PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Nico Karssemeijer

Nico Karssemeijer is a medical image analysis researcher at Radboud University in Nijmegen who, with his team, spent 30 years developing AI applications for breast imaging. After earning a doctorate in 1989, he formed a computer-aided detection group in the Radboud radiology department and became Professor of Computer Aided Diagnosis in 2011. In 2014 he founded ScreenPoint Medical with Sir Michael Brady, and the company raised 4.3 million euros in 2018 to speed the market introduction of its Transpara system for interpreting mammograms. A 2017 paper with Thijs Kooi added symmetry and temporal context to a deep convolutional network for detecting malignant lesions in mammography. He is chief scientific officer of ScreenPoint Medical as of October 2026, and Radboudumc scheduled his farewell symposium and lecture for September 2026.

Now at
ScreenPoint Medical
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Timeline

  1. 1983–1989

    Physics, Leiden and a doctorate

    He studies applied physics at Delft, teaches physics until 1983, and works as a computer scientist at the University of Leiden's Laboratory of Kinesiology from 1983 to 1985. In 1985 he joins the Lab for Medical Physics and Biophysics at Radboud University Nijmegen, and he receives his doctorate in 1989 for research on probabilistic models for analysis of medical images.

  2. 1989

    A computer-aided detection group

    In 1989 he joins the Department of Radiology at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center and forms a research group in computer-aided detection. Funded by the Dutch Cancer Society and industrial partners, he develops computer-aided detection of breast cancer, and he is closely involved in developing the R2 ImageChecker, the most widely used CAD system of its time.

  3. June 2011

    Professor of Computer Aided Diagnosis

    In June 2011 he is appointed Professor of Computer Aided Diagnosis, affiliated with the Department of Radiology, where he develops methods for detecting breast cancer. His professorship sits in the Faculty of Science, in the Intelligent Systems section of the Institute for Computing and Information Sciences.

  4. 2012–2013

    Chairing SPIE Medical Imaging

    He is symposium chair of SPIE Medical Imaging in 2012 and 2013, after chairing IWDM98 and IPMI 2007.

  5. 2014–2018

    Founding ScreenPoint Medical

    He founds ScreenPoint Medical in 2014 with Sir Michael Brady to develop image analysis technology for automated reading of mammograms and digital breast tomosynthesis. In June 2018, ScreenPoint, a Radboud spin-off with him as CEO, raises 4.3 million euros from Siemens Healthineers and private investors to speed the market introduction of Transpara, its AI system for interpreting mammograms. He is also a co-founder of Matakina in Wellington, New Zealand, a company for quantitative mammography.

  6. 2017

    Deep learning on mammograms

    In 2017, he and Thijs Kooi post a paper on arXiv that adds symmetry and temporal context to a deep convolutional neural network to detect malignant soft tissue lesions in mammography. Their fusion model, which feeds both regions of interest to the network, shows a significant increase in performance when it uses symmetry information.

  7. February 2026

    A lifetime achievement award

    In February 2026, ScreenPoint Medical reports that Dr. Mike Linver has presented him with the Honorary Beaver Lifetime Achievement Award, which celebrates his contributions to mammographic imaging and to earlier detection of breast cancer.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chief scientific officer at ScreenPoint

    He is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ScreenPoint Medical. As he ends his professorship at Radboud University, Radboudumc schedules a farewell symposium on AI in breast imaging for September 2026, followed by his farewell lecture, after 30 years of work with his team on AI applications in radiology with a focus on breast imaging.

Career

  1. Since 2014ScreenPoint MedicalCo-founder, CEO
  2. From 2011Institute for Computing and Information SciencesProfessor of Computer Aided Diagnosis
  3. From 1989Radboud University Medical CenterComputer-aided detection research group founder, Professor of Computer Aided Diagnosis
  4. 1985–1989Radboud University Nijmegen
  5. 1983–1985Leiden UniversityComputer scientist
  6. MatakinaCo-founder

Education

  1. 1989Radboud University NijmegenDoctorate
  2. Delft University of Technology

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Nico Karssemeijer. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Radboud University Nijmegen. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Radboud University Nijmegen. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Radboud University Nijmegen. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Nico Karssemeijer yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Nico Karssemeijer Professor of Computer Aided Diagnosis - LRCB lrcb.nl. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Nico Karssemeijer - Diagnostic Image Analysis Group diagnijmegen.nl. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Prof. Nico Karssemeijer, PhD screenpoint-medical.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. ScreenPoint Medical's founders honored screenpoint-medical.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. ScreenPoint Medical raises 4.3 million euros radboudumc.nl. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Classifying Symmetrical Differences and Temporal Change in Mammography Using Deep Neural Networks arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Symposium AI in Breast Imaging: The Future in Focus - September 3, 2026 radboudumc.nl. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. Radboudumc celebrates SPM's Nico Karssemeijer screenpoint-medical.com. Checked 22 October 2026.