GliMR: Cross-border collaborations to promote advanced MRI biomarkers in glioma

Every year, 50.000 new glioma cases occur in Europe. The optimal treatment strategy is highly personalised, depending on tumour type, grade, spatial localization, and tissue infiltration level. In research settings, advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown great promise to inform personalised treatment decisions. However, the use of advanced MRI in clinical practice is still scarce, due to a scattered imaging research landscape, a limited representation of MRI in established consortia for glioma, and the lack of tools and expertise for advanced MRI, available in standard clinical settings. These shortcomings delay the translation of scientific breakthroughs into novel treatment strategy developments, and limit the progression of personalised medicine.
Therefore, in this work, the network Glioma MR Imaging 2.0 (GliMR) is presented. GliMR aims to build a pan-European and multidisciplinary network of experts and progress beyond the state-of-the-art in glioma imaging, by accelerating the use of advanced MRI in glioma. The Action ‘Glioma MR Imaging 2.0 (GliMR)’ was granted funding by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) in June 2019.
GliMR’s first grant period ran from September 2019 to April 2020, during which several networking meetings were held and projects were initiated by the different working groups, such as reviewing of the current knowledge on advanced MRI, developing a GDPR-compliant consent form, initiating relationships with European scientific organisations, and setting up several dissemination channels, including the website www.glimr.eu. The action is funded until September 2023 and is accepting new members during its entire duration.