Mihai Netea

Mihai Netea is Professor of Experimental Medicine at the Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands. A leading immunologist elected to the Academy of Europe in 2015, his work bridges infectious diseases, immunology, and metabolic regulation with over 525 PubMed-indexed publications and 16,000+ citations.

His educational trajectory includes an MD from Cluj University, Romania (1987-1993), Dutch medical licensure (1994), PhD training at Radboud (1994-1998), and specialty certification in Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases (2000-2006).

• MD: University of Cluj, Romania (1987-1993)
• Dutch MD License: Radboud University (1994)
• PhD: Radboud University Medical Centre (1994-1998)
• Specialty Training: Internal Medicine & Infectious Diseases (2000-2006)

Netea's research revolutionized understanding of innate immunity through the discovery of 'trained immunity' – metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming of innate cells after pathogen exposure. His work spans cytokine networks in sepsis, genetic susceptibility to fungal infections (particularly Candida), and immunometabolic crosstalk in inflammatory diseases. Current investigations focus on how β-glucan exposure induces long-term epigenetic changes in monocytes and the role of mTOR/HIF1α pathways in immune memory.

Analysis of his 525+ publications reveals dominant themes: trained immunity mechanisms (35%), fungal immunology (25%), genetic susceptibility to infections (20%), and immunometabolism (15%). His 2014 Science papers established the metabolic basis of trained immunity, while genome-wide studies identified key SNPs in candidemia susceptibility. Recent work explores evolutionary adaptations in immune genes and clinical applications for vaccine development.

His scientific recognition includes:

• 16 major awards including Vidi (2005) and Vici (2010) Research Awards
• ERC Consolidator Grant (2012) and European Society for Clinical Investigation Award (2013)
• Member of the Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Visiting Professorship at Cluj University, Romania

Netea has mentored 8 PhD students (4 graduating Cum Laude) and secured €11.6M in major grants including ZonMW Vidi (€600K), Vici (€1.5M), ERC Consolidator (€1.5M), and CVON consortium funding (€8M) as co-coordinator. His laboratory pioneered methods for studying innate immune memory in human monocytes and developed translational models for fungal vaccine development.

He leads the Experimental Medicine research group within Radboud's Department of Internal Medicine, collaborating with the Nijmegen Institute for Infection, Inflammation and Immunity (N4i). Current projects investigate trained immunity in sepsis survivors, metabolic reprogramming in autoimmune diseases, and evolutionary immunology of Toll-like receptors across human populations.