Profile photo Marc Bonten

Marc Bonten

Full Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

Marc Bonten earned his MD (1991) and PhD (“the role of colonization of the upper intestinal tract in the pathogenesis of ventilator-associated pneumonia, 1994) at the Maastricht University Medical School, the Netherlands. He registered as internist in 2000, as infectious disease specialist in 2002, as clinical microbiologist in 2008 and as Epidemiologist (B) in 2025, all at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. From 2008 till March 2021 he was head of the Department of Medical Microbiology. Since 2003 he is head of the research group of Infectious Disease Epidemiology of the Julius Center of Health Sciences and Primary Care and professor of molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases. He has been a principal investigator in many large scale epidemiologic studies and investigator-initiated randomized trials of prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. His experience covers the full range of epidemiologic study designs including clinical trials, cohorts, case-control studies and mathematical modelling to study antibiotic resistance and infection prevention. Specific research interests include the epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as VRE, MRSA and MDR Enterobacteriaceae, selective decontamination in intensive care unit patients, prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia, treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, and prevention and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, including COVID-19.

He is chairman of the strategic research program Infection & Immunity at the UMC Utrecht. (2017-)

Coordinator of the H2020-funded projects ECRAID-Base (March 2021-), ECRAID-Prime (Dec 2021-) and Chief Executive Officer of the ECRAID foundation (Jan 2022-)

Member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten (Royal Academy of Sciences and Art) (April 2021-)

Research groups

Epidemiology and clinical trials in infectious diseases

Research aim

To improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases and to establish an international research infrastructure for a rapid scientific response in the face of a new infectious disease threat.

Go to group

Epidemiology of sepsis & inflammation in critically ill patients

Research aim

We design and conduct clinical epidemiological research focused on risk stratification, early diagnosis, and novel treatment of critically ill patients with severe infections.

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Recent publications

Reprint of Angela Huttner, Marc Bonten, Joshua Davis, Leonard Leibovici, Thomas Tängdén, Ilan Schwartz
Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2025, vol. 31, p.492-493
Statistical documentation for multi-disease, multi-domain platform trials Robert K Mahar, Anna McGlothlin, Michael Dymock, Lauren Barina, Marc Bonten, Asha Bowen, Matthew P Cheng, Nick Daneman, Anna L Goodman, Todd C Lee, Roger J Lewis, Thomas Lumley, Alistair R D McLean, Zoe McQuilten, Jocelyn Mora, David L Paterson, David J Price, Jason Roberts, Tom Snelling, Jonas Tverring, Steve A Webb, Dafna Yahav, Joshua S Davis, Steven Y C Tong, Julie A Marsh,
Trials, 2025, vol. 26
Impact of Pseudomonas aeruginosa carriage on intensive care unit-acquired pneumonia Claudia Recanatini, Cornelis H van Werkhoven, Thomas E van der Schalk, Fleur Paling, Derek Hazard, Leen Timbermont, Gabriel Torrens, Antonio DiGiandomenico, Mark T Esser, Martin Wolkewitz, Frangiscos Sifakis, Herman Goossens, Marc Bonten, Antonio Oliver, Surbhi Malhotra-Kumar, Jan Kluytmans,
Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2025, vol. 31, p.433-440
Longitudinal assessment of immunoglobulin response and disease progression in critically ill patients with community acquired pneumonia Emma Rademaker, Lisette M Vernooij, Tom van der Poll, Marc J M Bonten, Helen Leavis, Olaf L Cremer, Lennie P G Derde
Critical care (London, England), 2024, vol. 28
The effect of BCG vaccination in the elderly on infectious and non-infectious immune-mediated diseases Elisabeth A. Dulfer, Konstantin Föhse, Esther J.M. Taks, Simone J.C.F.M. Moorlag, Eva L. Koekenbier, Josephine S. van de Maat, Jaap ten Oever, Jacobien J. Hoogerwerf, Cornelis H. van Werkhoven, Marc J.M. Bonten, Astrid van Hylckama Vlieg, Frits R. Rosendaal, Mihai G. Netea
Journal of Infection, 2024, vol. 89
Skin decontamination to prevent infections in the intensive care unit Marc Bonten, Bruno Martins Tomazini, Stephan Harbarth
Intensive Care Medicine, 2024, vol. 50, p.2144-2145

Fellowships & Awards

He is a VICI laureate (2006) from the Dutch Science Association, Principal Investigator of the CAPiTA study, coordinator of the EU-funded project R-GNOSIS, scientific coordinator of the IMI-funded consortiums COMBACTE-NET, COMBACTE-CARE, COMBACTE-MAGNET and PrimaVeRa. He is member of the International Trial Steering Committee of the REMAP-CAP study and the SNAP-study, and coordinator of ECRAID-Base and ECRAID-Prime.  

In 2015 he received the ESCMID 2015 Award for Excellence in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

In 2017 he received a honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and was awarded the ESCMID fellowship.

In 2021 he was elected member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academi voor Wetenschappen.

External positions

CEO - Clinical trials - Ecraid

Consultancy, assisteren bij het identificeren van geschikte studie lokaties voor fase3 studie - Werkzaamheden in kader van mijn rol als CEO Ecraid - Janssen Research

Via Ecraid, identificeren van geschikte klinieken voor deelname aan wetenschappelijk onderzoek - CEO van Ecraid - Spherecytes

Wetenschappelijk advies - Expertisegebied - Pherecydes Pharma

Scientific Advisor Ensovibep - Expertise - Novartis

Member Scientific Advisory Board - Scientific evaluation of GRADP-funded research projects - GARDP

Independent Data Monitoring Committee of the PSK008 and PSK009 studies on pneumococcal vaccination. - expertise - Sanofi Pasteur

Chair of international study steering committee E.mbrace study - Expertise area - Janssen Vaccines and Prevention BV