Luc Van Gaal MD, PhD

Luc Van Gaal studied medicine at the University of Antwerp, where he graduated in 1978. He obtained a specialist degree in internal medicine and afterward in endocrinology and metabolism in 1983. Since then, he has become responsible for the Metabolic Unit at Antwerp University Hospital. In 1992 he became a Professor of Medicine at Antwerp University and is currently head of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Metabolism at the University Hospital. Professor Van Gaal’s main clinical and research interests are related to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and lipid metabolism. He is a member of many scientific, national, and international societies and a member of the Editorial Board of a series of scientific journals. He is a board member of the Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity (BASO) and Past-President of the Belgian Diabetic Society. He is, as a founding member, also involved in the scientific activities of the Obesitas Forum (Belgium) and the International (IASO) SCOPE program. He is the running secretary of the Belgian Endocrine Society and, in May 2000, he was the Co-President of the 10th European Congress on Obesity, organized in Antwerp. He participated in and/or featured as (country) coordinator or principal investigator in a number of clinical (outcome) trials in the field of obesity and diabetes. He is also involved in a number of EU consortia for metabolic diseases. Professor Van Gaal has published more than 220 papers in international medical journals, mainly in the areas of general endocrinology, obesity, diabetes, and lipids, and has contributed to a number of textbooks about obesity