Gijs is a technical physician by training, holding a Master’s degree in Technical Medicine, specializing in Medical Imaging and Intervention, from the Technical University of Twente. He focused on Augmented Reality (AR) applications for Oral-Maxillo-Facial (OMF) and Free Flap Surgery for breast reconstructions. At the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (IKIM), Gijs conducts research with the University Hospital Essen (UKE). His work aims to improve surgical diagnosis and intervention using state-of-the-art 3D technologies, particularly Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR). As a visiting scientist, Gijs collaborated closely with the Technical University of Graz (Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision) and the Medical University of Graz. This collaboration investigated the effectiveness and usability of AR tools in real clinical settings and explored novel combinations of machine learning (ML) and AR. In recent years, Gijs has broadened his activities to the international research community. He co-organized the ShapeMI workshops at MICCAI multiple times, resulting in Springer LNCS volumes, and hosted tutorials on the MedShapeNet database at MICCAI. He also organized an inpainting challenge at ISBI and has supervised multiple bachelor’s and master’s students. His research has expanded to diminishing reality in synthetic surgical data, eye tracking for improved diagnosis, and building an extensive database and API for 3D medical shapes. At IKIM, he now co-manages the XR-Lab, where he combines ultrasound, machine learning, and augmented reality to create new pathways for clinical support. Looking forward, Gijs is preparing to complete his PhD and pursue habilitation (the German postdoctoral teaching qualification) while contributing to the OncoVerse project at University Hospital Essen. Within this project, he is dedicated to improving care for pancreatic cancer patients through the integration of XR and AI. His long-term contract extension reflects his commitment to this mission and the trust placed in his vision. Gijs is driven by a strong desire for continuous learning and improvement in related fields, including machine learning, workflow planning, modeling, and programming. His publications reflect his many collaborations, which he enjoys a lot. While Gijs welcomes collaboration, his current focus is on consolidating existing projects and advancing the OncoVerse initiative for pancreatic cancer. Preference is therefore given to collaborations that align closely with these activities. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with him if you would like to collaborate with Gijs to improve patient care and advance medical technology.