Richard van Hillegersberg attended medical school in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 1993 he received his PhD with honor at the Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. From 1994-2000, he was trained in General Surgery in Rotterdam. From 2001-2002 he was fellow of Surgical Oncology in the Academic Medical Center and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Netherlands Cancer Center Amsterdam. Since 2003 he is appointed as staff surgeon at the University Medical Center Utrecht. From 2009 he is a full professor of gastrointestinal oncology. Research is focused on Upper GI minimally invasive and robotic surgery, surgical imaging and genetic profiling. He has authored over 15 chapters in textbooks concerning robotic forgut surgery and over 500 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. From 2018 he is chairman of the Educational committee of the European Society for Diseases for the Esophagus (ESDE) and member of the education committee of ISDE, he is associate editor of Diseases of the Esophagus and Digestive Surgery, founder and chairman of the Upper GI International Robotic Association (UGIRA).

http://kankeroperatie.nl

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2014-present. Principle investigator. Cost effectiveness of laparoscopic gastrectomy  as an alternative to open gastrectomy for gastric cancer (LOGICA trial). ClinTrial.gov: NCT02248519. ZonMw (837002502) Eu 400.000

2014-present. Principle investigator. Esophagectomy for Patients With Esophageal Cancer and Cervical Lymph Node Metastases (NODE trial). ClinTrial.gov: NCT02426879

2017-present. Intuitive Clinical Research Grant for the project “The International Registry for Robot-assisteted Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy” (RAMIE). Unrestricted Grant $ 50.000

2017-present. International Database collaboration Robotic esophagectomy, Intuitive Surgical, Unrestricted Grant. Eu 50.000

 2017-present. Coordinating Investigator of International Centers. Surgery for adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) type II: transthoracic esophagectomy vs. transhiatal extended gastrectomy (CARDIA trial). Analyzing in a multicenter international setting the optimal surgical strategy for tumors at the oesophago-gastric junction. This trial is now recruiting in collaboration with The University of Koln. Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien. DRKS-number: 00016923. Federal Ministry for Education and Research. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) (grant number 01KG1816). Eu 1.940.000

2018-present. G.J.Meijer. Preoperative Image-guided Identification of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Esophageal Cancer (PRIDE). ClinTrial.gov: NCT03474341. KWF (10291) Eu 890.260

2020-present Principal investigator. Paravertabral catheter versus epidural anagesia in minimally invasive esophageal resection : a RCT (PEPMEN trail). ZonMw (852002004) Eu 392.650

Program leader of the Upper GI research group experimental and clinical studies on oesophageal and gastric cancer:

1. Clinical studies on robotic thoracolaparoscopic oesophageal resection for cancer
2. Genetic profiling and identification of genetic markers for assessing outcome after surgical and non-surgical treatment for oesophageal cancer.
3. MRI imaging and radiotherapy planning of patients with esophageal cancer
4. Reducing pulmonary complications by vagus nerve sparing. Anatomical and nutritional studies.
5. Preconditioning and fast track rehabilitation of patients undergoing an esophageal resection.
6. Minimally invasive gastrectomy and methods of treating patients with cardia carcinoma
7. Definition and treatment of oligometastastic disease