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

Diffusion MRI of the prenatal fetal brain M Di Stefano, T Ciceri, A Leemans, S M C de Zwarte, A De Luca, D Peruzzo
NeuroImage, 2025, vol. 320
Trends in Term-Equivalent Age Brain Volumes in Infants Born Across the Gestational Age Spectrum Anouk S Verschuur, Gerda van Wezel-Meijler, Selma Low, Ingrid M Nijholt, Amy Metcalfe, Janice Skiffington, Donna M Slater, Amy Bergeron, Elsa Fiedrich, Martijn F Boomsma, Chantal M W Tax, Alexander Leemans, Lara M Leijser
Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2025, vol. 12
Evaluation of harmonization strategies for analyzing multi-center diffusion MRI data of rhabdomyosarcoma Andrey Zhylka, Giulia de Donno, Cyrano Chatziantoniou, Roelof van Ewijk, Madeleine Adams, Patrizia Bertolini, Gianni Bisogno, Amine Bouhamama, Pablo Caro-Dominguez, Valerie Charon, Ana Coma, Rana Dandis, Christine Devalck, Andrea Ferrari, Giulia Fichera, Marta Fiocco, Soledad Gallego, Heidi Glosli, Simone ter Horst, Meriel Jenney, Willemijn M. Klein, Julie Leseur, Henry C Mandeville, Kieran McHugh, Veronique Minard-Colin, Salma Moalla, Carlo Morosi, Daniel Orbach, Lise S. Ording Müller , Erika Pace, Pier Luigi Di Paolo, Katia Perruccio, Lucia Quaglietta, Marleen Renard, Antonio Ruggiero, Sara I. Sirvent, Reineke A Schoot, Rick R. Van Rijn, Johannes H.M. Merks, Alexander Leemans, A De Luca
2025
The tractographer's dilemma Flavio Dell'Acqua, Alexander Leemans, Fan Zhang, Francois Rheault, Shawna Farquharson, Alberto De Luca
Brain structure & function, 2025, vol. 230
Acquisition matters - how do scan parameters affect apparent diffusion coefficient estimates in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma Cyrano Chatziantoniou, Roelof van Ewijk, Madeleine Adams, Patrizia Bertolini, Gianni Bisogno, Amine Bouhamama, Pablo Caro-Dominguez, Valérie Charon, Ana Coma, Rana Dandis, Christine Devalck, Giulia De Donno, Andrea Ferrari, Marta Fiocco, Soledad Gallego, Chiara Giraudo, Heidi Glosli, Simone A J Ter Horst, Meriel Jenney, Willemijn M Klein, Alexander Leemans, Julie Leseur, Henry C Mandeville, Kieran McHugh, Johannes H M Merks, Veronique Minard-Colin, Salma Moalla, Carlo Morosi, Daniel Orbach, Lil-Sofie Ording Müller, Erika Pace, Pier Luigi Di Paolo, Katia Perruccio, Lucia Quaglietta, Marleen Renard, Rick R van Rijn, Antonio Ruggiero, Sara I Sirvent, Reineke A Schoot, Alberto De Luca
Pediatric radiology, 2025, vol. 55, p.1598-1610
A review on learning-based algorithms for tractography and human brain white matter tracts recognition Amin Barati Shoorche, Parastoo Farnia, Bahador Makkiabadi, Alexander Leemans
Neuroradiology, 2025, vol. 67, p.2041-2067

Fellowships & Awards

VIDI (NWO)

FC-EW (NWO)

USERN (UNESCO)

PhD fellowship (IWT)

Honorary Doctorate (Chubut)

Honorary Doctorate (Kharkiv)

Young Investigator Award (BHPA)

Outstanding Teacher Award (ISMRM)