Campaign: Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial
Winner: American College of Radiology
Standard film mammography has not always served the needs of certain women. For them, digital mammography offers a significantly more effective option, although few
women knew it existed.
The American College of Radiology (ACR) launched a campaign to release the results of the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST), thereby raising awareness
of the group's research and helping secure increased funding for future research. Principal Investigator Etta Pisano, MD, FACR, announced the DMIST results at the American
College of Radiology Imaging Network annual meeting, timed to coincide with the publication of the same results in the New England Journal of Medicine.
About 500 print articles about the study results ran after a media event. In addition, broadcast reports ran in major television outlets.
The ACR has seen a 31 percent increase in the number of ACR-accredited facilities with digital mammography equipment and a 32 percent increase in the number of digital
mammography units in the facilities. Medical imaging manufacturers have given more than $7 million to the ACRIN Fund for Imaging Innovation, and a major foundation granted
ACRIN $1.5 million for a clinical trial related to early detection of breast cancer.
Honorable Mentions
The National Catholic Educational Association's Child-to-Child effort encouraged children to donate a dollar to support students whose schools were destroyed by
Hurricane Katrina. More than $1 million had been collected and distributed by December 2005, and the money continues to arrive to this day.
The Herberger College of Fine Arts needed to raise $50,000 by the end of 2005, its PR team developed a "One Hand Clapping" theme that highlighted the collaborative
element of art and implored the College's audiences for help. Mission: accomplished. The team surpassed its stated goal of $50,000 by 70%.