Arnold von Eckardstein studied medicine in Giessen and Kiel and then specialized in laboratory medicine and clinical chemistry in Frankfurt and Münster (Germany). Since 2001, he is professor at the medical faculty of the University of Zurich and the director of the Institute of Clinical Chemistry of the University Hospital of Zurich (Switzerland; http://www.en.ikc.usz.ch/Pages/default.aspx). His main research interests include risk factors and biomarkers of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases as well as structure, function, and metabolism of high density lipoproteins (HDL) and sphingolipids. He has published about 400 original and review papers in international peer reviewed scientific journals. Arnold von Eckardstein is the Editor-in-Chief of Atherosclerosis and current member of the Editorial Boards of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology; BBA Molecular Biology of Lipids; Cardiovascular Research, and European Heart Journal. Previously, he served as the Chairman of the European Lipoprotein Club, the Swiss and German Atherosclerosis Societies, and the Swiss Society of Clinical Chemistry as well as the Secretary of the European Atherosclerosis Society.