(°6 January 1963) is Full Professor in Toxicology and Head of the Laboratory of Toxicology and Food Chemistry at the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven), Belgium. He holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and continued his career by obtaining a PhD in Physiology at the Medical School of the K.U.Leuven. From 1990-92 he has stayed at the Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA) for a post-doctoral training. He holds the chair of toxicology with tuition and research in different areas of toxicology in the faculties of medicine, pharmaceutical and bio-agricultural sciences. He is also Director of the division ‘Biopharmaceutical Sciences’ of Leuven Research & Development (LRD), a bio-incubator for his research in drug discovery. Jan Tytgat has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and reviews in international scientific journals and has received several prices, among which the price of the Research Council (K.U.Leuven, the most prestigious price for young scientists at the K.U.Leuven) and the international price Dr. E. Delcroix (of the Flemish Marine Institute, for his research in the area of Cnidaria intoxications and drug discovery starting from marine systems and organisms). He gives frequent national and international lectures, is member of diverse scientific societies and editorial boards and is consultant for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Jan Tytgat is also leading a forensic toxicology laboratory in Belgium at the request of the Ministry of Justice. He has been elected President of the European Section of the International Society on Toxinology (IST) (2004-2011).