Researchers Richard van Hillegersberg

Richard van Hillegersberg

Full Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

Richard van Hillegersberg attended medical school in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 1993 he received his PhD with honor at the Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. From 1994-2000, he was trained in General Surgery in Rotterdam. From 2001-2002 he was fellow of Surgical Oncology in the Academic Medical Center and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Netherlands Cancer Center Amsterdam. Since 2003 he is appointed as staff surgeon at the University Medical Center Utrecht. From 2009 he is a full professor of gastrointestinal oncology. Research is focused on Upper GI minimally invasive and robotic surgery, surgical imaging and genetic profiling. He has authored over 15 chapters in textbooks concerning robotic forgut surgery and over 500 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. From 2018 he is chairman of the Educational committee of the European Society for Diseases for the Esophagus (ESDE) and member of the education committee of ISDE, he is associate editor of Diseases of the Esophagus and Digestive Surgery, founder and chairman of the Upper GI International Robotic Association (UGIRA).

Strategic program(s):

Contact

rhillege@umcutrecht.nl

Pure profile

Research groups

Upper GI

Research aim

Our research concentrates on surgical treatment of esophageal and gastric cancer, addressing diagnostics, surgical techniques, postoperative recovery, and prognostic outcomes. By interdisciplinary collaboration we strive to enhance patient care.

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Recent publications

All publications

Pre- and Post-Treatment Predictive Models of Peritoneal Recurrence After Fluorouracil, Leucovorin, Oxaliplatin, and Docetaxel-Chemotherapy and Surgery Margaret M. Lee, Darren J. Wong, Katheryn Hall, Cuong P. Duong, David I. Watson, Claire L. Donohoe, Tim Bright, Ahmad Aly, Kevin Chan, David Chan, Neil Merrett, Sivakumar Gananadha, Yick Ho Lam, Harsh Kanhere, B. Mark Smithers, Michael Bozin, Matthew Read, Krinal Mori, Mary Ann Johnson, Enoch Wong, Sarah A. Martin, Geraldine Ooi, Yahya Al-Habbal, Chon Hann Liew, Robert Bohmer, Jurstine Daruwalla, Mo Ballal, Rukshan Ranjan, Andrew D. MacCormick, Sharon Pattison, Nicholas Evennett, Jason Robertson, James Tan, Alexandra Gordon, Simon Bann, Inian Samarasam, Ramesh Gurunathan, Jimmy So, Jonathan Yeung, Lorenzo Ferri, Ewen A. Griffiths, Alexander W. Phillips, Sheraz Markar, David Chan, Thomas Murphy, John Reynolds, Magnus Nilsson, Guillaume Piessen, Bas Wijnhoven, Richard van Hillegersberg, Mark I. van Berge Henegouwen, Pietro M. Lombardi, Nicholas J. Clemons, Zexi Allan, Anthony J. Hamilton, David S. Liu, Investigators SPACE-FLOT Investigators, Margaret M. Lee, Darren J. Wong, David S. Liu, Katheryn Hall, David I. Watson, Lorenzo Ferri, Jimmy So, Claire L. Donohoe, Michael Michael, Niall C. Tebbutt, Cuong P. Duong, Tim Bright, Ahmad Aly, Sonia Gill, Chao Cheng, Su Kah Goh, Matthew Read, James Tan, Sean Stevens, Enoch Wong, Geraldine Ooi, Yick Ho Lam, Eunice Lee, David Williams, Louise Jackett, Kevin Chan, Garett Smith, David Chan, Neil Merrett, Sivakumar Gananadha, Harsh Kanhere, Lauren Kennedy, Mark Smithers, Janine Thomas, Michael Bozin, Lynn Chong, Krinal Mori, Mary Ann Johnson, Sarah A. Martin, Val Usatoff, Rod Jacobs, Yahya Al-Habbal, Chon Hann Liew, Fredrick Huynh, Robert Bohmer, Girish Pande, Jurstine Daruwalla, Mo Ballal, Deanna Lee, Rukshan Ranjan, Andrew D. MacCormick, James Wilkins, Sharon Pattison, Nicholas Evennett, Jason Robertson, Mark Pang, Alexandra Gordon, Simon Bann, Yu Kai Lim, Inian Samarasam, Ramesh Gurunathan, Jonathan Yeung, Frances Allison, Aya Siblini, Ewen A. Griffiths, Alexander W. Phillips, Pooja Prasad, Sheraz Markar, Swathikan Chidambaram, David Chan, Thomas Murphy, John Reynolds, Magnus Nilsson, Fredrik Klevebro, Guillaume Piessen, Justine Lerooy, Bas Wijnhoven, Charlène van der Zijden, Richard van Hillegersberg, Lianne Triemstra, Jelle Ruurda, Mark Ivo van Berge Henegouwen, Suzanne Sarah Gisbertz, Pietro Maria Lombardi, Aleksandra Edmondson, Joe Q. Wei, Aldenb Lorenzo, Sam Alhayo, Aaditya Narendra, Aadil Rahim, Rocita Ho, Jeremy Granger, Steven Tran, Michalis Koullouros, Alain Nguyen, Christina McVeay, Siang Wei Gan, Eve Hopping, Iain Thomson, Andrew Barbour, David Gotley, Adam Frankel, Riteshkumar Patel, Shaun Jin Hui Chew, Kevin Lah, Sonia Gill, Stephen A. Barnett, Vijayaragavan Muralidharan, Samantha Phillips, Wael Jamel, Bung Kook Ko, Shantanu Joglekar, Ashray Rajagopalan, Joseph Jaya, Yat Cheung Chung, Saania Peeroo, Marek Bak, Jonathan Tiong, Zhei Zhou, Amy Crowe, Ryan Newbold, Bethanie Trainor, Mei Lynn Pac Soo, Vaibhavee Khandelwal, Nicholas Eikelboom, Kyungchul Kim, Emily Moran, Joshua Hammerschlag, Brendan Desmond, Joel D'Souza, Jacky Lu, Rachel McLay-Barnes, Alexandra Gower, Jenny Choi, Yu Kai Lim, Douglas Wood, Kate Whytock, Suraj Surendran, Negine Paul, Feroz Khan H, Daryl K.A. Chia, Eugene KF Leong, Tvisha Ijner, Yi Tzu Linda Lin, Mei Sien Liew, Helen Jaretzke, Niall Dempster, Kunal Bhanot, Areeb Mian, Sotiris Mastoridis, Ben Gibbons, Sam Owen-Smith, James Walmsley, Mohammed Al Azzawi, Evin Doyle, Yasuhiro Okamura, Kammy Keywani, Giovanni Ferrari, Monica Gualtierotti, Paolo De Martini, Frida Bushati, Nicholas J. Clemons, Zexi Allan, Anthony J. Hamilton
JCO Precision Oncology, 2026, vol. 10

Systemic therapy, gastrectomy, cytoreductive surgery, and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy versus systemic therapy alone for gastric cancer with limited peritoneal metastases (PERISCOPE II) Judith S E Quik, Marieke A Vollebergh, Valesca P Retèl, Karen van der Sluis, Willem J Koemans, Rosa T van der Kaaij, Madelon M Voets, Misha D P Luyer, Irene E G van Hellemond, Bas P L Wijnhoven, Bianca Mostert, Richard van Hillegersberg, Nadia Haj Mohammad, Boudewijn van Etten, Derk J de Groot, Olli Helminen, Jakob Hedberg, Peter H Cashin, Julie L Harbjerg, Alexander A F A Veenhof, Koen J Hartemink, Liudmila L Kodach, Vincent van der Noort, Johanna W van Sandick,
The Lancet Oncology, 2026, vol. 27, p.1031-1042

Intraoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve monitoring in esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy Femke E. Lammes, B. Feike Kingma, Jelle P. Ruurda, Richard van Hillegersberg
Journal of Thoracic Disease, 2026, vol. 18

First series of da Vinci single-port robotic-assisted cervical oesophagectomy Vladimir J. Lozanovski, Luca Bellaio, Edin Hadzijusufovic, Olga Adamenko Meier, Franziska Renger, Christoph Wandhoefer, Suzanne S. Gisbertz, Richard van Hillegersberg, Hauke Lang, Peter P. Grimminger
BJS open, 2026, vol. 10

Towards Effective Surgical Representation Learning with DINO Models Ronald L.P.D. de Jong, Yiping Li, Tim J.M. Jaspers, Romy C. van Jaarsveld, Gino M. Kuiper, Franco Badaloni, Richard van Hillegersberg, Jelle P. Ruurda, Fons van der Sommen, Josien P.W. Pluim, Marcel Breeuwer
Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, 2026, vol. 315, p.1065-1080

Surgical approach and oncological outcomes in Siewert type II junctional tumors Adam Zeyara, Gino M. Kuiper, Stijn Vanstraelen, Jelle P. Ruurda, Richard van Hillegersberg
Diseases of the Esophagus, 2026, vol. 39

Fellowships & Awards

2014-present. Principle investigator. Cost effectiveness of laparoscopic gastrectomy as an alternative to open gastrectomy for gastric cancer (LOGICA trial). ClinTrial.gov: NCT02248519. ZonMw (837002502) Eu 400.000

2014-present. Principle investigator. Esophagectomy for Patients With Esophageal Cancer and Cervical Lymph Node Metastases (NODE trial). ClinTrial.gov: NCT02426879

2017-present. Intuitive Clinical Research Grant for the project “The International Registry for Robot-assisteted Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy” (RAMIE). Unrestricted Grant $ 50.000

2017-present. International Database collaboration Robotic esophagectomy, Intuitive Surgical, Unrestricted Grant. Eu 50.000

2017-present. Coordinating Investigator of International Centers. Surgery for adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) type II: transthoracic esophagectomy vs. transhiatal extended gastrectomy (CARDIA trial). Analyzing in a multicenter international setting the optimal surgical strategy for tumors at the oesophago-gastric junction. This trial is now recruiting in collaboration with The University of Koln. Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien. DRKS-number: 00016923. Federal Ministry for Education and Research. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) (grant number 01KG1816). Eu 1.940.000

2018-present. G.J.Meijer. Preoperative Image-guided Identification of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Esophageal Cancer (PRIDE). ClinTrial.gov: NCT03474341. KWF (10291) Eu 890.260

2020-present Principal investigator. Paravertabral catheter versus epidural anagesia in minimally invasive esophageal resection : a RCT (PEPMEN trail). ZonMw (852002004) Eu 392.650

External positions

member - advisor - Dutch Guidelines Oesophageal Cancer (FMS)

Associate editor - paper editor - Digestive Surgery

member board and educational committee - management - The International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus

Associate editor - paper editor - Diseases of the Esophagus

member board and educational committee - management - European Society Diseases of the Esopghagus (ESDE)

Onderwijs robotchirurgie - Slokdarmchirurgie, robotchirurgie - Intuitive Surgical

editorial board - chirurgische oncologie - Springer Healthcare Benelux

Proctor - training van chirurgen in robot chirurgie - Intuitive Surgical

member scientific committee - management - United European Gastroenterology (UEG)

board member - chirurgische oncologie - DICA

Bestuur - Penningmeester - Stichting Chirurgische Oncologie

member - management - European Digestive Surgery

member board - advisor - Dutch Upper GI Cancer Audit (DUCA)