Mattias Duytschaever was born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1970. He obtained his medical degree in 1995 from the University of Ghent, after which he conducted research for his PhD into the role of atrial electrical remodeling in the management of atrial fibrillation until 2000, under the supervision of Professor Allessie, at the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Professor Duytschaever furthered his training in cardiology at the Academic Hospital Ghent, Belgium, from 2000 to 2002, and became Professor in Electrophysiology at the University of Ghent in 2003. Since 2006, he has been conducting diagnostic and interventional electrophysiology at the Department of Electrophysiology at St Jan Hospital Bruges, Belgium, still providing his services as Professor in Electrophysiology at the University of Ghent. Professor Duytschaever is an active clinical researcher at both of these establishments and has published widely on the pathogenesis and treatment of arrhythmias.