Prof. Mieke van Haelst is Head of Clinical Genetics at the Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam University Medical Centers. After her specialist training at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, she worked as a clinical geneticist in London and Utrecht. Her translational research focusses on the identification of (novel) gene defects and unravelling the pathogenicity obesity-related disorders. As co-director of Emma Center for Personalized Medicine at Amsterdam UMC, she works on the identification and understanding of causal (epi)genetic factors that result in rare diseases. She integrates knowledge and methods of diverse disciplines to accelerate the development of personal treatment for rare genetic disorders. She has established genetic clinics, research, and education programs at the pediatric departments in the Dutch Caribbean and aims to provide equal genetic care for diverse populations. Together with co-editor Erica van den Akker, she established the Dutch national center of expertise for genetic obesity disorders.
Prof. Erica van den Akker is Head of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Department of Pediatrics Erasmus MC-Sophia Children’s Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She is Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Erasmus University and Cofounder of the Obesity Clinic CGG, which is an European Association Studies of Obesity Center of Management (EASO-COM) and a Dutch national center of expertise in diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents with genetic obesity. Dr. van den Akker's research focuses on clinical and translational projects in the diagnostics and treatment of (genetic) obesity. She is member of the European Society of Pediatric Endocrinology clinical practice committee, the RareEndo European Reference Network main thematic group on growth and obesity.
