Peter Gøtzsche

Professor Peter C Gøtzsche, Director of The Nordic Cochrane Centre, graduated with a Master of Science in biology and chemistry in 1974 and as a physician in 1984. He is a specialist in internal medicine; worked with clinical trials and regulatory affairs in the drug industry 1975-1983, and in hospitals in Copenhagen from 1984 to 1995. He cofounded The Cochrane Collaboration in 1993 and established The Nordic Cochrane Centre the same year. He became Professor of Clinical Research Design and Analysis in 2010 at the University of Copenhagen. He is a strong campaigner for clinical data transparency.

In 2007, Peter lodged a complaint to the European Ombudsman after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) refused access to clinical study reports and corresponding trial protocols for two anti-obesity drugs. In his complaint to the Ombudsman, he claimed that concerns for patients' welfare should be given priority over concerns for the commercial interests of the drug industry. The EMA eventually followed the Ombudsman's recommendation to disclose the documents and overhauled its complete transparency policy to give the broadest possible access to medical data.