Eline Kooi

Professor

Prof. Eline Kooi obtained a Master degree in Physics (University of Amsterdam, 1995) and a PhD degree in Molecular Physics at the same university (1999). She was trained in Medical Physics, specialisation Radiology, at Maastricht UMC from 1999-2004. Since 2004 she is a registered Medical Physicist at Maastricht UMC+. Presently, she is a Professor of Medical Physics, especially vascular imaging, at the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine within CARIM.

Her research is focussed on sophisticated multi-modality cardiovascular imaging. Her group is at the international forefront of developing and evaluating imaging techniques to study plaque vulnerability. She has focussed on cutting edge imaging of the hallmarks of high-risk plaques in animals and patients. She was the first to demonstrate that plaque inflammation can be visualised in humans. Her group has the unique position of multi-modality imaging of the vessel wall (PET/MRI, ultrasound, CT) in different vascular beds (carotid and coronary arteries, aorta). She has performed numerous MR Spectroscopy studies on lipid metabolism, also in the heart. Recently, she has expanded her research towards cardiac MRI (perfusion MRI, T1 mapping).

She is a leading member of the steering committee of a multi-centre trial to determine the clinical value of plaque imaging (PARISK) and she coordinates plaque imaging within the European Carotid Surgery Trial-2 (ECST-2). She has published >100 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals. She has successfully completed supervision of 12 PhD students. Currently, she is supervising 6 PhD students and one post-doc student. She is frequently invited as invited speaker and/or moderator at the leading international conferences in her field. She has received numerous research grants.

Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht
Room number: H1.328
T: +31(0)43 387 49 11

 

  • 2026
    • Bierens, J., Ament, S. M. C., Truijman, M. T. B., de Borst, G. J., Nederkoorn, P. J., Bos, D., Joore, M. A., Postma, A. A., Kooi, M. E., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Smits, L. J. M., & IMPROVE Investigators (2026). Plaque Magnetic Resonance Imaging Based Decision Rule for the Selection of Symptomatic Patients for Carotid Revascularisation: Clinician Perspectives on Acceptability and Implementation Barriers in the Netherlands. European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, 71(1), 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejvs.2025.08.022
  • 2025
    • van der Pol, J. A. J., Rahel, B., van Cauteren, Y. J. M., Moonen, R. P. M., Meeder, J. G., Gerretsen, S. C., Aizaz, M., Prieto, C., Botnar, R. M., Bucerius, J., van Langen, H., Wildberger, J. E., Holtackers, R. J., & Kooi, M. E. (2025). Molecular Imaging of Coronary Plaque Vulnerability Using 18F-Fluorocholine PET-MRI in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease: Validation with Optical Coherence Tomography. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 14(24), Article 8708. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14248708
    • Cesario, M., Littlewood, S. J., Nadel, J., Fletcher, T. J., Fotaki, A., Castillo-Passi, C., Hajhosseiny, R., Pouliopoulos, J., Jabbour, A., Olivero, R., Rodríguez-Palomares, J., Kooi, M. E., Prieto, C., & Botnar, R. M. (2025). Automated segmentation of thoracic aortic lumen and vessel wall on three-dimensional bright- and black-blood magnetic resonance imaging using nnU-Net. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 27(2), Article 101923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocmr.2025.101923
    • Bierens, J., Speetjens, I., Van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Smits, L. J. M., Kooi, M. E., & Truijman, M. T. B. (2025). Systematic Review of the Discrepancies Between Guideline Recommendations on Carotid Revascularization in Patients with Symptomatic Carotid Artery Disease. Stroke: vascular and interventional neurology, 5(6), Article e001844. https://doi.org/10.1161/SVIN.125.001844
    • Saba, L., Scicolone, R., Chabert, G. L., Bos, D., Kopczak, A., Mossa-Basha, M., Song, J. W., Sanfilippo, R., Schindler, A., Nicolaides, A. N., Kooi, M. E., Saam, T., Cau, R., & Lanzino, G. (2025). Carotid Plaque-RADS: Inter- and Intrareader Agreement and Learning Curve Analysis in CTA. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 46(10), 2009-2017. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A8769
    • Ren, Z., Wesselius, A., Kooi, M. E., van Greevenbroek, M., Dagnelie, P., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Kroon, A. A., Houben, A. J. H. M., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & Brouwers, M. C. G. J. (2025). Steatotic liver disease interacts with a polygenic risk score for triglyceride clearance to impact the risk of hypertriglyceridaemia: The Maastricht Study. Diabetologia, 68(10), 2217-2226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-025-06479-3
    • Molad, J., Miwa, K., Nash, P. S., Ambler, G., Best, J., Wilson, D., Hallevi, H., Fandler-Höfler, S., Eppinger, S., Du, H., Al-Shahi Salman, R., Jäger, H. R., Lip, G. Y. H., Goeldlin, M. B., Beyeler, M., Bücke, P., El-Koussy, M., Mattle, H. P., Panos, L. D., ... Et al. (2025). Increased risk of recurrent stroke in patients with impaired kidney function: results of a pooled analysis of individual patient data from the MICON international collaboration. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 96(9), 842-851. Article e335110. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2024-335110
    • Kuppers, F., Kassem, M., Yun, S. D., Stoffels, G., Filss, C., Galldiks, N., Mottaghy, F. M., Kooi, M. E., Langen, K.-J., Lohmann, P., & Shah, N. J. (2025). Brain Tumor Characterization Using Multiple MR Parameters From Multi-Contrast EPI With Keyhole (GE-SE EPIK) Including Oxygen Extraction Fraction: A Comparison to O-(2-[18F]Fluoroethyl)-L-Tyrosine (FET) Positron Emission Tomography. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 62(3), 721-736. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.29795
    • Tziotziou, A., Fontana, F., Korteland, S.-A., Bierens, J., Nederkoorn, P. J., de Jong, P. A., Eline Kooi, M., van der Lugt, A., van der Steen, A. F. W., Wentzel, J. J., Bos, D., & Akyildiz, A. C. (2025). Carotid Calcification Shape, Size, and Lumen Proximity Are Associated with Ischemic Events. Academic Radiology, 32(9), 5468-5477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2025.05.066
    • Tziotziou, A., Liu, Y., Fontana, F., Bierens, J., Nederkoorn, P. J., de Jong, P. A., Kooi, M. E., Mess, W., van der Lugt, A., van der Steen, A. F. W., Bos, D., Wentzel, J. J., & Akyildiz, A. C. (2025). Pressure- and flow-driven biomechanical factors associate with carotid atherosclerosis assessed by computed tomography angiography. Atherosclerosis, 408, Article 120415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2025.120415