Louis Bont

Louis Bont, MD, PhD, is Pediatrician Infectiologist-Immunologist and head of the Pediatric Department of the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. He is the founding chairman of ReSViNET, an international respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) research consortium. His specific research interest is RSV pathogenesis and burden of disease. His work focuses on unraveling the role of neutrophils, RSV-related mortality and long-term airway disease following RSV infection. Dr. Bont is the lead investigator of the INFORM study, a large prospective global clinical virology study to unravel the molecular epidemiology of RSV in about >2000 children. He is leading the RSV GOLD mortality registry funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His group collaborates with the World Health Organization on RSV surveillance and vaccine development. Dr. Bont’s research focuses on clinical and translational mechanisms of disease and identifying targets for intervention of RSV bronchiolitis. He has been the lead author of over 300 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. He founded the Training of Upcoming Leaders in Pediatric Science (TULIPS), a career training network for clinician scientists in the field of Child Health.