Associate Professor - medical
Strategic program(s):
Biography
Maarten Smits is an associate professor, clinical scientist and interventional radiologist at UMC Utrecht, specializing in interventional oncology and minimally invasive, image-guided treatments for cancer patients. Appointed as Clinical Scientist in 2025, he has founded and leads the UMC Utrecht Interventional Oncology Research Team. Under his leadership, the team has expanded to 19 members, including PhD students and postdocs, and is participating in several EU-funded consortia.
His clinical and research focus lies in two domains: ablation and radioembolization. In ablation, he pioneered the Hepatic Arteriography and C-arm CT Guided Ablation (HepACAGA) technique for treating liver tumors. Since 2021, HepACAGA has become the standard method at UMC Utrecht, achieving significantly improved patient outcomes compared to conventional approaches. Its success has led to global adoption in more than 20 centers, with ongoing multicenter studies further validating its effectiveness.
In radioembolization, UMC Utrecht is internationally recognized for its groundbreaking work with holmium microspheres. Having contributed to pivotal studies such as HEPAR, SIM, and CAIRO7, Maarten now focuses on advancing tumor selectivity and simplifying treatment pathways.
His collaborations with industry partners—including Philips, Terumo, Medtronic, and Boston Scientific—have translated innovations from the lab into practice, ensuring access to cutting-edge treatments.
Beyond his research, Maarten plays a key role in medical education as Program Director for Interventional Radiology training at UMC Utrecht. He supervises PhD candidates, residents, and fellows, fostering a culture where collaboration, innovation, and learning from experience are central.
His academic contributions include more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, textbook chapters, and multiple international lectures at leading conferences such as CIRSE and ECIO. He serves on the editorial board of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (CVIR) and contributes to national and international guideline development.
Through his leadership, research, and dedication to innovation, Maarten is helping shape the future of interventional oncology, with the vision of treating more patients effectively, sustainably, and with fewer resources—ultimately improving outcomes and quality of life for people living with cancer.
Grants and awards:
Research aim
Interventional oncology is a fast-moving subspeciality providing image-guided treatment of cancer by interventional radiologists. Our aim is to help develop, evaluate and implement innovations in this field.
Go to groupResearch aim
To improve surveillance, diagnostics, treatment, and outcome for patients with primary liver tumors (hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma) by interdisciplinary and (inter-)national collaborative research
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