Dr Henk-Jan Aanstoot is a pediatric diabetologist in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He did his medical school at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands where he performed research on hemoglobin A1c. After completing his training in pediatrics at Sophia Children's Hospital (Rotterdam, 1989), he joined the research group of Steinunn Baekkeskov which moved in 1990 to the Hormone Research Institute at UCSF, San Francisco (EASD Albert Renold fellowship, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences Termeulen fellowship).

Dr Aanstoot was coauthor on the Nature paper describing the identification of 64kD antigen as Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD), major target for the autoimmune reaction involved in type 1 diabetes. His major research issues focus on the prediction of diabetes, the long-term outcome of diabetes in children and adolescents, interventions in (early) type 1 diabetes and the organization of care.

Previous appointments include president of the national Dutch Diabetes Federation (NDF, 2000-2005). During his presidency, diabetes has become an important issue on the Dutch healthcare agenda. The NDF completed national guidelines and standards of care and became the major partner for government and healthcare insurance companies in the development of a new framework of diabetes care. In 2006 he cofounded ‘Diabeter', a Pediatric Clinic and Research group and national referral center for children and adolescents with diabetes and related disorders.

Dr. Aanstoot is a member of the IDF Consultative Section on Childhood and Adolescent Diabetes, and of the International Hvidore Study Group on Childhood Diabetes. He chaired the Special Populations Group for Pediatrics of the United Nations Resolution on Diabetes Project, which wrote a Charter on Youth Diabetes. He also chairs the Dutch Study Group on Childhood and Adolescent Diabetes and is a member of several international diabetes associations and workgroups. He is author and co-author on several diabetes-related (inter)national papers. Dr Aanstoot was awarded with the Erasmus University Research Award and the National Diabetes Research Prize (Gerritzen-award).