Michail Lionakis, M.D., Sc.D.

Chief, Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology
Chief, Fungal Pathogenesis Section

Contact: For contact information, search the NIH Enterprise Directory.

Specialty(s): Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine
Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center

Education:

M.D., Sc.D., University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

Michail S. Lionakis, M.D., Sc.D., poses for a photo

Biography

Dr. Lionakis obtained his M.D. and Sc.D. from the University of Crete in Greece. In 2002, he came to the United States and worked as a research fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) under the mentorship of Dimitrios Kontoyiannis. At MDACC, Dr. Lionakis did clinical research on risk factors, diagnosis, and management of opportunistic fungal infections in cancer patients and bench research focusing on pharmacology and microbial factors in mouse and Drosophila models of invasive aspergillosis, fusariosis, and candidiasis.

After completing his clinical training in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at NIAID, Dr. Lionakis joined the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology (LMI) in 2008 and began to work on fungal immunology under the mentorship of Philip Murphy. At LMI, Dr. Lionakis did bench research on how chemotactic factors regulate the innate immune response in invasive candidiasis. In 2010, he was recruited as an Assistant Clinical Investigator in the NIAID Transition Program in Clinical Research and established the Clinical Mycology Unit within LMI. In 2012, Dr. Lionakis was recruited as a tenure-track investigator in the NIAID intramural research program and established the Fungal Pathogenesis Unit within the Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases. He received tenure in 2017, and in 2025, he was appointed Chief of the Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology (LCIM). He also heads the Fungal Pathogenesis Section within LCIM, serving as Chief of that section.

Awards/Honors

Fellow, Clinical Immunology Society (CIS) (2024); Member, Henry Kunkel Society (2024); NIAID Outstanding Mentor (2022); NIAID Merit Award (2022); National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) Rare Impact Award (2022); Member, Association of American Physicians (AAP) (2022); NHLBI Orloff Science Award (2022); Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2021); IDSA Oswald Avery Award for Early Achievement (2021); NIAID Merit Award (2020); NIH Director’s Award (2020); Member, American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) (2020); NIAID Merit Award (2019); Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) (2019); NIH Director’s Award (2019); NIAID Merit Award (2018); Fellow, European Confederation of Medical Mycology (FECMM) (2018); Young Investigator Award, International Immunocompromised Host Society (ICHS) (2018); American College of Physicians (ACP) Walter J. McDonald Award for Early Career Physicians (2017); Fellow of Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA) (2016);  IDWeek Investigator Award (2015); BeHEARD Science Prize Winner, Rare Genomics Institute (2015);​ 50th ICAAC George McCracken Infectious Disease Fellow Award (2010); 49th ICAAC Infectious Disease Fellows Grant Program Award (2009); Henry McIntosh Award for Outstanding Resident in Medicine (2007); Offered Chief Resident position, Baylor College of Medicine (2006); Certificate of Merit, MD Anderson Cancer Center (2004); 1st place Bristol-Myers Squibb Award in Clinical/Translational Research, Trainee Recognition Day, MD Anderson Cancer Center (2004); 43rd ICAAC Program Committee Award for Outstanding Research in the Pathogenesis of Microbial Diseases (2003); Giorgos Gennimatas Scholarship Award (2002); GlaxoWellcome Scholarship Award (2000); Lilian Voudouri Foundation Scholarship Award (2000); The Hellenic National Scholarships' Foundation Scholarship Award (2000); Dretakis Foundation Scholarship Award (2000).

Memberships

  • European Confederation of Medical Mycology
  • American College of Physicians
  • American Society of Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases Society of America
  • Mycoses Study Group
  • International Immunocompromised Host Society
  • International Society for Human and Animal Mycology
  • American Association of Immunologists
  • Clinical Immunology Society
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science

Editorial Boards

  • JCI Insight
  • Journal of Infectious Diseases
  • Infection & Immunity
  • Frontiers in Cellular & Infection Microbiology
  • Virulence
  • Journal of Visualized Experiments
  • F1000 Research (Immunology/Immunity to Infections)
  • Journal of Fungi
  • Antimicrobials Agents & Chemotherapy