Honoring persons

Pierre J. LEFEBVRE received his MD Degree at the University of Liège, Belgium and got his PhD at the same University. He is presently Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Liège where he has been Chairman of the Department of Medicine (1988-2000) and Head of the Division of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Disorders (1970-2000).

His research has been devoted to the physiology and pathophysiology of metabolic regulations with particular emphasis on glucagon, insulin and physical exercise. He performed numerous studies on the pathogeny and treatment of Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Among his main contributions are:

- the demonstration of the role of glucagon in lipolysis and the regulation of glucagon secretion by circulating FFA
- the study of the factors regulating gastric glucagon using a unique model of isolated-perfused dog stomach
- the first description of the use of « naturally labeled 13C-glucose » for metabolic studies in man (paper published in Science)
- the systematic analysis of the contribution of ingested sugars before, during and after physical exercise in man
- the study of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion in diabetic patients, including the consequences of a deliberate interruption of the infusion
- a critical reevaluation of the reactive hypoglycemia syndrome
- innovative studies on the use of computers in patient education

P. LEFEBVRE has published more than 25 books and 900 papers. He serves or has served on the Editorial Board of more than 20 International Journals. He has been recognised by several awards including the Masius Award (University of Liège, 1965), the University Foundation Alumni Award (Brussels, 1968), the Pfizer Award (Royal Academy of Medicine, Belgium 1979), the Claude Bernard Award (European Association for the Study of Diabetes, 1984), the Maurice Dérot Award (Paris, 1987) the Paul Langerhans Award (Deutsche Diabetes Gesellshaft, 1992), the Mizuno Award (Tokyo, 1996), the Novartis Long-Standing Achievement in Diabetes Award (2000), etc… He has given the Alexander Marble (Boston, 1993), the Celal Oker (Istanbul, 1993) and the Banting Memorial (Diabetes UK, 2001) Lectures. He has been invited to give « State-of-the-Art » lectures at the XVIth IDF Congress (Helsinki, 1997), the 5TH IDF WPR Congress (Beijing, 2002) and the 45th Annual Meeting of the Japan Diabetes Society (Tokyo, 2002).

Pierre LEFEBVRE has been President of the Belgian Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. He has been Vice-President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and first Chairman of the IDF Education Foundation. Between 2003 and 2006 he has been President of the IDF. Since 2003, he is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the World Diabetes Foundation.

Pierre LEFEBVRE is member and former President of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, Foreign Associate member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine (Paris), member of the Academia Europaea and has been elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London). He is Doctor honoris causa of the Universities of Badajoz (Spain), Laval (Québec, Canada), Helsinki (Finland), Paris VI (France), Cluj-Napoca (Rumania) and Athens (Greece).

Lars Rydén is Professor emeritus of Cardiology at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. He is specialist in internal medicine and cardiology. His main interest is in general cardiology His research has a particular emphasis on arrhythmias, cardiac pacing, heart failure and cardiovascular disease related to diabetes mellitus.

Professor Rydén, who is an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Physicians London and several National Cardiac Societies, has published around 500 scientific papers within the fields outlined above.

He was President of the Swedish Cardiac Society 1986-1990, of the European Society of Cardiology 1998-2000 and has served on the Board of the World Heart Federation. He chaired the Scientific Board of the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation 1995-2005. Since 2004 he is chairing Alert (a system for identification and early assessment concerning new methods in health care) for the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU). Professor Rydén has been appointed by the Irish and Luxemburg Ministries of Health to chair an expert committee providing background material for the creation of a Heart Health plan for Europe and has in this capacity collaborated with the European Society of Cardiology and the European Commission.

The 2nd Prediabetes & Metabolic Syndrome Conference is honored to host these 2 out standing specialist which will address the pre-diabetes conference in a few different symposiums.

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