Prof. Joop van Gerven (1958) studied Medicine at Utrecht University. He obtained his MSc (cum laude) in 1982 and MD in 1984. He subsequently worked in the Department of Internal Medicine at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). In 1990 he completed a PhD-thesis on aldose reductase inhibitor treatment in diabetes mellitus. He was trained as a neurologist in Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam (EMCR Dijkzigt Hospital) from 1988 to 1994. He subsequently completed his training as a clinical pharmacologist. He also studied philosophy (MA) at Leiden University. Since 1994 he has been a Staff Neurologist at Leiden University Medical Center and Director CNS Research at the Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR) in Leiden, where he has been responsible for consultancy, research and training on central nervous system drugs and methods. In 2004 he was appointed Professor of Clinical Neuropsychopharmacology at Leiden University. His primary scientific interest is in demonstration of ‘proof of pharmacology’ for central nervous system-active agents during early phases of drug development. He has published about 250 peer reviewed scientific articles and book chapters, and is a regular invited speaker and board member of scientific organisations and conferences on various aspects of this subject. Since 2011, prof. van Gerven has been the clinical pharmacologist and vice-chairman of the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO), the Dutch clinical trial authority and central ethics committee. He has been the Chairman of the Committee since 2016. After his retirement he will continue as the Chairman of the Medical Ethics Review Committee of Amsterdam University Medical Center.