I was born and raised in Belgium, the country of beer and chocolate, from where I travel the world whenever possible. Having started diving in 1984, I have never bothered too much with
certification but now hold a valid proof of competency and have survived more than 1,000 dives.
After graduating from medical school at the University of Ghent, Belgium in 1988 I started out as a general practitioner in the Belgian Armed Forces, then commenced as a specialist in hyperbaric medicine in 1990. I received my University Diploma in diving and hyperbaric medicine from the University of Lille, France, in 1993. I hold also postgraduate diplomas in emergency medicine, aviation medicine and sports medicine, as well as disaster medicine. Still in active military service, I now hold the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Belgian Military Medical Services.
Since 1991 I have been the Medical Director of the Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy of the Military Hospital in Brussels. Apart from diving and hyperbaric medicine, I also practice aviation medicine. I joined EUBS in 1993 and have been its webmaster since the site’s inception in 1997, then a Member-at-Large, then President of EUBS (2009-2012), and currently the EUBS Honorary Secretary. I am also the Medical Director of DAN Europe Benelux and was co-founder of the COST-B14 Action “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy” of the European Commission (1999-2005), an important milestone in the history of HBO therapy in Europe.
My special interests in diving and hyperbaric medicine include patent foramen ovale (co-authoring the textbook “PFO and the diver” in 2007), pulmonary risk factors; hyperbaric intensive care, sudden deafness and acoustic trauma; evidence-based medicine. In 2014 I co-edited a new book on diving physiology and research, “The Science of Diving”.
My other interests in life: a wife and two daughters, speed, altitude, video and photography, hiking, and… little sleep.