SIR Today

No matter where you come from, you can achieve anything if you have enough passion and ask the right questions—at least, that’s what worked for Andrew Holden, MBChB, EBIR, ONZM, who will deliver this year’s Charles T. Dotter Lecture at SIR 2026 in Toronto.

Professor Holden is the director of Northern Region Interventional Radiology Service and is based at Auckland City Hospital where he co-directs the Vascular Intervention Research Unit. In 2018, Professor Holden was recognized for his contribution to vascular and endovascular intervention by being awarded an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) medal.

While planning his Dotter Lecture, Professor Holden has been calling it, “Getting the Job Done, No Matter Who or Where You Are, and Taking the Team with You.”

“It’s a bit wordy. But every part of it is important to me, and my journey,” he said. “I may cut down the title.”

Drawing inspiration from his own career opportunities, Professor Holden says he wants to impart several key lessons he’s learned over the years.

No matter where you are…

You can still succeed.

“Being from New Zealand, I’m just about as remote from the major hospital systems, universities and key opinion leaders that you could be,” he said. “Coming from a location like that, it may be hard to imagine how you could achieve a profile in the global IR world.”

Professor Holden started his education with a focus on radiology, because he felt it offered the ability for better life balance. However, he quickly realized that he missed patient care.

“When I was training, IR was well established, but still rapidly evolving,” he said. “It was a very exciting time.”

During this time, Professor Holden won a research prize and a fellowship in Perth in Australia—one of the most remote cities in the world. It was there that he met several collaborators that would change the direction of his career.

“I happened to stumble onto a vascular surgeon and a radiology technician who were pioneering some inventions with endografts for aortic aneurysms,” he said. “I joined the team just as we were doing the first cases of a bifurcated endograft for endoluminal aneurysm repair. This device would subsequently be commercialized and a global success.”

It doesn’t matter what your background is…

As long as you are committed.

While in Perth, Professor Holden’s work on endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) leapfrogged him into a more academic role than he had previously imagined, bringing him into close collaboration with multiple specialties.

“I worked closely with a vascular surgeon and a technologist, rather than another IR, to develop that technology,” he said. “It was very much a life lesson for me to not put people into boxes. Take them as you find them based on their ability and passion.”

Having pioneered this new approach, Professor Holden returned to New Zealand where he worked—along with a vascular surgeon colleague—to introduce EVAR to the healthcare landscape back home. In 2018, his efforts were recognized when he named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

“It was a really nice recognition of the work we’d done together,” he said.

If you’re inquisitive and have some creativity and innovation…

You can achieve a lot through research.

“I strongly believe that the ability to be inquisitive, ask questions and try to answer them can lead to extraordinary career opportunities,” Professor Holden said. This applies to both academic IRs and private practice IRs alike.

One example he cited was when he noticed renal artery intervention at his institution wasn’t working particularly well in patients with chronic renal insufficiency. It spurred him to wonder how it could be improved, leading to him developing the use of embolic protection during renal artery intervention and ultimately publishing his results.

“It was because I asked myself, ‘how can I make this better?’ I wasn’t thinking, ‘Well, I’m in Auckland, so how could I possibly influence practice?’ I was just thinking, ‘How can I make this procedure better for my patients?’”

His willingness to question and improve earned Professor Holden a reputation as strong researcher with the ability to conduct early human vascular device research. This reputation led to him being approached in 2012 and shown a prototype device. The inventors wanted to know if Professor Holden could create a first-in-human trial, and he agreed. He took the device back to Auckland, served as primary investigator for the first-in-human study and placed the first devices.

That device was called Shockwave, and 10 years later the company sold for US $13 billion.

His willingness to ask questions hasn’t just benefited his own career, he said, but has benefitted his institution and local IR community.

“Our hospital gets a lot of funding through trial work,” he said. “We never have problems attracting fellows to Auckland, because we’re well respected for the work we’ve done. We have strong staff retention and interest, because they enjoy being leaders in research.”

For Professor Holden, one of the other benefits has been the ability to meet other IRs in the global community who have impacted his life.

Have role models…

And really learn from them.

Professor Holden cites two key role models for his career, both of whom have previously delivered the Dotter Lecture: Barry T. Katzen, MD, FSIR, and Michael D. Dake, MD, FSIR.

“Not only are these individuals great friends of mine, but when I was starting out, they were at the zenith of their careers and truly modeled an example that I could base my own career on.”

Dr. Katzen embodies a message of being clinically relevant and patient-first, Professor Holden said. “He started sharing this message 40 years ago, and today it’s been widely embraced by IRs in Norther America. In New Zealand and Australia, we are adopting that message of clinical practice for interventional radiologists, and I believe it will spread further.”

As for Dr. Dake, Professor Holden was particularly inspired by his dedication to multidisciplinary collaboration.

“I would go to international meetings to share my research, and often Dr. Dake was the key guest speaker. I was so proud to see another IR who was working with closely vascular and cardiac surgeons,” he said. “He proved to the world that you can be an IR and be part of a team.”

Professor Holden will give his Dotter lecture on Sunday, April 12, at 10:30 a.m., supported in-person by his wife, Tracy, and virtually by his four children. “The support I receive from my family has directly contributed to who I am. My family gives me so much joy, and I’m extremely lucky to have them."