prof.dr. D.W. Donker MD (Dirk)

Full Professor
TNW-BIS-CRPH
d.w.donker@utwente.nl
+31534897675
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In March 2021, I was appointed on the chair of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Physiology (CRPH) at the faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Twente.

The chair is specifically intended to stimulate translational research and education. This, in order to allow patients and health care professionals to maximally benefit from the latest ingenious technologies integrated into modern clinical practice. In this sense, I consider my academic-clinical ambitions equally important as my dedication to professional education in technical medicine, biomedical technology and medicine.

I am indebted for the opportunity to combine my professorship with a position as a senior staff member and intensivist-cardiologist in the Intensive Care Centre at the University Medical Centre Utrecht.

The care for patients with acute and life-threatening disease remains complex and challenging. My experience from daily critical care underlines my enduring personal aspiration to advance technological innovation and improve clinical practice.  

After attending medical school in Essen, Germany, I received my PhD thesis entitled ‘Cardiac mechanomyopathy - integrating the picture from cell to beating heart’ from Maastricht University in 2008. Meanwhile, I completed my medical specialization in Cardiology followed by Intensive Care training at the Maastricht University Medical Center. In 2013, I joined the staff of the Intensive Care Centre at the University Medical Centre Utrecht and in 2019, I expanded my academic-clinical experience in Cardiological Critical Care at the La Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris.

My clinical, educational and research interests center around complex cardiovascular and respiratory care. In recent years, I focused on cardiac and pulmonary extracorporeal life support to optimize its clinical use and expand practice-relevant mechanistic insights. My affinity with echocardiography and an inspiring collaboration on patient-specific computer simulation through the years has greatly enlarged my comprehensive physiological understanding and contributes importantly to my work as a physician.

I am actively involved in national and international scientific organizations in the field, collaborate with many dedicated clinicians, researchers and companies, authored many scientific publications and provided numerous presentations. All this, to foster professionals’ enthusiasm and strive to realize a continuing translation of technology, where it is most urgently needed: at the bedside of the individual patient.

Expertise

  • Medicine and Dentistry

    • Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
    • Extracorporeal Life Support
    • Cardiogenic Shock
    • Cardiovascular System
    • Assisted Circulation
    • Hemodynamic
    • Extracorporeal

  • Nursing and Health Professions

    • Extracorporeal Oxygenation

Organisations

Ancillary activities

  • Maquet Critical Care AB, Solna, SwedenContract research
  • Sonion Health BVContract research

Publications

2026

From Technology to Teamwork: The Evolving Landscape of Extracorporeal Support (2026)Perfusion (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Donker, D. W.https://doi.org/10.1177/02676591261479910Aging and Postural Changes Influence the Agreement Between Pulse Rate Variability and Heart Rate Variability (2026)IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Lin, R., Klop, M., Halfwerk, F. R., van Wezel, R., Laverman, G. D., Donker, D. W. & Wang, Y.https://doi.org/10.1109/JBHI.2026.3724905Acute Right Ventricular Failure in Animal Models: Evidence, Limitations, and Future Directions (2026)Artificial organs (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Manca, P., Nuzzi, V., Peccianti, A., Wittberg, L. P., Malfertheiner, M. V., Broman, L. M., Belliato, M., Heinze, J., Grazioli, L., Raes, M., Di Nardo, M., Donker, D. W., Vercaemst, L., Arens, J., Pisano, C., Raffa, G. M., Cipriani, M. & Lorusso, R.https://doi.org/10.1111/aor.70212Morphological changes in the arterial pressure waveform following hemodynamic therapies in critical care: A clinical proof-of-concept study in older adults (2026)Physiological Reports, 14(15). Article e71032. de Raat, F. M., Mulder, M. P., De Bie Dekker, A. J. R., Bouwman, A. R., Montenij, L. J. & Donker, D. W.https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.71032Automated Detection of Trigger Asynchronies During Initiation of Noninvasive Nocturnal Ventilation (2026)Respiratory care (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Soleimani, F., Warnaar, R., Hazenberg, A., Triemstra, I., Donker, D., Duiverman, M. & Oppersma, E.https://doi.org/10.1177/19433654261469634Standard-dose unfractionated heparin versus low-dose unfractionated heparin and low-molecular-weight heparin in extracorporeal life support (RATE): An open-label, randomised, non-inferiority trial (2026)The Lancet, 408(10552), 357-366. Minnen, O. v., Oude Lansink-Hartgring, A., van Amstel, R. B. E., van den Bogaard, B., Bunge, J. J. H., Delnoij, T. S. R., Droogh, J. M., Koppenhagen, L. v., Elzo Kraemer, C. V., Kuijpers, M., Maas, J. J., Metz, J. d., van de Poll, M. C. G., Raasveld, S. J., dos Reis Miranda, D., Vart, P., Vermeulen, K. M., Vlaar, A. P. J., van den Bergh, W. M., … van den Brule, J.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00851-2Standardization of In-Vitro Evaluation of Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) Devices for Research and Development (2026)ASAIO Journal, 72(7), 525-538. Article 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002623. Arens, J., Belliato, M., Broman, L. M., Clauser, J. C., Donker, D. W., Lorusso, R., Malfertheiner, M., Rajsic, S., Swol, J., Vercaemst, L. & Prahl Wittberg, L.https://doi.org/10.1097/MAT.0000000000002623Standardization of in-vitro evaluation of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) devices for research and development (2026)Perfusion, 41(5), 758-774. Arens, J., Belliato, M., Broman, L. M., Clauser, J. C., Donker, D. W., Lorusso, R., Malfertheiner, M., Rajsic, S., Swol, J., Vercaemst, L. & Prahl Wittberg, L.https://doi.org/10.1177/02676591261434526What every intensivist should know about monitoring respiratory drive and effort (2026)Journal of critical care, 95. Article 155668 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Oppersma, E. & Donker, D. W.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2026.155668Quantification of Ventilatory Control in Sleep Apnea: From Physiological Insight to Computable Loop Gain (2026)Sleep (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Nassi, T., Oppersma, E., Donker, D. W., Westover, M. B. & Thomas, R. J.https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsag155

Research profiles

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