As a clinician-scientist specialized in colorectal cancer, Prof Sabine Tejpar combines a deep understanding of the disease with top-care for patients and their families. As a clinical head of te department of gastroenterology at the Leuven university hospital, she is confronted daily with the devastating consequences of a diagnosis with colorectal cancer. The void in efficient treatment spurred her research. As the head of the Digestive Oncology lab at the department of Oncology of the Catholic University Leuven, she and her team aim to untangle the disease and translate this into new treatments. This has already resulted in novel classifications and new biomarkers. With her large international scientific network, improved in vitro and in vivo modeling of the disease allows to improve therapies in a more clinically relevant way by defining and target novel tumor cell states and their interactions. Based on these results, her team is now confidently transitioning into proof-of-concept neoadjuvant clinical trials and accompanying fundamental and translational research. Her bench to bedside approach which is widely appreciated by industry partners, putting the patient and their quality of life front and center, will ensure that her research will result in relevant treatment strategies.