Profile photo Alexander Leemans

Alexander Leemans

Associate Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

Alexander Leemans is a physicist who received his Ph.D. in 2006 at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. From 2007 to 2009, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Center (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom. In 2009, he joined the Image Sciences Institute (ISI), University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, where he currently holds a tenured faculty position as Associate Professor. His current research interests include modeling, processing, visualizing and analyzing diffusion MRI data for investigating microstructural and architectural tissue organization. He heads the PROVIDI Lab and is the developer of ExploreDTI, which is a graphical toolbox for investigating diffusion MRI data.

Research line

Diffusion MRI

Most recent key publications

1: C. Lebel, L. Walker, A. Leemans, L. Phillips, C. Beaulieu, "Microstructural Maturation of the Human Brain from Childhood to Adulthood", NeuroImage, 2008, nr. 3, vol. 40, pp. 1044-1055
2: A. Leemans, D.K. Jones, "The B-matrix must be rotated when correcting for subject motion in DTI data", Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2009, nr. 1, vol. 62, pp. 1336-1349
3: J.D. Tournier, S. Mori, A. Leemans, "Diffusion tensor imaging and beyond", Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2011, nr. 6, vol. 65, pp. 1532-1556
4: B. Jeurissen, A. Leemans, J.D. Tournier, D.K. Jones, J. Sijbers, "Investigating the prevalence of complex fiber configurations in white matter tissue with diffusion MRI", Human Brain Mapping, 2013, nr. 11, vol. 34, pp. 2747-2766
5: S.B. Vos, D.K. Jones, M.A. Viergever, A. Leemans, "Partial volume effect as a hidden covariate in DTI analyses", NeuroImage, 2011, nr. 4, vol. 55, pp. 1566-1576

Research groups

Image sciences institute

Research aim

Our aim is to develop and evaluate medical image analysis and acquisition methods that help to answer research questions relevant to the strategic research programs, and that will benefit clinical imaging and image-guided interventions.
Go to group

Translational neuroimaging group

Research aim

To develop and apply advanced MRI methods for (pre)clinical research on neuronal and cerebrovascular biology in order to: 1) unravel critical aspects of brain impairment and recovery 2) advance brain treatments (focus: cerebrovascular diseases).
Go to group

Recent publications

Dominance of Tau Burden in Cortical Over Subcortical Regions Mediates Glymphatic Activity and Clinical Severity in PSP Jung-Lung Hsu, Yi-Chia Wei, Ing-Tsung Hsiao, Kun-Ju Lin, Tzu-Chen Yen, Chin-Song Lu, Han-Cheng Wang, Alexander Leemans, Yi-Hsin Weng, Kuo-Lun Huang
Clinical Nuclear Medicine, 2024, vol. 49, p.387-396
Feasibility study to unveil the potential Anouk S. Verschuur, Chantal M.W. Tax, Martijn F. Boomsma, Helen L. Carlson, Gerda van Wezel-Meijler, Regan King, Alexander Leemans, Lara M. Leijser
Frontiers in radiology, 2024, vol. 4
Reconstruction of the Corticospinal Tract in Patients with Motor-Eloquent High-Grade Gliomas Using Multilevel Fiber Tractography Combined with Functional Motor Cortex Mapping A Zhylka, N Sollmann, F Kofler, A Radwan, A De Luca, J Gempt, B Wiestler, B Menze, A Schroeder, C Zimmer, J S Kirschke, S Sunaert, A Leemans, S M Krieg, J Pluim
AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 2023, vol. 44, p.283-290
Corrigendum Sumeet Kumar, Alberto De Luca, Alexander Leemans, Seyed Ehsan Saffari, Septian Hartono, Fatin Zahra Zailan, Kok Pin Ng, Nagaendran Kandiah
Frontiers in Neurology, 2023, vol. 14
Mean kurtosis-Curve (MK-Curve) correction improves the test–retest reproducibility of diffusion kurtosis imaging at 3 T Ernst Christiaanse, Patrik O Wyss, Anke Scheel-Sailer, Angela Frotzler, Dirk Lehnick, Rajeev K Verma, Markus F Berger, Alexander Leemans, Alberto De Luca
NMR in Biomedicine, 2023, vol. 36, p.1-17
Methodological considerations on segmenting rhabdomyosarcoma with diffusion-weighted imaging—What can we do better? Cyrano Chatziantoniou, Reineke A. Schoot, Roelof van Ewijk, Rick R. van Rijn, Simone A.J. ter Horst, Johannes H.M. Merks, Alexander Leemans, Alberto De Luca
Insights into Imaging, 2023, vol. 14, p.1-15

Fellowships & Awards

2019: Honorary Doctorate

2017: Honorary Doctorate

2016: 2016 USERN prize in Medical Sciences

2014: VIDI grant (NWO)

2011: FC-EW grant (NWO)

2003: PhD grant (IWT)