Paul J. van Diest studied medicine, completed his PhD and pathology residency at the VU University Medical Center (VUMC) in Amsterdam. After obtaining his Board certification in Pathology in 1996, he became Consultant Pathologist at the Department of Pathology of the VUMC. In 1999 he was appointed Associate Professor and in 2001 promoted to full Professor. In 2003, he moved to Utrecht to become Head of the Department of Pathology at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), where he is currently still working. He is Adjunct Professor of Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Oncology Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD. He serves on the editorial board of 23 international journals. He has been active on the Board as Secretary and President of several international societies. He has published 560 papers in peer reviewed journals, personally supervised 45 PhD theses and has an H-index of 61.