think a lot of IR clinicians want to be involved in research and are excited to do so. However, they find little time within their clinical schedule to do this kind of research and, from my own experience, that is one of the biggest barriers. It certainly is not a lack of interest on the physician’s part.
Collins: You have been a participant in the SIR Foundation grants program for many years and currently serve as the chair of the grants review committee. From this perspective, can you comment on the role of the foundation's Allied Scientist Grant in fostering relationships between research scientists and IRs?
Larson: Although in place for a relatively short period of time, this grant mechanism has fostered the research efforts of investigators who, without this opportunity, may not have sought out IR research projects. The projects that I have seen have been very relevant to the field; if the intention is to draw these types of researchers to do IR research then clearly the program has been quite successful. Many of these people are coming from fields where they could be working on completely unrelated projects but, because of this mechanism, and the draw to work with IRs, they have undertaken projects that are clearly relevant to the field.
Collins: In the current reimbursement environment with downward pressure on clinicians to increase productivity, do you foresee a more prominent role for research scientists in IR research?
Larson: Not necessarily, though it depends on the project. I think it is going to get harder for the physician to do research. And for it to be successful, for a lot of these projects, physicians need to be at least equal drivers of the work. Unfortunately, the current reimbursement environment just makes it more difficult to do research. This is a clear threat to the future of IR research.
Collins: What is preferred way to relax after a busy week in the lab?
Larson: I very much enjoy spending time with my family, I have a couple of small children. They pretty much run me ragged around the house. Spending time with family is my preferred way to unwind. I’m also very involved in martial arts and I’ve been doing a lot of Brazilian jujitsu over the last few years. That’s one way that I unwind and relax outside of the hospital and research.
