Julie Staals

Professor

Prof. Julie Staals is working as a clinical neurologist at Maastricht UMC+. Her specialisation is neurovascular diseases. She has obtained her medical degree at Maastricht University. Afterwards, she did a parallel tract in neurology training and PhD research project, both were finished in 2009. In 2013 she did a short research fellowship at the Brain Research Imaging Center in Edinburgh, UK. Her research focus is on clinical studies in cerebral small vessel disease, mainly the effects of hypertension, the rol of endothelial function, blood-brain barrier and the neurovascular unit, advanced imaging, and the cognitive consequences of this disease. She developed the ‘total SVD score’, a highly cited score for MRI severity of cerebral small vessel disease. Other clinical research topics are intracerebral haemorrhage and acute stroke treatments.

Julie Staals has been appointed as professor 'Neurovascular disease' as of 1 April 2024. Julie is neurologist at Maastricht UMC+ and leader of the stroke clinic. Her research aims at unravelling the pathophysiology of cerebral small vessel disease, a common ageing-related disease leading to stroke and dementia, which falls within the research programs of both CARIM and MHeNS. Furthermore she is involved in clinical studies on the very successfull acute endovascular stroke treatment. The inaugural lecture will follow later.

She is currently involved in:
SVDs@target, a EU Horizon2020 multicenter project on mechanisms in cerebral small vessel disease (www.svds-at-target.eu)

CRUCIAL, a EU Horizon2020 multicenter project on microvascular rarefaction in vascular cognitive impairment and heart failure (www.crucial-project.eu)

MRCLEAN trials, acute clinical stroke trials aiming at improving outcome in endovascular treatment (www.contrast-consortium.nl)

Department of Neurology
Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht

2026
- Doheim, M. F., Knapen, R. R. M. M., Dippel, D. W. J., Staals, J., Hofmeijer, J., van Es, A. C. G. M., Coutinho, J. M., van der Leij, C., Nogueira, R. G., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., van Zwam, W. H., & MR CLEAN Registry Investigators (2026). Association of anesthesia strategies with outcomes in endovascular treatment for distal and medium vessel occlusions: A propensity score-matched analysis of the MR CLEAN registry and meta-analysis. European Stroke Journal, 11(1), Article 23969873251352406. https://doi.org/10.1177/23969873251352406
- Reitsma, F. J., van Kuijk, S. M. J., Werring, D. J., Banerjee, G., Cordonnier, C., Kaaouana, O., Puy, L., Biffi, A., Viswanathan, A., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Staals, J., & Rouhl, R. P. W. (2026). Development and external validation of the LEAN score to predict late seizures after intracerebral haemorrhage. European Stroke Journal, 11(1), Article 23969873251350882. https://doi.org/10.1177/23969873251350882
2025
- Dassen, S., Van Es, A., Roozenbeek, B., Van De Graaf, R., Roos, Y., Majoie, C., Ghariq, E., Kruyt, N., Fischer, U., Van Oostenbrugge, R., Van Zwam, W., & Staals, J. (2025). Time to Endovascular Treatment and Clinical Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke With M2-Segment Occlusion. Journal of the American Heart Association, 14(22), 1-10. Article e043984. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.125.043984
- Verstappen, D., de Jong, J. J. A., Voorter, P. H. M., van Dinther, M., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Staals, J., Jansen, J. F. A., & Backes, W. H. (2025). DCE-MRI reveals spatial pattern in heterogeneous blood-brain barrier leakage within white matter in cerebral small vessel disease. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 45(11), 2104-2114. Article 0271678X251364151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678X251364151
- Voorter, P. H. M., van Dinther, M., Drenthen, G. S., Elschot, E. P., Staals, J., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Jansen, J. F. A., & Backes, W. H. (2025). Vessel architecture imaging reveals microvascular rarefaction and capillary-to-arteriole shift in cerebral small vessel disease. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 45(11), 2092-2103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678X251358968
- Vermeulen, E., Bruneau, M., Potters, F., Podlogar, M., Jolink, W. M. T., Haeren, R., Wagemans, B. A. J. M., Staals, J., Meijer, F. J. A., Klijn, C. J. M., Vinke, S., De Vries, J., van Zwam, W. H., & Boogaarts, H. D. (2025). Evaluating the need for late angiography for complete obliteration of AVMs after endovascular treatment: collaborative AVM center experience and a systematic review. Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnis-2025-024046
- Bruijel, J., Stapert, S., Vermeeren, A., Staals, J., Ponsford, J., & van Heugten, C. (2025). Course of Fatigue and Sleep After Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/HTR.0000000000001078
- Schuurman, B., Mess, W. H., Postma, A. A., Staals, J., & van Weert, S. (2025). Pearls & Oy-sters: Eagle Syndrome in a Patient With Neurologic Deficit Upon Head Rotation. Neurology, 105(1), Article e213764. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213764
- Olthuis, S. G. H., Pinckaers, F. M. E., Robbe, M. M. Q., de Ridder, I. R., Hoving, J. W., Venema, E., Daems, J. D., Pirson, F. A. V. A., Staals, J., Emmer, B. J., Lingsma, H. F., Roosendaal, S. D., van der Hoorn, A., Koopman, M. S., Postma, A. A., Dippel, D. W. J., Majoie, C. B., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., van Zwam, W. H., & MR CLEAN-LATE (Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands for Late Arrivals) Investigators (2025). CT Perfusion Imaging After Selection for Late-Window Endovascular Stroke Treatment: Secondary Analysis of the MR CLEAN-LATE Randomized Trial. JAMA Neurology, 82(6), 589-596. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.0716
- Van der Taelen, L., Briones, A. M., Unger, T., Staals, J., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., & Foulquier, S. (2025). Circulating immune cells in cerebral small vessel disease: a systematic review. Biogerontology, 26(3), Article 101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-025-10250-x

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Julie Staals

Professor