Eelco de Koning is Professor of Diabetology at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands. He obtained his M.D. from the University of Utrecht and is a board-certified endocrinologist (2001). He worked as Ph.D. student at the Diabetes Research Laboratories (1991-1994) and was a visiting scientist at the Joslin Diabetes Center (2004-2005). He coordinates the national islet transplantation program in the Netherlands and is medical director of the human islet isolation and transplantation unit at the LUMC. His research aims at a better understanding of human islet biology, islet regeneration and preservation, and novel sources for insulinproducing cells. He is a principal investigator in the international stem cell consortium reNEW, the regenerative medicine consortium RegMedXB and the European Union consortium ISLET that are focused on developing novel islet replacement strategies for type 1 diabetes. He is past-president of the European Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association (EPITA) and council member of the International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association (IPITA).