Wouter de Corte

Background

About Wouter de Corte

As a physician with over 15 years of experience in anesthesiology and critical care medicine, I’ve come to appreciate how complex, fragile, and deeply human healthcare truly is. Working in a supraregional hospital with more than beds has shaped my understanding of how systems, teamwork, and technology can either strengthen or hinder the care we provide. My goal has always been simple: to make healthcare more human through innovation. My scientific journey began with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, focusing on ICU patient outcomes. That work deepened my fascination with data and pattern recognition — long before AI became a buzzword. Today, as Visiting Professor in AI for Healthcare at KU Leuven–KULAK, I explore how artificial intelligence can augment clinical judgment, not replace it, and how meaningful integration starts with the clinician’s perspective. As former Medical Head of the ICU, I led a major restructuring — merging teams, scaling capacity, and implementing digital workflows. That experience taught me that leadership in healthcare is about guiding people through change, aligning vision with reality, and creating an environment where innovation is not a threat but a shared goal. My entrepreneurial mindset was shaped by co-founding PointCare, a MedTech start-up, where I contributed strategic and clinical insights during its early growth phase. That experience deepened my understanding of the MedTech ecosystem and the challenges of bringing innovation from concept to clinical practice. Currently, as Medical Lead at The Greenhouse, the innovation hub of az groeninge, I work to translate ideas into impact — helping shape the hospital’s transformation towards a more data-driven, patient-centered future. I also serve on Elsevier’s Physician Advisory Board on Large Language Models, where I contribute clinical insights to ensure that emerging AI systems in healthcare remain grounded in real-world practice. My passion lies in connecting these worlds — clinical expertise, digital strategy, and innovation — to build tools and systems that truly serve both patients and professionals. I believe the future of medicine will belong to those who can connect the dots between science, care, and technology — and who never lose sight of the human behind the data.