Niels Riksen

Niels Riksen is a Full Professor in Vascular Medicine at Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc) since 2014 and Head of the Division of Vascular Medicine. He previously served as Acting Head of the Department of Internal Medicine (2019-2021) and held leadership roles in the National Society for Vascular Medicine (2017-2019). His academic journey began with a medical degree (2002) and a Ph.D. in Clinical Pharmacology (2007, cum laude) from Radboud University, followed by postdoctoral research at University College London (2007-2008).

Research Interests focus on trained innate immunity, where he pioneered the discovery that metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming of innate immune cells drives atherosclerosis. Key contributions include identifying the NLRP3 inflammasome and mevalonate pathway as critical mediators, and demonstrating how hyperglycemia and catecholamines induce long-term immune cell activation. His work bridges basic science and clinical translation, linking trained immunity to cardiovascular disease (CVD) pathophysiology and therapeutic resistance in conditions like familial hypercholesterolemia.

Scientific Impact includes over 212 publications (H-index 48), with recent articles focusing on neutrophil reprogramming and epigenetic enzyme targets (Set7). Grants such as the 2023 NHLBI PPG ($1.25M) and 2018 ERA-CVD MEMORY Consortium (€870k) underscore his leadership. His invited lectures at major conferences (e.g., 2024 Japanese Circulation Society, 2022 AHA, 2022 ESC) highlight global recognition.

• Vascular Medicine Award (2008)
• Einthoven Award (2008)
• Excellence3 Award (2006)

Current work explores pharmacological modulation of trained immunity in collaboration with the Belgian Centre for Drug Design and Discovery, aiming to develop novel therapies for CVD and metabolic disorders.