Dr. D. Vasilic is a reconstructive plastic surgeon and principal investigator at Erasmus MC, specializing in reconstructive microsurgery with a focus on lymphatic disorders, including breast cancer–related lymphedema (BCRL). His clinical work is centered on supermicrosurgical techniques, such as lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA) and vascularised lymph node transplantation (VLnTx), and the optimization of patient selection, timing, and outcomes in lymphatic reconstruction. He is actively advancing the field toward earlier intervention strategies and precision-based surgical decision-making, with emerging interests in the role of lymphatic dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Parallel to his clinical work, Dr. Vasilic operates at the interface of surgery, robotics, and artificial intelligence, driving the transition toward data-driven surgical practice. He co-leads the DiMiRoS (Digital Microsurgery) project, where a robotic exoscopic microscopy platform is used to capture and analyze surgical procedures in real time, enabling instrument tracking, phase recognition, and objective skill quantification. This work forms a core contribution to the development of Hybrid Intelligence in surgery, in which human expertise is augmented by machine learning. Within this framework, he serves as co-lead of the robotic surgery case study in the Hybrid Intelligence consortium, focusing on the design of integrated human–AI surgical workflows. Complementing this digital approach, he co-leads theBiMoDe project, which translates bio-inspired design principles and genetic algorithms into the development of ultra-thin, steerable micro-biopsy catheters for minimally invasive intervention. Together, these efforts connect data acquisition, intelligent analysis, and device innovation, establishing a coherent pathway toward more precise, adaptive, and minimally invasive surgical care.
