Arne Astrup

Arne Vernon Astrup (born 1 August, in Frederiksberg, 1955) is a Danish nutritionist, chief physician, researcher, author and professor. He is known as a researcher, communicator and author and has published more than 900 scientific articles. In 2018 he was internationally recognised as one of the world's most cited researchers. Arne Astrup has contributed to the identification of GLP-1 as a satiety hormone, which has played a key role in the development of GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of obesity, which has contributed to the success of Novo Nordisk A/S and their drug Wegovy.

From 1990 to 2020 he was head of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen. In the fall of 2016, the department was ranked by the internationally recognised Shanghai Ranking as the world's leading research environment in its field.

Astrup completed his medical studies at the University of Copenhagen in 1981. In 1986, he received his medical doctorate (Dr. med.) for his dissertation on metabolism in humans. Subsequently, he continued his training as a specialist in Internal medicine. He was at the final stage of his specialist training when he became head of the Danish Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in 1990. He was made a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog in 1999 by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Knight 1st Class of the Order of Dannebrog in 2012.

Since 1 July 2020 Arne Astrup has taken on the role of Senior Vice President, Obesity and Nutritional Sciences, at the Novo Nordisk Foundation.