Louis Bont is a Paediatrician Infectiologist at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. He leads the Utrecht RSV Research Group. He is the coordinator of the Interest Group on Respiratory Infections of the European Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) Research Committee. Dr. Bont is the founder and chairman of ReSViNET, an international RSV Research consortium. He has a strong interest in education of young talented researchers and founded the successful Training of Upcoming Leaders in Pediatric Science (TULIPS) career training program in the Netherlands. Dr. Bont served as advisor of the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Center of Disease Control (ECDC) and the Europarliament.

Louis Bont did his medical training at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam (1989-1996). He performed his PhD under the supervision of professor Jan Kimpen and professor Cobi Heijnen at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital (1997-2000). He was a post-doc at the Garofalo lab in Galveston, Texas (2000-2001). After returning to Utrecht, he followed the pediatric residency program followed by a pediatric infectious diseases and immunology fellowship. He have led the RSV Research Group since 2003 and became full professor in 2015.

The vision of his research is to combine clinical and basic research to decrease the global burden of RSV infection. The mission of his research group is to improve knowledge of RSV epidemiology, and to develop safe and effective therapeutic and preventive interventions.

In his work collaborate with patients is of highest importance. His work is supported by the RSV Patient Advisory Board (PAB) since 2012. The PAB has reviewed every grant application by the RSV Research Group. PAB members have been interviewed for newspapers and national television on RSV-related subjects.

Louis Bont actively participates as a teacher in the SUMMA program. In addition, he founded the TULIPS program in 2008 to train colleagues and young clinician-scientists.

Since April 1st 2021, Louis has been given a new position as medical scientific division manager of the Children's Division of the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital in Utrecht.

www.resvinet.org

www.tailored-treatment.eu

Sideactivities. Payment are always to UMC Utrecht

A. related to RSV infection

Advisory boards, consultancy and steering committees

• GlaxoSmithKline, Advisory Board (from 2020 onwards), (>€2200.-)
• Janssen, Global virtual advisory board, (from 2021 onwards), (>€2200.-)
• Julius Clinical, Advisor research, (from 2021 onwards) (>€2200.-)
• AstraZeneca, (2019 onward), (>€2200)
• MSD, Advisory Board, (from 2020 onwards) (>€2200.-)
• Pfizer (from 2021 onwards), (>€2200.-)
• Sanofi (from 2020 onwards), (>€2200.-)
• ESCMID, member executive committee member ESCMID Study Group for Respiratory viruses (from 2022 onwards), (no payment)

Meetings, speaker’s fees, chairing

• AstraZeneca, (2021 onwards, >€2200.-)        
• AstraZeneca, Global Synagis filmed interview, (2021), (<€2200.-)
• GlaxoSmithKline, Virtual meeting, Consultancy, (2021), (<€2200.-)
• Janssen, speaker (2021), (<€2200.-)
• Merck Sharp & Dome, Speaker, (2021), (<€2200.-)
• Merck Sharp & Dome, RSV Passive Approaches and Niche SIE, (2021), (<€2200.-)
• Merck Sharp & Dome, RSV Airways Hyper-reactivity and Asthma, (2021), (<€2200.-) 
• Merck Sharp & Dome, (Teleconference) Meetings SAC, (2020-2021), (<€2200.-)
• Sanofi, RSV Medical Education Meeting with experts, (2021), (<€2200.-) 
• Sanofi, ReSiNET Symposium, (2021), (>€2200.-)

B. Sideactivities not related to RSV infection

• AstraZeneca,  Consultant asthma, (2021), (<€2200.-)
• GSK, Data Safety Monitoring Board VZV vaccine, (2020) (>€2200.-)
• MediRisk, Expert Consultancy/Advisory, (2019), (<€2200.-)
• MeMed, Review KOL report, (2021) (>€2200.-)
• ESGREV executive committee (2022), (no payment)

Potential Conflicts of Interest

Dr. Bont has regular interaction with pharmaceutical and other industrial partners. He has not received personal fees or other personal benefits. UMCU has received major funding (>€100,000 per industrial partner) for investigator initiated studies from AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Janssen, Pfizer, MSD and MeMed Diagnostics. UMCU has received major funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. UMCU has received major funding as part of the public private partnership IMI-funded RESCEU and PROMISE projects with partners GSK, Novavax, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Sanofi. UMCU has received major funding by Julius Clinical for participating in clinical studies sponsored by AstraZeneca, Merck and Pfizer. UMCU received minor funding (€1,000-25,000 per industrial partner) for consultation, DSMB membership or invited lectures by Ablynx, Bavaria Nordic, GSK, Novavax, Pfizer, Moderna, Astrazeneca, MSD, Sanofi, Janssen. Dr. Bont is the founding chairman of the ReSViNET Foundation.

Since April 1st 2021, Louis has been given a new position as medical scientific division manager of the Children's Division of the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital in Utrecht.

Full Professor (“Stimuleringshoogleraarschap”), expected in May 2015

International Congress of Pediatric Pulmunology (CIPP) Award for Contribution to Understanding Childhood Respiratory Disease and Global Medical Education (2013)

Dirkzwager-Assink Fonds Award by Catharijne Stichting for research on RSV bronchiolitis (2010)

Ter Meulen Fonds lecture: It is not all asthma that wheezes. 27e Congres Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kindergeneeskunde, Veldhoven (2005)

ESPID Fellowship Award 2001 Immunopathogenetic mechanisms of RSV infection in the mouse model (2001)

Royal Dutch Academy of Science (Ter Meulen Fonds Stipendium). Immunopathogenetic mechanisms of RSV infection in the mouse model (2000)