He obtained his DVM at the University of Utrecht in 1980. During his military service he worked as first lieutenant veterinary surgeon and epidemiologist at the directory of the Dutch Army Services. Thereafter he worked for 3 years as veterinary practitioner in the Dutch Antilles (Curacao, Bonaire) and subsequently 14 years in the Veterinary Clinic Marum in the northern part of The Netherlands. While in practice, his professional career has transformed from general practice to specialized work in the field of reproduction. He further developed the practical application of ultrasonography of the female reproduction tract in both horses and ruminants. In 1994 he completed his PhD on pseudopregnancy in the goat. From 1993 to 1997 he was President of the Northern Department of the Royal Dutch Veterinary Association.
In 1998 he was board certified in equine reproduction and in the same year he joined the Animal Health Service and was board certified in Ruminant Herd Health (internal medicine) in 1999. In 2000 he was acknowledged as founding diplomate of the European College of Animal Reproduction (ECAR).
In 2001 he was appointed at the University Medical Center Groningen. At the time he worked as manager business affairs of the Department of Surgery, he was a co-founder of the BioOptical imaging Center Groningen. Since then his research interest is focused on comparative medicine, especially on the development of optical imaging in oncology. In 2006 he was appointed as Associate Professor at the Department of Surgery. In the same year he was appointed as Managing Director of the UMCG Cancer Program, which comprises actually the UMC Groningen Cancer Center. He was also responsible for the new construction of the ambulatory oncology center.
In 2011 he was appointed as clinic director of the Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals and professor in topreferral health care of companion animals at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. From 2013 till 2016 he was member of the Board of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Besides, since April 2014 till 2017 he was Head of the department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals. Since 2014 he is national representative at the European Board of Veterinary Specialization. During his career, he acquired a total of more than 17 M € in external project funding.
He trained many undergraduate students and 19 PhD students have successfully defended their thesis under his supervision; actually, he supervises 9 PhD students. He has published over 50 papers in international peer-reviewed journals.
In addition to his work, he has held various voluntary board positions in the cultural and sports fields.