Inaugural Lecture of Professor Johannes Wagener

Johannes Wagener is the Joseph W. Bigger Professor of Clinical Microbiology at Trinity College Dublin and a Consultant Microbiologist at St James’s Hospital, Dublin.

He completed medical school at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), where he also earned his medical doctorate at the Adolf Butenandt Institute for Physiological Chemistry. After completing medical school, he served at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, LMU Munich, as a Research Fellow, Lecturer and Specialist Registrar, where he established his research group, delivered teaching to medical students, and contributed to clinical care at the university hospital. He obtained his Habilitation in Medical Microbiology and Hygiene and completed specialist training in Medical Microbiology, Virology, and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, both in 2014.

He subsequently held academic (Senior Lecturer/Privatdozent) and clinical (Consultant, Oberarzt) posts at the Max von Pettenkofer Institute at LMU Munich (2014–2017), and thereafter at the Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, and the National Reference Center for Invasive Fungal Infections (NRZMyk) (2017–2020).

After relocating to Ireland with his wife and two sons in 2020, he served as Associate Professor/Consultant in the Discipline of Clinical Microbiology at Trinity College Dublin, the Microbiology Department of St James’s Hospital, and the Public Health Laboratory (HSE). During this period, he led the department’s successful application for the European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) Excellence Center (Diamond Status) designation, recognising clinical care, laboratory diagnostics, education and research at St James’s Hospital and Trinity College Dublin. In October 2024, he was appointed to the Joseph W. Bigger Professorship at Trinity College Dublin and continues to serve as Consultant Microbiologist at St James’s Hospital.

His work spans academic leadership and consultant practice in medical microbiology. His research advances the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal infections, linking antifungal mechanisms and resistance with host-pathogen interactions in the mould Aspergillus fumigatus. A primary focus of his lab is fungal cell wall biology, which is central to understanding pathogenesis, immunity, diagnostics, and therapeutic development. He also evaluates novel diagnostics for fungal, bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases to accelerate diagnosis and enable targeted care. He has received several awards for his research, including the Becton Dickinson Research Award in Clinical Microbiology (awarded by the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology, 2012), the Advancement Award of the City of Clausthal-Zellerfeld (prizewinner proposed by the Robert Koch Foundation, 2016), and the Forschungsförderpreis of the German-speaking Mycological Society (DMykG, 2018).

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