Newsletter
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August, 2026
A Note From the Director
Welcome to the first issue of the Center for Imaging Research's quarterly newsletter. This is something we have wanted to launch for some time — a regular channel to share what is happening in the CIR, to highlight the work of the investigators who use our resources, and to make it easier to find the people, capabilities, and opportunities that keep our research community moving forward. If you are reading this, you are part of that community, and we hope this newsletter becomes something you look forward to opening each quarter. Read the full inaugural Note from our Editor >
Andrew S. Nencka, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Imaging Research
Professor, Department of Radiology
Medical College of Wisconsin
What's New in the CIR
Cloud-Based Research Support with CIRXNAT3
Our team has launched CIRXNAT3, a next-generation evolution of our research
imaging repository. This implementation transitions our core imaging informatics to a cloud-based storage solution, specifically designed to bolster MCW’s research support capabilities for investigators both on and off campus. By moving to the cloud, we provide a scalable, high-performance environment that serves as the central hub for the lifecycle of imaging research data.
READ MORE ABOUT CIRXNAT3 >
Grant Assistance Portal Prototype Launched
The CIR has launched a prototype grant application support portal. It is a self-service tool that helps investigators prepare the CIR-specific components of grant applications. In the most recent round of NIH grant submissions, the portal helped us share seven letters of support with investigators working with the CIR. It is one concrete way we aim to reduce the friction between your science and your submission. The portal has 3 integrated tools; each designed for a specific part of the application workflow: Facilities and Equipment templates, Budget calculation tool, and Letter of Support generator. READ MORE ABOUT THE GRANT ASSISTANCE PORTAL PROTOYPE >
Next Generation Human Imaging System S10 Grant Application
The Center for Imaging Research's Premier 3T platform has served the MCW research community for nearly a decade, supporting over 260 publications and more than $35 million in annual NIH funding across 47 active investigators this last year alone. But MRI technology has not stood
still. In December MCW announced the process for seeking funding for major equipment upgrades with the NIH’s 2026 Shared Instrumentation Grant program. That program includes the High-End
Instrumentation (HEI) opportunity, which has funded several research-dedicated, high-performance gradient human MRI systems in the last five years. We saw this as an opportunity to bring next-generation MRI technology to our community, and in June 2026 we submitted an S10 application to upgrade one of our Premier systems to the GE Signa Magnus platform. READ MORE ABOUT THE CIR S10 GRANT APPLICATION >
Graduate Student Fellowship Program Launched
The Center for Imaging Research is proud to welcome Zainab Khan as the recipient of its first-ever Graduate Fellowship in Imaging Technology Development. This fellowship fully funded five-year doctoral training position designed to cultivate the next generation of imaging technology leaders. The fellowship addresses a well-recognized international shortage of talent in advanced MRI technology development. With funding to cover student stipend, benefits, research expenses, travel, and publications, the program enrolls its fellow in the MCW Biophysics graduate program under a co-preceptorship model shared between the CIR Director and the student's faculty mentor. READ MORE ABOUT THE GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM >
Upcoming Opportunities & Events
Imaging Meta-Seminar Series Coming Fall 2026
CIR members have shared that they would like to know more about what their colleagues are working on, however, few would want another recurring seminar on their calendar. Our solution is to introduce the CIR's Meta-Seminar Series, a shared scheduled of imaging-related seminars, lectures, and workshops already happening in Southeastern Wisconsin. Our goal is to raise awareness of presentations by investigators who work with the CIR and other imaging and image-analysis events throughout the region that are worth your time.
How it will work:
- We will search the web, scan institutional calendars, and talk to colleagues to identify events of interest to the CIR community. We'll share them in three places: The CIR webpage, Dr. Nencka's LinkedIn, and future newsletters
- This is a community effort. If you know of a seminar, lecture, workshop, or conference that would interest the CIR community — whether you're presenting, attending, or just heard about it — send the details to CIR@mcw.edu and we will include it in our updates.
Initial Events:
- GE MR Programming Workshop (EPIC and Orchestra) | Sept. 8 – Dec. 4, 2026 |Virtual
- Biophysics Seminar Series |Schedule
- Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series | Schedule
- Magnetic Resonance in Madison | July 2027 | University of Wisconsin | Details coming soon
CIR Pilot Award Programs
New in the MCW 2027 fiscal year, the CIR is supporting two new pilot awards. These awards seek to support investigators seeking preliminary data for extramural funding applications. One award will be made to support human research imaging with the CIR’s Premiers and Hyperfine systems, and
one will be made to support animal research imaging with the CIR’s 9.4T Bruker system. These awards are of higher dollar amounts than our rolling pilot funding opportunity, targeting about
50 hours of scanning with an additional 20% available to support related work. A request for applications will be posted on our website and shared with the e-mail distribution list which is receiving this newsletter, and the application deadline will be at the end of September.
The CIR continues to offer it’s smaller Pilot Award Program to fund preliminary studies that leverage CIR resources, with the explicit goal of positioning investigators for successful extramural grant applications. Renewable awards of up to $6,250 are made on a rolling basis, with at least eight awards budgeted annually. Details of the program and the application packet is available on the CIR’s webpage. Questions can be directed to Lauren Williams or Andrew Nencka.
Research Update
CIR's Suppport of an Impactful Community
During FY26 (July 2025-June 2026), the Center for Imaging Research supported 47 active investigators across four institutions: the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These investigators span departments including Neurosurgery, Neurology, Radiology, Psychiatry, Biomedical Engineering, Orthopaedics, Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Psychology.
Collectively, CIR investigators published over 260 peer-reviewed papers during the FY26 period. These publications appeared in high-impact journals including Nature Communications, JAMA Network Open, Brain, Journal of Neuroscience, Neurology, Neuro-Oncology, Pediatrics, and Cognition.
Acknowledgments
CIR Internal Advisory Committee
The Center for Imaging Research is entrusted with overseeing several shared resources and connecting the community of imaging researchers at MCW. The Center’s strength comes from
the community it serves. With this inaugural issue, we want to recognize the people who have stepped forward to guide the CIR.
The CIR Internal Advisory Committee was formed in early FY2026 from members of the CIR community who volunteered to serve. The committee is charged with offering strategic and operational guidance — setting priorities that align with researchers' needs, ensuring the CIR pivots effectively as scientific and research focus areas evolve, holding the Center accountable by monitoring its status, strengths, and areas for improvement, and serving as an advocate for the CIR and the community whose resources it administers.
The committee's leadership includes Dr. Matthew Budde (Chair), Dr. Jason Sidabras (Vice-Chair), and Dr. Tim Meier (Inaugural Past-Chair). Committee leaders hold a three-year term as they progress through the positions of Vice-Chair, Chair, and Past-Chair. Voting members are Robyn Furger, Dr. Christine Larson, Dr. Peter LaViolette, and Dr. Tugan Muftuler. Dr. Saad Ali
(CIR Medical Director), Christy Stadig (CIR Administrator), and Andrew Nencka (CIR Director) serve as ex officio, non-voting members.
The committee met for the first time in January 2026, worked to support the strategic organization of the S10 instrumentation application, and meets quarterly to provide ongoing oversight. We are grateful to every member for their time, their candor, and their commitment to making the CIR a resource that earns the trust of the investigators it supports.
Team Corner
The Center for Imaging Research is built on the work of a dedicated team, and with these quarterly newsletters we are pleased to introduce the people who keep our scanners running, our data moving, and our operations humming. We begin this inaugural issue with Christy Stadig, who joined the CIR as Center Administrator this year while continuing her long tenure with the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Christy brings over a decade of research administration experience to the CIR, along with over two decades of significant experience at MCW.
A PMP-certified program director, she has spent her MCW career supporting the Department of Neurosurgery and the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering — teams whose work spans the continuum from biomechanical modeling and spinal cord injury research to the large-scale concussion studies that are among the CIR's highestvolume users. For years, Christy served as a project coordinator for the Yoganandan Laboratory, which develops patient-specific computational models of the head and spine for personalized surgical planning and injury prevention, and she has been a key administrative presence across the Zablocki VA Medical Center Neuroscience and Biomechanics Labs led by Dr. Brian Stemper, where she currently serves as Program Director II. That experience — managing complex, multi-investigator research operations with federal and foundation funding — is precisely what the CIR needs as it grows.
In the CIR, Christy oversees our team, operational management, and finances. She is a key component of the administrative backbone (perhaps C1?) of the Center and has worked tirelessly this year to ensure that the CIR's financial and operational metrics are accurate and accessible—no easy task with MCW’s Workday transition. She now divides her time between the CIR and the Neurosurgery research team at the VA, a shared arrangement that will help her continue to have a broad perspective of how the CIR works from both within and without. If you have worked with Christy in any of your administrative interactions with the CIR, you already know the value she brings. Welcome to the CIR, Christy, we’re all glad to have you here!
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