Willem van Eden

Willem van Eden is a Full Professor in Immunology and Head of the Division of Immunology within the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University, Netherlands. His academic journey began with an MD from the University of Groningen (1978) followed by a PhD from Leiden University (1983) under Professor J.J. van Rood. After completing postdoctoral training at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel (1983-1985), he joined Utrecht University where he has served as Associate Professor since 1985 and Full Professor since 1994.

Dr. van Eden's research spans multiple immunological domains with particular emphasis on agricultural immunology - a field he helped pioneer through organizing the 2016 Leiden University Lorentz Center workshop 'Innate Immunity of Crops, Livestock and Fish: The Dawn of Agricultural Immunology.' His work bridges veterinary medicine, nutrition, and immunology, focusing on reducing antibiotic use in agriculture through enhanced innate immunity in plants and animals. His research encompasses dendritic cell biology, mucosal immunity, probiotic applications, and the role of heat shock proteins in autoimmune regulation.

His publication record demonstrates consistent focus on immune mechanisms applicable to agricultural settings, with recent work examining probiotic interactions with intestinal epithelium, stress-immunity connections, and novel approaches to stimulate immune functions in both livestock and poultry. These studies collectively aim to establish drug-independent food safety systems by strengthening innate immune activity in agricultural production.

Dr. van Eden serves as Specialty Chief Editor for Nutritional Immunology at Frontiers in Immunology and as Review Editor for Antigen Presenting Cell Biology. He co-edited the significant Research Topic 'New Horizons in Food Science via Agricultural Immunity' which compiled 11 articles exploring innovative approaches to reduce antibiotics and pesticides in agriculture through enhanced immune function.

His professional activities include extensive editorial contributions, with 231 publications and 65 editorial contributions documented. He maintains active research collaborations internationally, particularly with Japanese institutions through the Core-to-Core Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science focused on establishing an international agricultural immunology research core.