prof. dr. E.F.J. (Erik) de Vries

Erik de Vries is full professor in Translational molecular imaging, in particular PET. He is specialized in radiochemistry and translational molecular imaging, in particular in PET imaging of inflammatory processes and drug targets. His research involves the whole translational research pathway from tracer development and evaluation to validation of imaging applications in animal models and clinical studies. He was responsible for the implementation of several PET tracers, not only for preclinical and clinical research, but also for routine patient care within the UMCG. Within the department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, he has initiated successful research lines on imaging of neuroinflammation and related processes in psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases; Immune cell infiltration in tumors; and hormone receptors. More recently his research interest expanded to targeted radionuclide therapy.

Erik de Vries graduated in chemistry at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands in 1991 and obtained his PhD in natural sciences at the same university in 1995. After a short project as a chemist at the pharmaceutical company Gist-Brocades in Delft, the Netherlands, he moved to the University Medical Center Groningen in 1996 to work as a radiochemist at the department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, where he is still working. He was appointed as assistant professor at the University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen in 2008 and was promoted to associate professor in 2011. In 2019, he was appointed as full professor in translational molecular imaging.

Since 2007, Erik de Vries is the chair of research of the department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging of the University Medical Center Groningen. In addition, he is the primary contact person of the department for contract research with pharmaceutical industries and coordinator of project management office, which supports various academic and contract research projects. From 2015 to 2021, he was coordinator of the section Radiochemistry/Radiopharmacy, which is responsible for the development and production of a large assortment of PET and SPECT tracers for regular patient care, clinical trials and preclinical research. He was program coordinator of the Molecular Neuroscience and Ageing Research (MOLAR) program within the research institute BCN-BRAIN (‘Research Institute for Neurosciences and Healthy Ageing’) from 2015 to 2024.

Erik de Vries was a member of the Task Group on “Inflammation and Infection Imaging” of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) from 2007 to 2011 and involved in the development of guidelines for leukocyte labeling and white blood cell imaging. From 2007 to 2013, he was guest lecturer in molecular and diagnostic imaging at the University Sapienza in Rome, Italy. He was also awarded a grant as Special visiting Scientist at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the period 2014-2016.

Erik de Vries co-edited 3 multi-author text books on the role of PET and SPECT imaging in psychiatry, neurology and neurobiological systems. The second editions of these books have been released in 2020. Between 2006 and 2013 he was member of the organizing committee of 6 international symposia.