I am a member of the executive council of ESR and chair the ESR Publication Committee. I am part of the ESR Education Committee Board and involved in various ESR committees and subcommittees such as, the Research, Subspecialties and Allied Sciences Societies and previously Quality, Safety and Standards Committee as well as the ETAP Subcommittee. I was active in the ESR Publications Committee and served as the Editor-in-chief of ESR News. I am also engaged in ESOR activities as a member of the ESOR steering committee. From 2009-15 I held a position in the board of the Dutch Society of Radiology.
I am engaged in international radiological subspecialty societies. I am Past-President of European Society of Oncologic Imaging (ESOI) and president of the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR). Also I am 1st President of the European Society of Radiology (ESR).
Reflecting my mission to bridge the world of radiologists with that of the clinicians, I am also actively engaged in several international clinical societies and acts as a liaison. As a radiologist I took part in scientific program planning committees of several of these societies. I served in the educational and strategic committees of the United European Gastroenterology (UEG), a federation of leading GI societies in Europe. I was involved in activities of the ESTRO (European Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology), the ESSO (European Society of Surgical Oncology), the ESMO (European Society of Medical Oncology), ESCP (European Society of Coloproctology), ESDO (European Society of Digestive Oncology) and ECCO (European CanCer Organisation). Furthermore I took part in consensus clinical guideline panels of several of the above societies including the ESGE (European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) and EAES (European Association for Endoscopic Surgery). I was a member of the national organising committee of ECCO 2013 and a member of the program planning committee of ECCO 2017. During the ECCO 2017 in Amsterdam, I served as the ESR representative and moderator at the ESR Society Day.
For my scientific work I received awards from my peers including the European Radiology-ESGAR Bronze Award 2013 and the European Radiology 2011 best scientific publication. My work has also received recognition by international clinical societies: the 2009 Piedmont Society Award from the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the 2015 BJS Society Prize from the European Society of Coloproctology, the 2010 Niall O’Higgins Best Paper Award from the European Society of Surgical Oncology. I am a honorary member of the Chilean Society of Colorectal Surgery. I will be awarded the 2018 ESTRO honorary membership at the ESTRO 2018, 37th annual meeting.
I have (co)authored over 200 papers that together have been cited over 5000 times and authored 35 book chapters. I have been part of the scientific editorial boards of peer reviewed medical journals including European Radiology. I have been part of the Oncology section .
I have delivered over 350 invited lectures in radiological and clinical society meetings around the world. I have received several teaching awards of which ‘the European School of Radiology 2013 Best Teacher Award’ and ‘the ISMRM Outstanding Teacher Award’ in 2008, 2009 and 2014.
