The University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMCU) is one of the largest public health care institutions in the Netherlands, with over 11,000 employees, including almost 1000 PhD students. The department of Neurology & Neurosurgery at UMCU treats over 600 patients with acute stroke each year and has a dedicated vascular cognitive impairment clinic. The Center for Image Sciences (CIS) is performing world leading imaging research and image based therapy research at the UMCU. The Center for Image Sciences (CIS) at the UMCU employs and trains 120 PhD students in grant funded research projects. The MRI physics group is one of the largest in Europe with major developments in the field of 7T MRI of the brain.
Using the unique properties of high field 7T-MRI his group managed to detect cerebral microinfarcts in vivo. The technique has now been translated to 3T-MRI. A next goal is to non-invasively image structure and function of the small vessels themselves, thus getting closer to the core disease processes. This is pursued in Zoom@SVDs as part of the SVDs@target program. He is PI of the Dutch Heart-Brain connection program (www.heart-brain.nl/), the Meta VCI Map consortium (www.metavcimap.org), and two large multicentre RCTs on prevention of cognitive decline in patients with in type 2 diabetes (PMID: 29334906). In 2015 he received the senior investigator award of the European Stroke Organisation (ESO). He authored over 300 research papers.
Prof. Jeroen Hendrikse (1976) is professor of neuroradiology at the radiology department (Imaging Division) of the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. His major research interest is novel imaging markers to quantify cerebrovascular diseases. His three major research lines can be distinguished as the ‘3Ps’: the investigation of the brain Pipes (vasculature), Perfusion and Parenchyma. With 3T-MRI and 7T-MRI his group visualized and quantified cerebral perfusion and cerebrovascular reserve with arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI and the burden of intracranial atherosclerosis and plaques with intracranial vessel wall MRI. The innovative and non-invasive methods developed within this research lines are translated to daily clinical practice including other patient groups such as patients with brain tumors. He is the first radiologists awarded with an ERC starting grant (HEARTOFSTROKE) with the goal to unravel the causes of cerebral infarcts in individual patients by investigating in detail ‘Pipes, Perfusion and Parenchyma’. Furthermore, he was awarded with major Dutch national research grants (VENI, VIDI, STW, Dutch Heart Association). He is chair of the Dutch radiologists continuing medical education (CME) program. He authored 140 research papers and wrote an educational book for the general public (‘This is our brain’).
Dr. Jaco Zwanenburg is associate professor of advanced MRI at the department of Radiology (Imaging Division) of the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. His research focus is on designing and implementing new MRI techniques at ultra-high field strength (7T), to stimulate further understanding of cerebrovascular diseases. Exploiting the rich sources of endogenous MRI contrast, he developed imaging techniques for angiography, venography, brain anatomy, and microscopic brain lesions resulting from small vessel disease, including microbleeds and microinfarcts. Furthermore, he developed imaging strategies for imaging post mortem specimens at high resolution, to bridge the gap between histology and in-vivo imaging in patients. He was awarded an ERC starting grant (SmallVesselMRI) for developing new techniques for imaging the microvascular function, including the pulsatile motion induced by the small vessels, which drive the waste transport in the brain.
Tine Arts is a PhD student at the department of radiology. She has a background in physics and is keen of MRI research due to its physical fundamentals and medical applications. Her research interest is in the applied MRI sciences, but she is also involved in the development of methods for MRI data analysis.
Laurien Onkenhout is a Ph.D. student at the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus of the University Medical Centre Utrecht. She has a particular interest in vascular and cognitive neurology. She completed her medical degree at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Before commencing her last year at the University she did some traveling which included volunteer work in Nepal and two extracurricular internship/observership, one in India and one at Harvard Medical school. She is now very much looking forward to working on the SVDs@target. In the SVDs@target project she will primarily be working on the ZOOM@SVDs and TREAT-SVDs work packages.
