Peter van der Ley is a molecular microbiologist with extensive research experience on bacterial outer membrane proteins and lipopolysaccharides.

He obtained his PhD at Utrecht University and subsequently worked at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories of the NIH in the United States. Returning to the Netherlands, he joined the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and has since worked there and at its spin-offs NVI and Intravacc.

His research spans both fundamental science and vaccine applications in the bacterial outer membrane field, with a focus on outer membrane vesicles derived from Neisseria meningitidis and Bordetella pertussis. He has co-authored approximately 140 publications and is co-inventor on fifteen patents.