Prof. Dr. Saim Yılmaz was born in Antalya, Turkey in 1962. After completing school in Antalya, he entered Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine in 1979 and graduated in 1985. He then worked in Istanbul as a general practitioner for two years and as a pediatrics resident for another two years. In 1988 he began radiology residency at Akdeniz University School of Medicine, becoming a specialist in 1992, assistant professor in 1994, associate professor in 1998 and professor in 2004.
Since becoming a radiologist in 1992 he has worked exclusively in interventional radiology. He visited leading centers in the USA and Europe, attended more than 100 congresses, published more than 70 scientific articles with over 600 citations, gave more than 100 scientific presentations and over 50 invited lectures, and received 7 scientific awards. A 1988 paper became the 5th most cited radiology article in Europe and the 3rd most cited in Turkey.
He performed subintimal angioplasty and transpopliteal angioplasty for the first time in Turkey, and after publications in 2001 and 2003 was invited to CIRSE. In 2003 he performed endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) for the first time in Turkey, and also introduced ultrasound-guided miniphlebectomy, foam sclerotherapy, and femoral and sciatic blocks for analgesia during endovenous treatments. Since 2005 he has performed uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) and introduced superior hypogastric nerve block for post-UFE pain — another first in Turkey.
In 2011 he joined Memorial & Medstar Hospitals in Antalya, focusing on tumor ablation (radiofrequency, microwave, nanoknife, cryoablation) and transarterial treatments (chemoembolization, radioembolization). He performed nanoknife ablation for pancreatic cancer and cryoablation for lung, pancreas and soft-tissue tumors for the first time in Turkey. In 2018 he founded Varisson Radiology Centers in Antalya and Istanbul. He speaks English, French and German.