CAMRI:PilotTime

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About Pilot Time CAMRI is supported by user fees: PIs receive grants or contracts and then pay CAMRI for MR scanner time on a fee for service basis. To encourage new investigators and projects, pilot time awards are available. The purpose of the pilot time is to allow for collection of preliminary data for new grant applications that will then be used to pay for regularly priced scan time at CAMRI. To redeem pilot hours, email camri@bcm.edu PRIOR TO scheduled scan time to request appropriate scan type classification (pilot time vs. billable time). Pilot time can not be adjusted once scan is complete. Pilot Time for Existing CAMRI Users For any user (BCM or non-BCM) who scans at CAMRI, pilot time hours are automatically granted based on the amount of paid scanner time used at a ratio of 5 to 1. For every 5 hours of paid scanner time, the user receives 1 hour of free pilot time (5 hours of after-hours scanner time generates 1 free after-hour). No pilot time is awarded for phantom scanning. Pilot time expires at the end of each BCM fiscal year (July-June) but up to 10 hours of unused pilot time may be rolled over to the next fiscal year. Pilot Time for New BCM Users of CAMRI New BCM-affiliated users are eligible for pilot time awards consisting of 5 hours of scanner time. There is a limit of one award per PI or investigative team and only BCM affiliates are eligible because the vast majority of CAMRI's operating budget is provided by BCM. Please send an NIH-format biosketch (or full CV) of the PI and project details in the form of an NIH-format specific aims page (or complete proposal) to camri@bcm.edu. Before data collection can begin, the PI must attend all necessary training and submit required documentation, including an IRB-approved protocol and consent form. Click here for an IRB proposal template. The maximum number of subjects that can be scanned with pilot time is five (5). The minimum duration of a pilot scan session is one hour. Only one subject can be scanned in each hour of scan time (it is not possible to scan two or more patients in a single hour for pilot scanning). There is no increase in the amount of pilot time for scanning after-hours. A maximum of five hours may be used, regardless of whether they are used during regular business hours or after-hours. If a pilot time awardee successfully obtains funding for a project, then they will be eligible for the "Pilot Time for Existing CAMRI Users" program described above. In this case, the pilot hours generated by paid scanning will be applied to the new-user pilot time award. That is, for a pilot time awardee who used the full pilot time award of 5 hours, the first 25 hours of paid scanner time would not generate any additional pilot time.