Netherlands Cancer Institute

The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) is a Comprehensive Cancer Center in The Netherlands (Amsterdam). It is a well-organized and dynamic cancer research institute accommodating over 50 research groups and advanced core facilities. It is an internationally renowned center covering fundamental, translational and clinical cancer research.

The department of Radiology, chaired by Professor Regina Beets-Tan, pursues research in oncological imaging covering a broad spectrum of cancer types. The most established line of research within the group is MR imaging of rectal carcinoma – resulting so far in over ten doctoral theses, 97 high-impact publications and numerous contributions to international congresses. The research output has served as the basis for several international guidelines in the area of colorectal carcinoma.

In recent years, the department has focused research efforts on developing AI models in oncological imaging, covering topics such as patient and treatment monitoring, radiogenomics, and response or recurrence. The Beets-Tan group is also actively invested in researching novel AI techniques to tackle the inherent difficulties of multi-center data and explainable AI.

Role of institution in the project

The Beets-Tan group has experience in the procuration of international multi-center datasets for radiomics and deep learning analyses, by being involved in the EU H2020 CAST project, providing necessary experience to contribute to WP2 – Engagement and Liaison of Data Providers.

The group participated in an international federated learning collaboration to annotate brain tumors (across 146 centers). This included preparation of the internal approvals and software development. The group has an active research line related to AI for multi-center data with focus on federated learning, and privacy. This provides relevant expertise for WP6 – Federated data processing and analysis.