As a director of CSS my overall vision is to put together the right research team who can develop a reality for our patients resulting in the right treatment for the right patient at the right time. We have huge challenges in surgical treatment with more than 1/3 of patients having complications after major surgery and 1/3 of our patients having a cancer recurrence after cancer surgery. Our patients are presenting themselves with a unique story and a unique combination of factors all determining the response to a surgical treatment. I believe that we as surgeons should be the major drivers for a development where integration of cross-disciplinary competencies are integrated through cross-disciplinary research methodologies. We can only solve the puzzle of the individual variation in a patient treated for a surgical disease by completely understanding what is the major problem for the patient and how will the patient respond to the surgical treatment ahead. This can only be done by putting together a team of young researchers together with senior clinicians and researchers towards a common goal of performing state of the art treatment. The interaction between the clinical and basic scientists is instrumental for stimulation of new ideas and approaches to solve the patient problem. With the development in the international data scene where we are challenged by omic data on all levels it is a prerequisite for a success to integrate data scientists in our strategy to improve patient treatment. As a director of CSS I have a focus on integrating the three pillars of data sciences, clinical sciences and basic sciences. As a professor of surgery and a consultant in colorectal surgery I have the honor of being in an environment of researchers, clinicians and academics that share this common goal of excellent state of the art patient treatment!