Harrie Beerlage has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, and focuses on improving the detection and imaging of prostate cancer through ultrasound. Besides specialising in robotic surgery for prostate and kidney cancer, Beerlage also provides training in laparoscopy and robotic surgery to urologists and urologists in training both locally and internationally. In the clinical field, his biggest priority will be to introduce robotic surgery on-site at the Amsterdam University Medical Center (location AMC), particularly for use in kidney surgery. Also other surgeries like nymph node dissections and reconstructive urological interventions will soon be carried out with robotic assistance.

New line of research in robotic surgery

As professor, Beerlage will also be head of the department of Urology. The ongoing lines of research within oncological urology (diagnostics and treatment) and endourology as well as those within reproductive medicine will be continued. In addition, Beerlage will develop his own line of research in the field of robotic surgery, with a particular focus on evaluating the technology and introduction of new robotic systems. The department will continue to focus on minimal invasive approaches towards oncological disorders. Beerlage will primarily focus on the alliance between AMC and VUmc (Amsterdam UMC), but will also work towards greater regional collaboration, both in oncological and non-oncological fields. In close partnership with colleagues at VUmc, work will be done on developing a new joint training programme for urologists. Beerlage will also be involved in the teaching curriculum Epicurus, the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes for medical students, and the programme in Medical Information Science.

About Harrie Beerlage

Beerlage has worked as a urologist at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital (Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis) in ’s-Hertogenbosch since 2001, where he was also a urology instructor for a number of years. Moreover, he was and will continue to be affiliated with Eindhoven University of Technology (TU Eindhoven) as a senior researcher. While based in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Beerlage supervised PhD researchers who as clinicians carried out research in close partnership with TU Eindhoven within the so-called Impulse Programme. From 1997 to 2000, Beerlage worked at Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc), where he obtained his PhD in 1999 with a dissertation titled ‘New aspects in diagnosis and minimal invasive treatment of prostate cancer’. He has also had training internships within the field of laparoscopy in Leeds, Innsbruck, Baltimore and Leipzig.

Beerlage is president of the Endourology Foundation Working Group, which promotes minimal invasive urology, including (robot-assisted) laparoscopy in the Netherlands. From 2007 to 2011, he was secretary of the Netherlands Association for Urology. For several years now, he has been closely involved in organising local and international conferences and courses and has extensive experience in demonstrating live surgery at these events.