Arend Jan Waarlo, biologist, PhD in health education (1989), holds a special chair of the Dutch Genetic Alliance (VSOP) regarding genetics & health communication since 2003. He was engaged in the Utrecht Master’s Degree Programme ‘Science Education and Communication’. From 2000 to 2004 he was a member of the Academic Committee of the European Researchers in Didactics of Biology (ERIDOB). His current research interest is in acquiring opinion-forming and decision-making competence on socio-scientific issues. From 2008-2013 he was also principal investigator Genomics education and communication at the Centre for Society and the Life Sciences in the Netherlands (Radboud University, Nijmegen).