Personal Portrait Interview with Hans de Wilt

Meet Hans de Wilt, Professor of Surgical Oncology at Department of Surgery. He is involved in the research program Non-/minimally invasive cancer treatment at the Radboud University Medical Center since 2009

If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and what would you do first?

I would go to New Zealand and visit my daughter, who is currently living there. Although she will return this summer, this is definitively the destination I would go to right now. 

Is there a cultural tradition or family custom that’s particularly meaningful to you?

My wife is originally from Surinam and we always celebrate ‘owru yari’, which is not only new year’s eve, but also the evening before someone’s birthday. We usually sing and dance to celebrate life and reflect on what happened to that person during the last year. This is a nice tradition within our family and even when our kids are living on their own, we call them just before midnight to celebrate. 

Is there a book, movie, or piece of art that has significantly influenced your scientific thinking or career path? 

‘Better’ from Atul Gawande. He is a surgeon and writer and has 4 great books that I can all recommend. In this book he illustrates what specific centers do to become a world leading center. It is basically, dedication and perseverance by a few individuals and I thought it was very inspiring to read.  

What does a typical day look like for you, and what part of your routine do you most look forward to?

I stand up and perform 20 minutes of Yoga or Pilates followed by some other exercises to try to stay fit and healthy. Afterwards I shower, have breakfast while reading the paper (paper version!). Then I go to work! 

How do you like to stay organized and manage your workload effectively? 

I only use a newspaper to stay informed about what is happening in the world, so I do not watch the news on television and removed all other distracting news apps from my telephone. This gives me only 15-20 minutes per day to stay informed and prevents scrolling during the day on my telephone what I can read the next day in my newspaper.

Moreover, I do not install games or other useless information apps (e.g. Strava) on my telephone and do not follow others. I barely use social media (e.g. X, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook) and only use LinkedIn. I try to be as efficient as possible, so listen to books while I am cycling to work or traveling by train.

I do, however, work a lot on my telephone, trying to answer emails while having lunch, or in between surgical procedures. I think it is important to delete every task that is done, and do not safe everything that you are not going to use. Delegate things and recognize the persons who you delegate to! For instance, I totally rely on my secretary for my agenda, my research coordinator for financial strategy and researchstaff  for daily work and administrative items. Furthermore, I only visit meetings when it is important for myself or my team and I try to be critical on that. 

Can you describe a research project you are particularly proud of, and what impact you hope it will have?

Together with several centers in the Netherlands, UK and Denmark we started with several studies in rectal cancer trying to avoid major surgery (e.g. CARTS, STARTREC). We developed this ‘organ preserving’ strategy now already more than 15 years ago and will soon publish our large multicenter, randomized trial.

I believe that the results of this trial will change the management of rectal cancer patients and lead to a paradigm shift in treatment. This will enable many patients to prevent a stoma or minimize complications from major surgery such as sexual, urinary and fecal dysfunction and improve quality of life. I am proud that I was one of the first to get this started in the Netherlands and after so many years of clinical research we will change the guidelines.