Research profile

Tommy Kjærgaard Nielsen is a clinical urologist and academic leader with a focus on renal cancer, surgical innovation, and translational research. He serves as Director of Urological Research and is Principal Investigator on several international studies. His research contributions span organ-preserving therapies, robotic surgery, and biomarker development, reflected in more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and active roles in European research consortia.

He supervises PhD, master’s, and undergraduate research across surgical oncology and patient-centered care, and has chaired multiple PhD assessment committees. He is a steering committee member of the Clinical Cancer Research Center and Aalborg’s Comprehensive Cancer Center initiative. An experienced course instructor and invited speaker at Nordic and European conferences, he is also engaged in organizing scientific symposia and advancing interdisciplinary collaboration in cancer care and surgery.

PhD Supervision

Currently, three PhD projects are ongoing at the Department of Renal and Urological Surgery:

• Advancing Anterior Urethral Stricture Management: From Animal Models to Patient-Centered Care.

• Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Among Surgeons: Examination of Potential Risk Factors, Biomarkers, and Treatment Strategies.

• Robot-Assisted Radical Nephrectomy as a Safe Day-Stay Surgery – Now and in the Future.

In addition, two pre-graduate research year projects are being conducted at the Department of Renal and Urological Surgery:

• The Use of Smartwatch Data for Assessing Patient Frailty Prior to Robotic Surgery.

• Mapping Muscle Activity in Relation to Endoscopic Surgery.