Lex Bouter was born in Rotterdam in 1956. After obtaining a MSc degree in Medical Biology at Utrecht University in 1982, he lectured at teacher training colleges in Tilburg and Utrecht. In 1984 he joined Maastricht University, where he was trained as an epidemiologist and obtained his PhD. In 1988 he published a Dutch textbook on epidemiology, the seventh revised edition of which will appear in 2015. In 1992 Bouter took up a tenured position as Professor of Epidemiology and Scientific Director of the EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. He was Editor (1996-2002) and Editor-in-Chief (2002-2006) of the Cochrane Collaboration Back Review Group. From 2001 until 2006 he additionally chaired of one of the six divisions at the VU University Medical Center. He was president of the Netherlands Epidemiological Society (1996-1997), member of the Health Council of the Netherlands (2001-2013), vice-chair and methodologist of the Dutch Central Committee on Research involving Human Subjects (2001-2013), and chair of the program committee of the Innovative Medical Devices Initiative of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (since 2009). From 2006 until 2013 he was Rector Magnificus and member of the Executive Board of VU University Amsterdam. In this function he focused on combining research groups in interdisciplinary research institutes. Also as rector Lex pleaded for attention for the societal impact of research. And for attention for the dilemmas around scientific integrity. Subsequently Lex prepared for a return to science during a sabbatical leave. In 2014 his tenured professorship was broadened to Methodology and Integrity. He is currently involved in teaching and research regarding responsible conduct of research, questionable research practices and research misconduct. Lex Bouter is author or co-author of 663 scientific publications contained in the Web of Knowledge, which have been cited more than 38,500 times (WoK h-index of 104). He is listed among the 400 most influential biomedical researchers and has supervised 73 PhD students, of whom to date 14 became full professor.