Eelco de Koning is professor of diabetology at the Leiden University Medical Center. He heads the LUMC diabetes center and coordinates the human islet transplantation program which is a national service. He also heads the national expertise center on Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY). His research is focused on innovative cell replacement therapies as treatment for patients with diabetes mellitus. Eelco de Koning is also group leader in the Hubrecht Institute for developmental and stem cell biology in Utrecht.