Rob Holtackers

Assistant Professor

Rob studied Biomedical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology, where he obtained his master’s degree with cum laude distinction in 2015. Immediately after, Rob started his PhD within the department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine at the Maastricht University Medical Centre+ (Maastricht UMC+) under supervision of prof. dr. J.E. Wildberger. His fascination for cardiac MRI made him focus on improving the detection and assessment of subtle subendocardial scar tissue.

In 2017, he got a staff position as MR physicist at Maastricht UMC+ and continued his PhD on a part-time basis. After multiple short- and long-term working visits in London, his research collaboration with King’s College London (KCL) was further intensified by becoming an honorary visiting research associate of KCL in 2019.

Rob successfully defended his PhD thesis with cum laude distinction in early 2022. After obtaining his PhD degree, Rob continues his career as MR physicist at Maastricht UMC+ and CARIM

Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine
Prof. Debyelaan 25, 6229 HX Maastricht
Building UNS 60, room M1.05
T: +31 43 387 2478

2026
- Hermans, B. J., Farnir, F. I., Bijvoet, G. P., Larsen, B. S., Jespersen, T., Jerltorp, K., Holtackers, R. J., Mihl, C., Schotten, U., Vernooy, K., Luermans, J. G., Chaldoupi, S.-M., & Linz, D. (2026). Visualization of monopolar biphasic focal pulsed field ablation lesions 3 months after pulmonary vein isolation on high-resolution 3-dimensional dark-blood late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance images. Heart Rhythm, 23(2), 243-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2025.07.047
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
- Gnasso, C., Vecsey-Nagy, M., Hagar, M. T., Joseph Schoepf, U., Sanchez, D. A. P., Zsarnóczay, E., Kravchenko, D., Tremamunno, G., Holtackers, R. J., Halfmann, M. C., Emrich, T., & Varga-Szemes, A. (2025). Impact of Photon-counting CT–based Virtual Monoenergetic Imaging on Detecting Myocardial Late Iodine Enhancement Compared to Cardiac MRI. Radiology. Cardiothoracic imaging, 7(6), Article e250072. https://doi.org/10.1148/ryct.250072
- van der Meulen, L. R., van Dinther, M., Chiribiri, A., Smink, J., Backes, W. H., Bennett, J., Wildberger, J. E., Scannell, C. M., Holtackers, R. J., & Crucial Investigators (2025). Artificial Intelligence-Based Arterial Input Function for the Quantitative Assessment of Myocardial Blood Flow and Perfusion Reserve in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance: A Validation Study. Diagnostics, 15(18), Article 2341. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15182341
- Holtackers, R. J., Varga-Szemes, A., & Smulders, M. W. (2025). Editorial for “Improved and Automated Detection of Papillary Muscle Infarction Using Joint Bright- and Black-Blood Late Gadolinium Enhancement MRI”. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 62(3), 840-841. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.29794
- Coveliers, J., Meani, P., Huizinga, E., Gutta, K., Piccirillo, G., Gasparotti, E., Vignali, E., Mazzoli, M., Kowalewski, M., Huberts, W., Moradi, H., Di Mauro, M., Holtackers, R. J., de Jong, M., Gelsomino, S., Paparella, D., Celi, S., Haxhiademi, D., Körver, E., ... Lorusso, R. (2025). Large-scale computed tomography study of aortic arch and supra-aortic artery morphology: Variations and potential implications for arterial extracorporeal life support access. Perfusion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02676591251370074
- Holtackers, R. J., Ogier, A. C., Romanin, L., Tenisch, E., Quesada, I. M., van Heeswijk, R. B., Roy, C. W., Yerly, J., Prsa, M., & Stuber, M. (2025). How low can we go? The effect of acquisition duration on cardiac volume and function measurements in free-running cardiac and respiratory motion-resolved five-dimensional whole-heart cine magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5T. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 27(1), 101863. Article 101863. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocmr.2025.101863
2024
- Jada, L., Holtackers, R. J., Martens, B., Nies, H. M. J. M., Van De Heyning, C. M., Botnar, R. M., Wildberger, J. E., Ismail, T. F., Razavi, R., & Chiribiri, A. (2024). Quantification of myocardial scar of different etiology using dark- and bright-blood late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 5395. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52058-8
- Jaspers, T. J. M., Martens, B., Crawley, R., Jada, L., Amirrajab, S., Breeuwer, M., Holtackers, R. J., Chiribiri, A., & Scannell, C. M. (2024). Deep Learning Synthesis of White-Blood From Dark-Blood Late Gadolinium Enhancement Cardiac Magnetic Resonance. Investigative Radiology, 59(11), 767-773. https://doi.org/10.1097/RLI.0000000000001086
- Nies, H. M. J. M., Linz, D., Bijvoet, G. P., Holtackers, R. J., Luermans, J. G. L. M., van der Velden, K. E. H. M., Wildberger, J. E., Vernooy, K., van Kuijk, S. M. J., Mihl, C., & Chaldoupi, S. M. (2024). Local atrial bipolar electrogram voltage drops during cardiac magnetic resonance guided catheter ablation of typical atrial flutter: Associations with delivered radiofrequency energy and peri-procedural imaging. Heart Rhythm O2, 5(11), 778-787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hroo.2024.08.015

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Rob Holtackers

Assistant Professor