RSNA 2023 Honorary Members: Regina G.H. Beets-Tan, MD, PhD

“Dr. Beets-Tan’s remarkable achievement in cancer research and her focus on collaboration across specialties have profoundly affected the quality of patient care,” said RSNA President Matthew A. Mauro, MD. “Her leadership with the European Society of Radiology has further demonstrated her meaningful contributions to the field of radiology.”

Dr. Beets-Tan focuses on abdominal and oncological radiology, leading seminal research into improving outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. At the Netherlands Cancer Institute, she directs research in cancer imaging, investigating multi-parametric and AI imaging technology to guide interventional, surgical and radiation therapies, and as biomarkers for treatment efficacy. She is a professor of radiology at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, and adjunct professor of abdominal and oncological radiology at the University of Southern Denmark.

She earned her medical degree, cum laude, at Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands, then pursued advanced training in radiation oncology at the University Hospital Leuven, Belgium, followed by training in radiology at Maastricht University Hospital. Her PhD dissertation on MR imaging of the anorectum secured the Best Dutch Thesis Prize in 2001.

Dr. Beets-Tan’s leadership in radiology is exemplified by her completed term in July 2023 as chair of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) board of directors. She served in numerous leadership capacities over the years, including as president of the ESR and of the 2022 European Congress of Radiology. She currently serves as the scientific director for ESR’s European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research.

From 2019 to 2021, Dr. Beets-Tan was president of the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology, overseeing its 2020 annual meeting in Amsterdam and its 2021 virtual meeting. In the preceding years, she served as resident of the European Society of Oncologic Imaging.

Widely sought as an esteemed invited lecturer, Dr. Beets-Tan emphasizes the importance of collaboration among medical professionals across specialties to providing quality patient care. Her own contributions to research are significant, obtaining millions in funding from research institutions and serving in editorial positions for journals such as Abdominal Radiology, Frontiers in Nuclear Medicine and Insights into Imaging. She has also contributed to several books including Imaging and Interventional Radiology for Radiation Oncology and an undergraduate medical student textbook on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. She has published more than 430 peer-reviewed articles and has spoken at more than 600 invited lectures.

Dr. Beets-Tan brings her expertise as a strategic advisor to appointments by the European commission as a member of the 2019 EU Mission Board for cancer and in 2018 as a member of the European Cancer Organisation board of directors. She holds seats in research councils of the Dutch Organization of Science and the Dutch Cancer Society.