ISS Seed Grant

Highly competitive seed funding program for innovative research projects in musculoskeletal imaging, pathology, and related fields. Limited number of awards given annually.

Geographic Scope: International

Focus Areas:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning applications
• Musculoskeletal imaging techniques
• Radiomics and deep learning
• Diagnostic and therapeutic innovations
• Pathology research
• Clinical imaging applications

Recent Awardees by Year

2025-2026 Awardees (2 awards):

• Suk Wai Lam, MD (Leiden University Medical Center): "Improving diagnosis of OFD, OFD-like adamantinoma and adamantinoma with artificial intelligence"
• Kamyar Moradi, MD (Johns Hopkins University): "Deep Learning–Based Analysis of Bone Marrow Lesion Composition on Knee MRI for Predicting Osteoarthritis Symptom Progression"

2024-2025 Awardees (2 awards):

• Falko Ensle, MD (University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland): "Healthy aging – Quantitative biomarkers for personalized prevention with whole-body composition profiling"
• Jordan Pollock, MD, MBA (Mayo Clinic – Phoenix Arizona): "Patient-Centered Radiology Report of the Future"

2023-2024 Awardees (3 awards):

• Karen Cheng, MD (UCSD): "Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) – Double Echo Steady State (UTE-DESS) MRI of Musculoskeletal Tissues"
• Alexandra Gersing, MD (University Hospital Technical University Munich): "Automated Detection, Classification and Diagnostic Management of Benign and Malignant Bone Lesions Using Deep Learning"
• Vidyani Suryadevara, PhD (Stanford University): "Detection of Senescence by [18F]-PyGal Radiotracer in Talus from Osteoarthritic Ankles"

2022-2023 Awardees (2 awards):

• Mohamed Jarraya, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital): "Using Pain Phenotyping for Better Correlation Between Structural Findings and Functional Outcomes of Knee Osteoarthritis"
• Kim Tsoi, MD, PhD (Mount Sinai Hospital): "Use of DNA Methylation to Differentiate Reactive from Malignant Peritumoral Edema in Infiltrative Soft Tissue Sarcomas"

2021-2022 Awardees (2 awards):

• Monique Reijnierse, MD PhD (Leiden University Medical Center): "Optimizing Imaging for Very Early Detection of Arthritis"
• Rene Balza, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital): "Development of Guidance Tools for Patient-Reported Lumbar Spine Symptoms"

2019-2020 Awardees (2 awards):

• Arjen Cleven, MD, PhD (Leiden University Medical Center): "Improving Diagnostic Accuracy for Maxillofacial Bone Tumors"
• Iman Khodarahmi, MD, PhD (NYU School of Medicine): "Optimization of Radiofrequency Pulse Polarization for Metal Artifact Reduction in Hip MRI"

2017-2018 Awardees (2 awards):

• Shivani Ahlawat, MD (Johns Hopkins): "Quantitative Functional and Metabolic Whole-Body Imaging in Neurofibromatosis type 1"
• Darryl Sneag, MD (Hospital for Special Surgery/Weill Medical College Cornell): "Novel Contrast Enhanced Vascular Suppression Techniques in MR Neurography"

Selection Process

• Highly competitive with dozens of top-quality proposals submitted
• Strong competition for limited awards

Contact Information

Address: 1061 E Main St. STE 300 East Dundee, Illinois 60118