Elias Gauer is a resident in the Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery at Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany. His clinical and scientific interests focus on pancreatic surgery and pancreatic cancer, with a particular interest in minimally invasive surgical approaches and oncological outcomes. He is involved in several research projects within the pancreatic surgery group under the mentorship of Thomas Hank. His current research investigates the oncological outcomes of minimally invasive versus open distal pancreatectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.