Em. Prof. dr. Paul Beckers, is emeritus professor of Cardiovascular Rehabilitation at the Antwerp University (UA). He holds a master degree in Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, a PhD in Medical Sciences with specialisation in exercise in heart failure. He was Head of Physical Therapy of the Department of Cardiology, coordinator of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre at the Antwerp University Hospital Edegem (UZA) and is still involved in teaching Cardiorespiratory Physical Therapy at the UA.

He has extensive experience in cardiac rehabilitation and developed specific training techniques for heart failure patients. He contributed to the design of and actively participated in multiple large international multicentre trials such as SAINTEX-CAD, SMARTEX-HF and OPTIMEX-CLIN, he (co-)authored papers mainly on exercise and rehabilitation in cardiovascular disease.

He is founder and secretary of the Belgian Federation of Cardiac Rehabilitation Centres and active member of the Belgian Working group of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation. He was founder and secretary of the former European Association on Cardiac Rehabilitation and is honoured Emeritus Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology.

His moto: “Exercise makes you live longer with a higher quality of life”