John J.P. Kastelein, MD, PhD, FESC

Dr. John Kastelein is emeritus professor of medicine, and was the chairman of the department of Vascular Medicine, and h the Strategic Chair of Genetics in Cardiovascular Disease at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Kastelein is a member of the Steering Committees of numerous lipid lowering and cardiovascular intervention trials. His main interest is in the development of novel therapies for Cardiovascular Diseases and the genetic basis of dyslipidemia.

Dr. Kastelein was awarded a doctorate in Medicine (with Honours) from the University of Amsterdam, trained in internal medicine at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam, and trained in lipidology and molecular biology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He is a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC). In 2010 he was awarded the prestigious Dutch Heart Association prize of EUR 1 million and in 2011 the ZonMw Parel for his research in the field of gene therapy.

Dr Kastelein was the co-founder of Xenon Pharma, Uniqure, Dezima and NewAmsterdam Pharma, where he currently holds the position of Chief Science Officer.