Johan Van Eldere was born in Leuven in 1958 and studied Latin-mathematics at Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in Antwerp. After studying medicine at KU Leuven in Belgium, he obtained his medical degree in 1983. From 1983 to 1988, he did scientific research at the Rega Institute, which led to an aggregation higher education (PhD). From 1989 to 1991, he was a researcher at the University of Oxford.    

After specializing in clinical biology, he became a staff member at the university hospital Leuven in 1993, initially in the microbiology department led by Prof Jan Desmyter and later in the laboratory medicine department led by Prof Norbert Blanckaert.  

From 2004 to 2010 he was coordinator of the molecular diagnostics laboratory, from 2010 to 2014 head of the department of laboratory medicine and from 2013 to 2015 acting head of the pathology department. As chief physician of UZ Leuven (2014-2018), his main focus was on the development of a quality system and better support and guidance for doctors and department heads. From 2021 to 2023, he was a member of the UZ Leuven medical council. 

Professor Van Eldere started as a full-time lecturer at KU Leuven in 1993 and became a full-time full professor in 2005. He was also a part-time senior lecturer at UHasselt. In both institutions, he taught medical microbiology. 

In science, his main interest was in the genetics of bacterial virulence factors, including pneumococcus and biofilm formation by staphylococci. He was first author or co-author on more than 160 papers in international journals. 

Within the scientific community, he took up management positions within the European (ESCMID) and Belgian Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (BVIKM). He is also a founding member of the Belgian National Antibiogram Committee. He has been active as a reviewer and editorial board member for several journals.  

Since 2018, he has been a member of the executive committee of the European University Hospital Alliance (EUHA), and since 2023, he has been secretary general of EUHA and president of the scientific advisory board of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR) in Barcelona. In addition, as coordinator of the European Centre for Cell and Gene Therapies (EUCCAT), he is involved in several EU projects, such as the recent JOIN4ATMP project that aims to develop a new European regulatory framework for cell and gene therapies.