CBIG Awarded the 2024 Edmee Firth Prize for Outcomes Research in Ovarian Cancer

The prize honors Edmée Firth and her family and is meant to reduce the burden of ovarian cancer and improve outcomes for women with the disease. The prize, which also received generous support from the Dreyfus Foundation, is targeted towards patient-oriented translational and outcomes research.

Our project, “Artificial-Intelligence Augmented Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer from Trans-Vaginal Ultrasound” proposes to develop and validate a robust and interpretable artificial intelligence-based algorithm to accurately classify the risk of malignancy in ovarian cysts using advanced computational analysis of TVUS augmented by the integration of relevant clinical data. We propose to assemble and curate a large database of patients who underwent TVUS for the evaluation of adnexal cysts. We will collect clinical data as well as stored images to develop algorithms to classify images based on the conventional subjective O-RADS schema versus our proposed fully-automated approach to quantitatively characterize features of ovarian cysts associated with cancer. We aim to identify the most relevant TVUS features, and clinical factors associated with high-risk ovarian masses. This work will generate the much-needed phase I-II data for a larger, multi-institutional study to validate the implementation of this algorithm into direct clinical practice.

Principal Investigator

Despina Kontos, PhD
Professor of Radiology
Vice Chair, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Research
Director, Center for Innovation in Imaging Biomarkers and Integrated Diagnostics (CIMBID)
Director of Biomarker Imaging, NewYork-Presbyterian
Chief Research Information Officer for CUIMC

Co-Investigators

Jason Wright, MD
Sol Goldman Associate Professor of Gynecologic Oncology (in Obstetrics and Gynecology)
Chief, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Elisa Konofagou, PhD
Robert and Margaret Hariri Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Radiology (Physics)
Director, Ultrasound and Elasticity Imaging Laboratory

Shikun Wang, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at CUIMC

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Arunima Sharma, PhD