Francjan J. van Spronsen finished his PhD in 1996 on phenylketonuria and his general pediatric training in 1997. He started in the field of metabolic diseases in 1983 as a MD student-PhD student and after some years of general pediatrics he rejoined the metabolic section. At a national level, he chairs the Dutch Advisory Committee on Neonatal Screening for inherited metabolic diseases, is a member of the Dutch Committee on Neonatal Screening, chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Society of PKU and allied disorders and is an active member of various European and international advisory boards and working groups on various inborn errors of metabolism. His papers focus on metabolic and cerebral processes in especially phenylketonuria, urea cycle defects and tyrosinemia type I. He has coordinated various undergraduate MD programs, and vice-chaired the exam committee for M.D. students of the University of Groningen. He is married and has seven daughters and one son.