After finishing his Medical Biology degree in 1987 Marco De Ruiter has started research on the embryonic development of the cardiovascular system and finished his PhD study in 1992. After a short Post-Doc position he became an assistant professor of Anatomy and Embryology. After 20 years of experience in teaching he accepted in 2010 a full professorship of Clinical and Experimental Anatomy at the Leiden University Medical Center. In this position he is responsible for the (post)graduate teaching activities of the department, clinical anatomy research, skills laboratory organization and body donation. His main research projects focus on the development of abnormally developed aortic valves and dilatation of the aorta. In addition he is a consultant in surgical anatomy of the pelvis. In this function he is involved in many research studies to elaborate nerve sparing techniques in pelvic and abdominal surgery. In addition Marco is the vice chair of the Technology Enhance Learning Working group at LUMC that develops new strategies for digital education.