dr. Frank Nijsen

Over Frank Nijsen

Research group: Experimental Interventional Nuclear Medicine

Focus: Development, validation and implementation of local nuclear therapies for poorly treatable cancers. Translation into CE-registered products in public-private partnerships.

Frank Nijsen studied both biology and medical biology at the University of Amsterdam. Frank transferred from the UMCU to Radboudumc in 2017 and leads the group 'image-guided local nuclear interventions'. He is associate professor, PI and ius promovendi and has a fundraising capacity of 11.0 MEuro over the past 10 years, of which 6.8 MEuro for the direct research group. He holds as inventor 7 patents in the radioembolization and microsphere field and published over 75 articles. Thanks to his internationally leading work, based on public-private partnerships (Siemens, Terumo), more manageable local treatment options for liver tumors and metastases have been developed and marketed, which are now available internationally.

Research and development of real-time image guided treatment approaches for malignancies with radioactive nano- and microspheres is an important part of the research performed. A close cooperation, herein, exists with the medical specialists (interventional radiologists, nuclear physicians, oncologists, radiotherapists and immunologists). The research that is performed fits into a bench-to-bedside-to-community approach of translational research. In 2011, Frank was asked by the Imaging Division of UMC Utrecht as the leading person in the valorisation of the holmium microspheres for liver malignancies and co- founded the start-up company Quirem Medical (2013).

He is currently supervising over 10 PhD candidate with who he is developing local image-guided nuclear therapies for poorly treatable tumors in the liver, brain and pancreas with the aim of controlling them locally and making them more accessible for immunotherapy. To this end, he and his research group is conducting research into possibilities for robot-assisted administration in collaboration with the University of Twente. Based on his large national and growing international network, contact with patient groups and direct users, and his talent for translating academic ideas into commercially available applications, he has a major impact on minimally invasive care for poorly treatable patients.