Lode Godderis

At a glance

• Occupational physician and professor of occupational medicine at KU Leuven; also heads the external prevention service IDEWE.
• One of the most-heard Belgian voices on burnout, workload and wellbeing at work, with research rooted in the everyday practice of occupational physicians.
• Studies what predicts burnout and how stress becomes measurable in the body, for example through cortisol, cortisone and inflammatory markers.
• Works on reintegration: what helps people return to work sustainably after burnout or depression, and which support makes a difference.
• Recent studies also follow doctors in training, in whom burnout and engagement coexist, and compare sick-leave duration across twenty conditions.
• Relevant because chronic stress is an underrated factor in healthy ageing, and work takes up a large part of adult life.