Cleveringa Meeting | Who will protect us from the next pandemic?

Description

Who will protect us from the next pandemic? This pressing question will be the focus of the Leiden Cleveringa Meeting on Wednesday, November 25, 2026. The guest speaker is Prof. Meta Roestenberg, internist, infectious diseases cliniciant and professor at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), who is internationally renowned for her groundbreaking research on malaria vaccines and other infectious diseases, among other topics.

During her lecture, titled “Who will protect us from the next pandemic?”, Roestenberg will take the audience on a journey into the world of vaccines, infectious diseases, and global healthcare. Who is responsible for developing new vaccines? What lessons have we learned from recent health crises? And what is needed to better prepare the world for future pandemics? With her many years of experience in international vaccine research—from the laboratory to fieldwork in vulnerable regions worldwide—Roestenberg offers a unique perspective on an issue that affects us all.

Cleveringa

The Cleveringa Meeting takes place during the week in which Leiden commemorates the famous protest speech delivered by Professor Rudolph Cleveringa on November 26, 1940. In his speech, he protested the dismissal of his Jewish colleagues by the German occupiers. His words became a powerful symbol of academic freedom, moral courage, and socially responsible action. Professors Ton Barge and Lambertus van Holk also spoke out that day.

Every year, Cleveringa Meetings are organized around the world to commemorate this special event. The meeting in Leiden is considered the largest and most prominent of them all, bringing together academia, society, and history to discuss current issues that call for independent thinking and critical debate.

Animation

To make the story of the protest speech accessible to new generations, the Leiden Cleveringa Committee, in collaboration with the Leiden University Fund, has developed an animation about the events of November 26, 1940. The film is narrated by Job Cohen, whose mother was present at the historic speech at the time, and was created by animator Niels Mud of Mud Motion. The animation shows why Cleveringa’s message remains relevant more than eighty years later.

Registration

You can register for this event via this link.

Cleveringa Meeting Leiden 2026

Leiden Academy Building, Rapenburg 73
Wednesday, November 25, 2026
Doors open with coffee and tea: 7:30 p.m.
Event starts: 8:00 p.m.

Prior to the event, there will be an opportunity to join a dinner at 6:00 p.m. at Catena, Kolfmakersteeg 8.

More information

Cleveringa poster 2026 (pdf)