Public lecture as part of a search committee for a professor in General Surgery.

Summary: Surgical decision-making in abdominal diseases is still frequently guided by tradition, while high-quality evidence remains heterogeneous or incomplete.
In this presentation, I will illustrate how clinically driven research can improve decision-making across the spectrum of abdominal surgery, from common conditions to rare but severe diseases.
Appendicitis will be discussed as a frequent surgical emergency where appendectomy remains the current gold standard, while emerging evidence highlights the importance of patient selection and individualized treatment strategies. As a complementary example in adult surgery, diverticulitis will be presented as a highly prevalent condition with evolving and often poorly defined indications for surgery, illustrating the shift toward patient-tailored management. Finally, necrotizing enterocolitis will be addressed as a rare pediatric disease with persistently high mortality, where structured registries, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovative analytical tools such as artificial intelligence are required to enable meaningful therapeutic progress.
The presentation will conclude by outlining how such clinically anchored research can be developed through close collaboration between hospital and university, with a strong focus on education, integration, and long-term sustainability.