Dick Willems is Professor of Health Care Ethics and a former general practitioner of medicine. He holds a PhD in Philosophy. He is Professor of Medical Ethics at the Academic Medical Centre / University of Amsterdam.

He has been a coordinator of the Center for the Development of Palliative Care at the Free University, Amsterdam. His research interests include ethical aspects of genetics, end-of-life issues and home care technology. He is a member of the AMC IRB and the President of Netherlands Association for Bioethics, Director of the Centre for Ethics and Health, and a member of the Council for Public Health and Health Care (RVZ) and of the Ethics and Law Standing Committee of the Dutch Health Council. He is a member of the South-East Asian Network on Bioethics teaching, currently involving Universities in Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Thailand.

Dick Willems serves as Ethical Advisor on the Healing Encounters project.