Kevin Klein Gunnewiek has won this year's Prof Dr G.P. Vooijs Award with his internship research on the implementation of new technologies in the ‘Operatiekamer van de Toekomst’ at the Princess Máxima Centre.
This award is for the most clinically relevant graduation research of the University of Twente's Technical Medicine courses and the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus alliance. On Friday 21 March 2025 during the NVvTG congress, he was presented with the award by Peter Vooijs.
Kevin received the award for his graduation research from the Master's programme in Technical Medicine at the University of Twente. He studied the advantages and disadvantages of new technologies in the ‘Operatiekamer van de Toekomst’ and developed protocols for two major surgical approaches within paediatric oncological neurosurgery. Furthermore, he showed that intraoperative navigated ultrasound is reliable in detecting residual tumour tissue. This makes the timing of intraoperative MRI (as the gold standard) optimal. Moreover, even when MRI cannot be used for logistical reasons, full reliance can now be placed on intraoperative ultrasound, allowing more frequent complete tumour removal. Kevin's study demonstrated direct health benefits for patients. The results were offered to Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.
His involvement in clinical patient care during this internship makes him a very deserving winner of this year's Prof Dr G.P. Vooijs Award. Kevin is currently continuing his research as a PhD student, further developing the current setup with loose technologies into an even more user-friendly product, which can be applied in a single operation.
PROF. DR. G.P. VOOIJS AWARD
The award is named after Peter Vooijs and was presented for the twelfth time. Peter Vooijs was affiliated with the University of Twente as the Medical Director of the MIRA research institute and as the Scientific Director of the Technical Medicine programme. The award aims to promote the intensive involvement of the Technical Medicine discipline in clinical patient care, as well as in patient-related scientific education and research. The jury of the Vooijs Award pays special attention to the involvement of patients in the nominated internship projects. This year, nine TM alumni were nominated for the award. From these, the jury selected the three best candidates: in addition to Kevin Klein Gunnewiek, these were Koen Kwakkenbos and Sabine Josemans.
