Philippe R. KONINCKX  a primus perpetuus of classic Latin-Greek high school, received his medical education at the Facultés Notre Dame in Namur and graduated from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, where he trained for OBGYN. Subsequently he trained as an endocrinologist with a PhD on ovarian endocrinology and androgen production. As a student and later as a registrar he developed and introduced at KULeuven the radioimmunoassays of angiotensins, LH, FSH and prolactin. Clinically, he became board certified in nuclear laboratory medicine and was in charge for the routine hormone laboratory from 1978 till 1996. Reproductive medicine was the main clinical interest. He started the first menopause clinic on the continent in 1981, and became later in charge of infertility and IVF. The rapid development of endoscopic surgery since 1986, first in infertility, and later in gynaecology shifted responsibilities to endoscopic surgery, laser laparoscopic excision of severe endometriosis being actually the main activity.

Research interests always centered on endometriosis : related to the LUF syndrome, an NK cell related immunologic disease, deep endometriosis, and CO2 laser endoscopic excision, the baboon model in Kenya and the endometriotic disease theory emphasising that severe endometriosis is a benign tumour. New surgical instruments were developed, such as the high flow insufflator, the uterine rotator for hysterectomy and the camera auto-correcting for horizontality. Recently his fundamental research interest shifted to prevention of adhesion formation (with the addition of small amounts of oxygen to the pneumoperitoneum as key achievement) and to the genetic aetiology of endometriosis (Oxegene,Oxford)

Academically he is a full professor of OBGYN and director of the centre for surgical technologies at KULeuven, a visiting professor, master of arts and honorary Consultant at the University of Oxford, UK and a visiting professor at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy

He has been a board member of the AAGL (2001), of the ESGE and of the VVOG. He is an editorial board member of the journal of Minimal Invasive gynaecology, (American Association Gynaecological Endoscopy),Human Reproduction, Gynaecological Surgery, and Fertility and Sterility.He is/was an advisor to the Endometriosis Association, a founding and board member of the ESGI (European Society Gynaecological Investigation 1994-2005), an honorary member of the Australian Endoscopy Society (1993), an honorary and founding member of the Indonesian Endoscopy Society (2000), and an honorary member of the SEGI (Italian endoscopy society).He recently is a co-founder of the initiative dedicated to give full information to patients and to perform surgery with full videotaping.

Awards : following a series of research awards, he received in 2001 the ‘Distinguished Surgeon Award’ from the ASRM in Philiadelphia for his contribution to endoscopic surgery.