Professor Jolanda Kluin is a cardiac surgeon and head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She is the first woman in Europe to lead a cardiothoracic surgery department. Aside to her clinical and managerial tasks, her research is focused on cardiovascular tissue engineering and the development of a soft robotic total artificial heart. Especially her collaboration with partners outside the medical field is key to this research.