Working with enthusiastic bright people to improve radiation therapy techniques, bringing together various backgrounds and ideas, and learning a lot about myself along the way is what drives my professional life.

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.

Coen Hurkmans obtained his MSc in Experimental Physics from Utrecht University in 1995 and his PhD from University of Amsterdam in 2001. For his education, he also spent time at the university hospital in Lund (Sweden) and the Netherlands Cancer Institute. From 2002 to 2011, Hurkmans worked at the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven as a Clinical Physicist. Then, he became their Head Clinical Physicist Radiotherapy, a position he still holds. In 2023, he joined Eindhoven University of Technology as Professor in Radiation Therapy Clinical Physics. 

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