Netea's field of study includes the innate immune system and its capacity to "memorize" infections, as well as its recognition of Fungi pathogens. He examined system's response to Candida albicans, a sepsis trigger. Additionally, he tried to search for genetic diseases that can make individuals more vulnerable to this type of infections. For his academic work, Netea received several grants: a Vidi grant in 2005, a Vici grant in 2010, and European Research Council Consolidator Grant in 2012. In 2016, he was awarded the Spinoza Prize. He is a member of Academia Europaea since 2015 and of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2016.