Rigaku is pleased to announce the appointment of Thomas van Elzakker as Chief Executive Officer of MILabs B.V., their preclinical imaging business, effective from June 1. He will also be appointed as a management board member of MILabs.
Mr. van Elzakker comes with a great deal of experience in leading new ventures and startups in the medtech arena. He earned a Master’s Degree in Applied Computer Science from Leiden University in the Netherlands, and began his professional career at Phillips Healthcare, specializing in radiology and CT (computed tomography). He rose through their ranks to become their General Manager of New Ventures. He then went on to hold leadership positions at i-Optics, Medtronics and Innolane. Most recently, he was the CEO and board member of Fox Biosystems.
MILabs was founded in 2006 as a spin off from the University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands, and became a Rigaku company in 2021. They are now well-known for their highly reliable preclinical imaging systems, which have unsurpassed resolution, speed, and sensitivity and have garnered many prestigious awards. Their innovative modular imaging system can include any combination of SPECT, PET, optical imaging and CT modalities. With installations all over the world, their systems facilitate important discoveries in many fields, including pharmacology, oncology, cardiology, bone research, diabetes and neuroscience.
When asked about his new appointment, Mr. van Elzakker said, “MILabs is a key player in preclinical imaging based on their continual development of cutting-edge technology. I look forward to joining the MILabs team and working with leading researchers to accelerate adoption of our instruments with a view to making medical breakthroughs resulting in clinical outcomes.”
Jun Kawakami, President and CEO of Rigaku Holding Corp., commented, “We are excited to have Thomas on board to guide MILabs through its next period of growth up to and beyond Rigaku’s planned IPO . Thomas will steer MILabs’ growth and innovation strategies, which will also serve as a foundation of Rigaku’s life science business.”
For more details about MILabs industry-leading preclinical imaging systems, please visit www.milabs.com.
