Jan-Willem Beenakker is Professor of Ophthalmic Physics within the Departments of Ophthalmology, Radiology, and Radiotherapy at the LUMC. In addition, he is a member of the management team of the LUMC NeuroScience research theme and one of the principal investigators of the C.J. Gorter MRI Center. In 2022, he was awarded an NWO Vidi grant for his research on innovative imaging technologies for ocular diseases and ocular oncology.

More information about Jan Willem Beenakker

Jan-Willem Beenakker is Professor of Ophthalmic Physics within the Departments of Ophthalmology, Radiology, and Radiotherapy at the LUMC. In addition, he is a member of the management team of the LUMC NeuroScience research theme and one of the principal investigators of the C.J. Gorter MRI Center. In 2022, he was awarded an NWO Vidi grant for his research on innovative imaging technologies for ocular diseases and ocular oncology.

Ophthalmic physics

Beenakker’s research focuses on the physical principles underlying vision and the technologies used by ophthalmologists for diagnosis and treatment. The field encompasses optics, medical imaging, radiotherapy, and computational modelling of the eye. Within the LUMC, the main focus is on the development of innovative imaging technologies for ocular oncology, with the aim of improving treatment precision while preserving as much vision as possible.

The research is conducted in close collaboration with the Departments of Radiology and Radiotherapy, the C.J. Gorter MRI Center, and the Holland Proton Therapy Center (HollandPTC). A major research line is the development of MRI-based proton therapy for ocular melanoma without the need for surgical marker clips, potentially sparing patients an invasive procedure. Additional research focuses on novel MRI and CT techniques for tumour diagnosis and treatment planning, as well as optical models of the eye to improve understanding of visual function and radiation-induced damage.

Wetenschappelijke carrière

Jan-Willem Beenakker studied Physics in Leiden and obtained his PhD from Leiden University in 2012 with the thesis “Unravelling the collagen network of the arterial wall”, supervised by Prof. Dr. Ir. T.H. Oosterkamp. Following his PhD, he transitioned from fundamental experimental physics to the clinical environment of the academic medical center.

At the LUMC, he established the multidisciplinary MReye research group, bringing together physics, medical imaging, and clinical ophthalmology. His research focuses on the development and clinical translation of MRI technology for ocular diseases, particularly ocular melanoma. The techniques developed by his group are now internationally applied for the diagnosis of ocular tumors and for proton therapy treatment planning.