U-M researcher wins AGA-Covidien Research & Development Pilot Award in Technology

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Research Foundation is pleased to announce that Richard S. Kwon, MD, MS, from the University of Michigan, is the recipient of the inaugural AGA-Covidien Research & Development Pilot Award in Technology. This award is supported by a generous grant from Covidien, a leading global provider of health-care products.

With this grant, Dr. Kwon will advance our understanding of how technology can be used to improve the care of patients with pancreatic cysts. Using analytic morphomics, an image processing and analysis method, Dr. Kwon will address the most basic challenge when confronted with these cysts — how to distinguish mucinous cysts, which need surveillance or surgery since they can become cancerous, from non-mucinous cysts, which do not require any follow up. The inability to accurately distinguish the cyst types has led to a significant amount of unnecessary surgeries and surveillance. This novel approach will allow Dr. Kwon and his team to extract quantifiable data from CT scans to characterize shape and contour that is both objective and reproducible.

"Dr. Kwon's research offers an innovative and novel application of cross-sectional imaging as a diagnostic tool for pancreatic cysts," said Martin Brotman, MD, AGAF, chair, AGA Research Foundation. "This research holds great promise to push the field forward by improving our ability to address the most basic challenge and glaring need in the care of patients with these cysts."

The funding provided by this award will provide Dr. Kwon with critical resources and the protected time necessary to complete this project. Results from this pilot study will lead to further multi-center investigations defining the most accurate and cost-effective means to diagnose and manage pancreatic cysts.

"We are thrilled to recognize the first recipient of the AGA-Covidien Research & Development Pilot Award in Technology," said Vafa Jamali, Vice President and General Manager, Covidien, GI Solutions. "Dr. Kwon's impressive research project showcases the important role of technology in improving our diagnostic and treatment capabilities, which is critical to improving patient outcomes."