Profile photo Geert Jan Biessels

Geert Jan Biessels

Full Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

My area of expertise is vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and small vessel disease (SVD), with a particular focus on MRI markers to improve diagnosis and prognostication and support personalized treatment.

Using the unique properties of high field 7T-MRI we have been able – for the first time -to detect cerebral microinfarcts in vivo. We have translated the technique to more widely available 3T-MRI, and published standards on microinfarct detection in the Lancet Neurology. Currently we explore small vessel disease at the level of the small vessels themselves using novel measures of small vessel structure and function at 7T MRI and study the cognitive impact of vascular lesions through multicenter lesion symptom mapping studies (META VCI MAP consortium; https://metavcimap.org/ ) and through white matter network studies with diffusion MRI.

I am actively involved in several national and international VCI and SVD research networks, including STRIVE and HARNESS. I lead...

Research groups

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI)

Research aim

Our research focuses on developing and validating novel MRI markers for vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and cerebral small vessel diseases (SVD) that can help to improve diagnosis and prognostication and support personalized treatment

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Intracranial vasculopathies

Research aim

Our research focusses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of stroke and intracranial vasculopathies, including cerebral small vessel disease and intracranial aneurysms, with the ultimate goal to improve treatment strategies and prognosis.

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Recent publications

Cerebral white matter hyperintensity volumes Floor A.S. de Kort, Elisabeth J. Vinke, Ewoud J. van der Lelij, Devasuda Anblagan, Mark E. Bastin, Alexa Beiser, Henry Brodaty, Nishi Chaturvedi, Bastian Cheng, Simon R. Cox, Charles DeCarli, Christian Enzinger, Evan Fletcher, Richard Frayne, Marius de Groot, Felicia Huang, M. Arfan Ikram, Jiyang Jiang, Bonnie Y.K. Lam,...
Cerebral blood flow and cognitive functioning in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation Astrid C. van Nieuwkerk, Kimberley I. Hemelrijk, Hugo M. Aarts, Anna E. Leeuwis, Charles B.L.M. Majoie, Mat J.A.P. Daemen, Esther E. Bron, Justine E.F. Moonen, Alexandra de Sitter, Berto J. Bouma, Alexander Harms, Wiesje M. van der Flier, Jan Baan, Jan J. Piek, Geert Jan Biessels, Ronak Delewi
...
Blood Flow Velocity Analysis in Cerebral Perforating Arteries on 7T 2D Phase Contrast MRI with an Open-Source Software Tool (SELMA) S. D.T. Pham, C. Chatziantoniou, J. T. van Vliet, R. J. van Tuijl, M. Bulk, M. Costagli, L. de Rochefort, O. Kraff, M. E. Ladd, K. Pine, I. Ronen, J. C.W. Siero, M. Tosetti, A. Villringer, G. J. Biessels, J. J.M. Zwanenburg
Neuroinformatics, 2025, vol. 23
Cerebrovascular Function in Sporadic and Genetic Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Michael S Stringer, Gordon W Blair, Anna Kopczak, Danielle Kerkhofs, Michael J Thrippleton, Francesca M Chappell, Susana Muñoz Maniega, Rosalind Brown, Kirsten Shuler, Iona Hamilton, Daniela Jaime Garcia, Fergus N Doubal, Una Clancy, Eleni Sakka, Tetiana Poliakova, Esther Janssen, Marco Duering, Michael Ingrisch, Julie Staals, Walter H Backes, Robert...
Markers of amyloid-β deposition and burden of enlarged perivascular spaces in patients with cognitive impairment and small vessel disease Ana Sofia Costa, Lieza G Exalto, Wiesje M van der Flier, Charlotte E Teunissen, Frederik Barkhof, Hugo J Kuijf, Geert Jan Biessels,
Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2024, vol. 102, p.981-986
Systemic determinants of brain health in ageing Eric E Smith, Geert Jan Biessels, Virginia Gao, Rebecca F Gottesman, Arthur Liesz, Neal S Parikh, Costantino Iadecola
Nature Reviews Neurology, 2024, vol. 20, p.647-659

Fellowships & Awards

Awards

1998: Dutch Association for Pharmacology, best thesis: Cerebral function in diabetes mellitus

1999: Neurodiab prize for preclinical science. Neurodiab is the official diabetic neuropathy study group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

2015: Senior Investigator Award European Stroke Organisation

2015: Fellow of the Royal...

External positions

Consultant, Chair of Steering Committe COGNIKET trial - Advies over opzet en uitvoer RCT ketogeen voedingssupplement bij MCI; vergoeding gaat naar UMCU - Nestlé Health Science