Nationality: Dutch
Position: Professor Clinical Biology, Chair of the department Medical Microbiology
After finishing medical school (1991) and completing his PhD research on HIV treatment (1996) at the University of Amsterdam, Menno specialized in clinical microbiology at the Academic Medical Center (AMC). He worked as consultant microbiologist at Leiden University Medical Center and the AMC (2000-2003) before moving to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he set up and headed the Virology laboratories at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit and Hospital for Tropical Diseases. In 2008, he returned to Amsterdam where he was appointed professor of clinical virology and chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology at the Academic Medical Center. After having chaired both departments at the AMC and VUmc since 2018, he is the chair of the merged Amsterdam UMC Department of Medical Microbiology & Infection Prevention since 2020.
As head of the Department, Menno de Jong’s interest in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases is broad and inclusive. However, inspired by his previous work on avian influenza in southeast Asia, his specific research interests remain focused on understanding the pathogenesis and improving treatment of influenza and emerging respiratory viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. To this extent, his research activities include observational and interventional clinical studies in an international context, complemented by patient-oriented translational research embedded in these studies.
