René Leemans, MD PhD

Prof. René Leemans is a graduate of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam School of Medicine in 1985. He received his residency training in General Surgery at Andreas Hospital and in Otolaryngology at Vrije Universiteit Medical Center (Vumc), both in Amsterdam. The same University awarded him his PhD in 1992. He was granted a Dutch Cancer Society - fellowship from 1992 to 1994 specialising further in head and neck oncological and microvascular reconstructive surgery. This training was completed in the departments of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the VUmc (then headed by prof. dr G.B. Snow), the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, and in the Plastic Surgery Unit at Canniesburn Hospital in Glasgow (under D.S. Soutar, ChM, FRCS). Hereafter he joined the department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the VUmc Amsterdam.

His special interests include head and neck oncology, microvascular surgery, and basic research.

He is an active member of the Steering Committee of the Head and Neck Co-operative Group of the EORTC, the American Head and Neck Society, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. He is a founding member of the European Head and Neck Society, presently serving as its first General Secretary.

He (co-)authored more than 120 papers and book chapters on head and neck oncology and is regularly invited to speak at conferences and tutor at courses, both in and outside Europe. He serves on the Editorial Board of several journals.

He is Director of the Otolaryngology Residency Program and the Advanced Fellowship Program in Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology at the VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam. He is currently Chief of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, and Professor of Otolaryngology at the VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam.