HON PROFESSOR PETRA DE SUTTER is the President of the European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF). She served as member of the Belgian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2014 until 2019 and is currently Member of the European Parliament for Belgium. As member of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group, she was a member of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons; the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs; the Sub-Committee on Integration; the Sub-Committee on Public Health and Sustainable Development; and the Sub-Committee on Ethics. She is a gynaecologist and has previously served as head of the department for reproductive medicine at Ghent University Hospital. She has been actively involved in the creation of progressive legislation in the areas of medically assisted reproduction and transsexuality. She is the first Belgian transgender woman on a parliament list of a political party, and one of the few openly transgender politicians in Europe.

What distinguishes Petra De Sutter from many other prominent scientists is her enormous motivation to place medical and biotechnological developments in a social context and reflect on the ethical concerns.