Mihai Netea receives the Emil von Behring Prize from Philipps University of Marburg

On December 9, the Dutch-Romanian researcher Mihai Netea was awarded the Emil von Behring Prize by Philipps University of Marburg for his groundbreaking research on the human immune system. The Emil von Behring Prize comes with a monetary award of €20,000, donated by companies located on the Behringwerke site.

In his research, Netea demonstrated that the innate immune system also undergoes learning processes. ‘With this, he has fundamentally shaped the field of ‘trained innate immunity.’ Mihai Netea has become an important driving force in immunological science’, said Isabelle Bekeredjian-Ding in her laudation. She is Professor of Medical Microbiology at Philipps University of Marburg. Through his research on cellular resilience after infections, Netea has contributed to a new understanding of cell biology, which is of great importance for immunology, microbiology, and vaccine research.

University President Thomas Nauss said during the award ceremony: ‘With the Emil von Behring Prize, we honor today a scientist who has fundamentally expanded our understanding of the immune system. Mihai Netea’s work impressively shows how excellent fundamental science opens new paths for medical innovations. Presenting this award at the place where Emil von Behring worked connects the historic pioneering achievement of the founder of serum therapy with the modern immunology of a researcher who likewise propels the field forward. We are proud to recognize this top-level research in Marburg—a location where scientific excellence and industrial collaboration have been closely intertwined for more than a century.’

‘I feel deeply honored by this distinction’, said the immunologist at the award ceremony. In his keynote lecture, Netea described how the innate immune system develops a kind of memory, enabling it to respond to infections more quickly and effectively. His research group showed that certain metabolic and signaling pathways permanently influence the function of immune cells—a mechanism reflected epigenetically in the heritage of these cells. This insight opens new possibilities to strengthen the immune system in a targeted way, for example in the fight against infections or even cancer. At the same time, it helps explain how dysregulated forms of this memory can contribute to chronic inflammation, according to the researcher.

Laureate Mihai Netea

Netea is Professor of Experimental Medicine at Radboud University Medical Center and is internationally regarded as a leading expert in inflammation, immunology, and infectious diseases. For decades, he has studied how the immune system recognizes microorganisms, including defense mechanisms against the dangerous fungus Candida albicans. Netea discovered the concept of “trained innate immunity” and, together with his team, unraveled the underlying epigenetic and metabolic changes that make this phenomenon possible. His research extends to the evolutionary development of the immune system and shows that immunity genes have been under strong selective pressure since the emergence of modern humans. He has received numerous awards for his work and actively promotes knowledge transfer to clinical practice and international educational programs for school students in science.

Emil von Behring Prize

The Emil von Behring Prize is awarded every two years by Philipps University of Marburg in memory of Emil von Behring, the discoverer of the diphtheria serum and founder of serum therapy. The first Nobel Prize winner for Medicine was Professor of Hygiene in Marburg from 1895 until his death in 1917. The prize honors outstanding scientific achievements in immunology, microbiology, or virology. It is one of the most prestigious German awards for medical microbiology, virology, and immunology and comes with a monetary award of €20,000, donated by companies on the Behringwerke site.

Previous laureates of the Emil von Behring Prize include Elizabeth Campbell (New York), Stewart T. Cole (Lausanne), Klaus Rajewsky (Harvard), and Ruslan Medzhitov (Yale), as well as Ralph M. Steinmann (New York), Robert Huber (Munich), Yasmine Belkaid (Bethesda/USA), and Andreas Peschel (Tübingen).

The prize money of €20,000 is donated by companies on the Behringwerke site: BioNTech Manufacturing Marburg, CSL Behring, CSL Innovation, GSK Vaccines, Pharmaserv, and Siemens Healthineers. The initiative group Gesundheitsindustrie Hessen contributed sponsorship for organizing the award ceremony.