He is currently researching the effects of bariatric surgery on the glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes for a PhD. Abdominal surgery appealed to him, he says, for its variety and available specialisms. He started his career researching islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes, before moving to bariatric surgery in 2005, relishing the challenge of laparascopic surgery and gastric bypass as it was starting up, and researching the effects on glucose metabolism. At UZ Leuven he says he has the best of both worlds: challenging surgery and very interesting research in the field of diabetes. He became President of the Belgian Section for Obesity and Metabolic Surgery in 2014, and his term runs until 2016.