Prof. Janusz T. Paweska is the head of the Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases-NHLS, the head of the WHO Regional Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers and Arboviruses, deputy director of the Southern Centre for Infectious Diseases Surveillance (SACIDS), the regional director of the Global Viral Network, and the Lead of South African Global Health Security Agenda in Zoonotic Diseases. In these positions he is accountable for improvement and strengthening of the national and regional capacity in diagnosis, epidemiology and surveillance of infectious diseases, related R&D and training, preparedness, response and investigation of outbreaks caused by emerging and re-emerging pathogens, and especially those classified as BSL-3 and BSL-4 zoonotic pathogens as well as for implementation and execution of the “One Health One Africa” programme within the SACIDS consortium. He is an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria and Associate Professor at the School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand. In March 2010 the president of the Republic of Poland conferred on him a title of Professor in Veterinary Science. His special fields lie in viral diagnostics with focus on the development and validation of novel techniques for rapid pathogen detection and discovery, epidemiology and ecology of arboviruses and viral haemorrhagic fevers, virus-host interactions, management of high and maximum biosafety laboratory facilities. He authored/co-authored a total of 425 publications, including 174 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 16 book chapters/review articles.Prof. Paweska has been a part of research expeditions and outbreak response missions, including the investigations, controlling and diagnosis of the 2002 Ebola outbreaks in Gabon, the 2005 Marburg disease outbreak in Angola, the 2006 Rift Valley fever outbreak in Kenya, the 2009 Ebola outbreak in the DRC, and the Ebola ecology study in 2010, 2011 in the DRC. During a highly fatal nosocomial outbreak of a viral haemorrhagic fever in Johannesburg in 2008 he led the discovery of a new arenavirus, he named Lujo virus. In response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa he successfully established and led the operation of South African Ebola mobile laboratory in Sierra Leone in 2014-2015. He is a member of numerous committees, expert working groups and networks concerned with protocol development and scientific review, including: Bioweapon Working Committee of the SA Council for Non-Proliferation, SA Ministry of Health Advisory Committee on Ebola, SA National Department of Health Technical Working Group on Zika and Yellow Fever, WHO Global Outbreak & Alert Response Network, WHO Emerging and Dangerous Pathogens Laboratory Network, WHO Ebola Virus Persistence Study Independent Data Monitoring Committee, WHO Independent Technical Group for smallpox laboratory diagnostics, International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses Filoviridae Study Group, and a member of numerous editorial boards.