Remembering Leo Van den Brande

Leo Van den Brande was born in 1933 in Wolvertem (Belgium). After his medical and paediatric training in Ghent (Belgium), he obtained a fellowship of paediatric endocrinology at the university hospital of the University of North Carolina (USA), under the guidance of Professor Judson (Jud) Van Wyk (1965-1968). During the final year of his fellowship, Leo sparked Jud’s interest in exploring sulfation factors which became the leading research theme for both the North Carolina group and Leo’s later career in the Netherlands. Leo worked as Associate Professor of paediatric endocrinology in the Sophia Children’s Hospital, Erasmus University in Rotterdam (1968-1978) and as Professor of paediatrics in the Wilhelmina Childen’s Hospital, Utrecht University (1978-1995).

From 1968 till his retirement, Leo was an active member of ESPE for which he served as Council member, Treasurer and President. He was also the founder of ESPE Fellowship and Teaching Programs. In 1989 he received the Andrea Prader Prize, and in 1994 he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion.

Leo was a dedicated clinical scientist and mentored 14 fellows from the Netherlands and several other countries. He authored 108 scientific papers and supervised nine PhD projects. Examples of his scientific achievements included the development of a bioassay of somatomedins (presently called IGFs) [Acta Endocrinol (Copenh) 1974;75:233-42], the discovery of the sequence of cDNA encoding human insulin-like growth factor I precursor [Nature 1983;306(5943):609-11] and the first report on patients carrying bi-allelic POU1F1 variants (Science 1992;257(5073):1118-21).

Leo’s kind and inspiring personality will be missed by his family and by all who had the privilege of knowing him. He was an exceptional role model for young paediatric endocrinologists.

Written by Jan Maarten Wit, Wilma Oostdijk, Anita Hokken-Koelega, Michael B Ranke, and Raphael Rappaport.