Coen Hurkmans is a part-time professor in Radiation Therapy Clinical Physics, a joint chair between the departments of Electrical Engineering and Experimental Physics. As the Head Clinical Physicist for Radiotherapy at Catharina Hospital, Hurkmans intends to build the bridge between the fundamental electrical engineering expertise, imaging and artificial intelligence expertise at TU/e and the clinical physics expertise at Catharina Hospital. This will help develop the potential of radiation oncology to the fullest.

Hurkmans’ main focus will be on implementation and validation of advanced radiation therapies. An important research topic will be improvement and efficient use of MR imaging for treatment planning and real-time tracking during radiation therapy. Artificial intelligence has the potential to speed up image reconstruction, opening the way to real-time, online adaptive replanning and radiation. Hurkmans will also be concerned with a broader range of clinical physics topics.

Hurkmans has over 100 peer-reviewed full paper and book chapter publications and is a popular invited speaker at many conferences. He is a member of several professional societies and committees, a reviewer for various scientific journals and editor of two journals.