Harry L.A. Janssen graduated from medical school in Nijmegen, Netherlands. During his study he spent one year as research fellow in Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic. He obtained his PhD at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on the role of immune modulating therapy in chronic hepatitis B. Following his training in Internal Medicine in Leiden and Gastroenterology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, he returned to the Mayo Clinic for a Research Fellowship in Hepatology at the Center of Basic Research in Digestive Diseases. In 2001 he became a faculty member and in 2006 he was appointed as full Professor of Hepatology at the Erasmus University and Chief of the Section Liver Diseases and Transplantation at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. After a successful career in Rotterdam, he moved in 2013 to Toronto to become Chief of Hepatology at the University Health Network and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, where he also held the Francis Family Chair in Hepatology. In 2016 he merged all three Toronto Liver Programs into the Toronto Centre for Liver Disease to become the biggest liver program in North America, based at Toronto General Hospital. In 2022 dr. Janssen relocated back to the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam to become Chair and Professor of the Dept. of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Dr. Janssen has led numerous international multicenter clinical and translational studies on the natural history and treatment for chronic viral hepatitis and other liver diseases. His clinical and translational research aiming for immunological control and cure of hepatitis B and C has led to several globally used novel treatment concepts. He is currently the most cited global expert in chronic hepatitis B (Expertscape nr 1 among 28,932 scientists). His research contributions include sustained federal funding (greater than 20 years), over 600 peer reviewed publications, an H-index of 117, and over 65,000 citations (Google Scholar). He has acquired over $50 million USD in research funding from many different organizations among which NIH, European Commission, CIHR, NWO and ZonMW. He has received several prestigious international awards and has mentored over 50 PhD students, several of whom have taken leadership positions in the field of Hepatology or Virology. In addition to his longstanding expertise in antiviral therapy of chronic viral hepatitis, he is a leading scientist in the field of vascular disorders of the liver. Dr. Janssen is a member of the EASL Guideline Committees for both Hepatitis B and for Vascular Liver Disease. He is also the past Chair of the AASLD Special Interest Group for Hepatitis B, Chair of the Global Hepatitis Summit, and the Global Chair of HBV Forum providing scientific guidance to industry, regulatory bodies (FDA and EMA) and the academic communities in the areas of liver drug and diagnostic development.
