McLean Imaging Center (MIC) Core

Core Summary:

The McLean Imaging Center (MIC) Core provides Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) services to MGB-affiliated and non MGB-affiliated researchers. The available facilities of the Core include several MR machines at different field strengths (3T, 4T and 9.4T), optical imaging equipment, sophisticated mechanical and electronic fabrication equipment, and an extremely powerful computational cluster.

The MIC is an academic, multidisciplinary center comprised of scientists with a diverse range of backgrounds and training, including neuroscience, pharmacology, physics, electrical engineering, psychology, psychiatry, and medicine. The wider hospital also provides rich resources for collaboration – MIC staff members have many collaborative projects in conjunction with the clinical departments throughout the hospital. Furthermore, the proximity of collaborators at numerous nearby universities and downtown hospitals provide a vast array of opportunities to study various patient populations and provide access to an extensive variety of specialized equipment.

Personnel/Contact Information:

Director: Scott E. Lukas, PhD
Phone: 617-855-2767
Fax: 617-855-3774
Email: slukas@mclean.harvard.edu

Director: Diego A. Pizzagalli, PhD
Phone: 617-855-2797
Fax: 617-855-4231
Email: dap@mclean.harvard.edu

Other Staff:

Medical Director: Gordana Vitaliano, MD, PhD
Phone: 617-855-2957
Fax: 617-855-2770
Email: gvitaliano@mclean.harvard.edu

Managing Director MIC Core: Rosemond Villafuerte, MA
Phone: 617-855-3354
Fax: 617-855-2770
Email: rosev@mclean.harvard.edu

Please refer to the MIC website for a detailed listing of faculty and staff at: http://www.mcleanmri.org/

Facilities and Equipment:

Location of Core: McLean Imaging Center, 115 Mill Street, Belmont MA 02478

Major Equipment: 3T Siemens Prisma, 3T Siemens Prisma Fit, 4T Varian/Agilent DirectDrive™, 9.4T Varian/Agilent, MRI Simulator scanner with software/hardware to track participants’ movements for acclimatization/training purposes (SimFX and MoTrak), High-density EEG ANT-Neuro system.

CORE SERVICES

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Spectroscopy (MRS)

Technologies include:

Structural MRI
Echo Planar MRI (EPI) / Functional MRI (fMRI)
Diffusion MRI (DWI, DTI)
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) / Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI)/ Functional MRS/MRSI (fMRS/fMRSI)
Sodium MRI/MRS
Electroencephalogram (EEG) Monitoring during MRI
Near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) Monitoring during MRI
fMRI with Feedback

Fee Schedule/Rates:

*Effective FY19 - FY22 (10/1/18 – 9/30/22)*
Service	* MGB	Non-MGB	Industry
3T and 4T MR scanning	$585/hour with technologist (directs)	$843/hour with technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
9.4T MR scanning	$290/hour, no technologist (directs)	$418/hour, no technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
* Note: The MGB rates above are direct cost rates. IDC will be charged at the IDC rate of the MGB fund.

Effective FY23 - FY25 (10/1/22 – 9/30/25) Note: Rates are anticipated and may be subject to change
Service	* MGB	Non-MGB	Industry
3T and 4T MR scanning	$600/hour with technologist (directs)	$864/hour with technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
9.4T MR scanning	$300/hour, no technologist (directs)	$432/hour, no technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
* Note: The MGB rates above are direct cost rates. IDC will be charged at the IDC rate of the MGB fund.

Effective FY26 - FY28 (10/1/25 – 9/30/28) Note: Rates are anticipated and may be subject to change
Service	* MGB	Non-MGB	Industry
3T and 4T MR scanning	$640/hour with technologist (directs)	$922/hour with technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
9.4T MR scanning	$320/hour, no technologist (directs)	$461/hour, no technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
* Note: The MGB rates above are direct cost rates. IDC will be charged at the IDC rate of the MGB fund.

Effective FY29 - until amended (10/1/28 – until amended) Note: Rates are anticipated and may be subject to change
Service	* MGB	Non-MGB	Industry
3T and 4T MR scanning	$700/hour with technologist (directs)	$1,008/hour with technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
9.4T MR scanning	$350/hour, no technologist (directs)	$504/hour, no technologist (directs plus applicable overhead)	Please contact for details
* Note: The MGB rates above are direct cost rates. IDC will be charged at the IDC rate of the MGB fund.

Services Involving Contrast Agents and Other Invasive Procedures:

Please contact the MIC Core Managing Director, Rosemond Villafuerte (rosev@mclean.harvard.edu).

ADP/Computer Services Costs:

This fee is applicable to all grants and should be included in your grant applications. Fee varies depending on the project. Please contact Rosemond Villafuerte for details by email at rosev@mclean.harvard.edu.

Budget justification for grant applications: Funds for specialized, research-specific computing needs associated with advanced MR imaging analyses, including access to supercomputers and an extensive computing cluster with 124 cores providing massively parallel processing as well a as a curated, reproducible set of software pipelines for data analyses. Advanced image analyses of even moderate sized fMRI data sets require significantly more computational resources (RAM, disk space, specialized GPUs, processing cores) than are available on even advanced laptop or desktop computers, as well as complex and rapidly evolving software environments. The standard tech support provided by McLean Hospital is not sufficient to troubleshoot the specialized issues arising in advanced scientific data processing tasks and platforms including, but not limited to, MATLAB and specialized Python tools.

Getting Started:

To access the core, please contact Rosemond Villafuerte by email at rosev@mclean.harvard.edu

Departmental Web Link:

http://www.mcleanmri.org/