Lilly Verhagen and Felix Hol new members of The Young Academy

Pediatric immunologist/infectiologist Lilly Verhagen and biophysicist and mosquito researcher Felix Hol from Radboud university medical center are two of the ten new members of The Young Academy, part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). As part of The Young Academy, they will focus on the future of science, with particular attention to young researchers. They will officially be appointed as members of The Young Academy on March 27. 

With the appointments of Felix Hol and Lilly Verhagen, Radboudumc now has three members of The Young Academy. Also, neuroscientist Rogier Kievit is one of the fifty members. Additionally, both Verhagen and Hol are part of Radboudumc's Talent Track (intranet), the talent program for exceptionally talented young scientists. 

Lilly Verhagen 

Pediatric immunologist/infectiologist Lilly Verhagen researches the immune system in the airways of vulnerable children worldwide. By unraveling how immune substances work in the airways, she hopes to develop new treatments that will help children recover faster and lead to reduced antibiotic use. Her research group discovered that we can better understand respiratory infections by examining airway samples, such as saliva, rather than just blood, as is currently the standard in hospitals. Lilly Verhagen combines patient care with research in the Netherlands, South Africa, and the Caribbean. Through these international collaborations, the most vulnerable groups benefit from this research, and young researchers are given international opportunities.  

Felix Hol  

Mosquitoes are extremely good at finding and biting people, spreading various diseases in the process. But how exactly do they do this? Although nearly everyone has experience with mosquitoes, surprisingly little is known about their behavior. As a biophysicist and mosquito researcher, Felix Hol uses various perspectives and techniques to better understand the mosquito and its interactions with parasites and viruses. Hol investigates questions such as: how do malaria parasites move in the skin? How does a mosquito taste? Do viruses change mosquito behavior? Answers to these questions help reduce the diseases spread by mosquitoes. 

About The Young Academy 

The Young Academy is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The Young Academy is committed to securing the future of science and scholarship. It does this by communicating the value of research and by helping to improve the science system. It is a platform of fifty inspired academics who conduct research, advise, share knowledge and bring people together, and who do all this while taking a special interest in young scientists and scholars. The members have completed their PhDs less than ten years before their appointment and represent various disciplines. Membership lasts for a period of five years, with ten new members joining each year.