Marietjie Venter (PhD( Medical Virology)(WITS)(2003)). She had joint appointments as co-director, Centre for Respiratory diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa (2009-2014) and One Health Program director, Global Disease Detection Centre, (US-CDC), South Africa (2014-2016). She joined University of Pretoria full time in 2016 as full Professor and co-founder of the Centre for Viral Zoonoses. She launched the Centre for Emerging Arbo and Respiratory virus Research in 2023 where she continues a One Health surveillance program on zoonotic arbo and respiratory viruses and served as Director of the Centre for emerging arbo & respiratory virus research, Department Medical Virology, University of Pretoria. She will be joining the University of the Witwatersrand as distinguished Professor and Research Chair in One Health genomic surveillance, diagnostics and vaccines for emerging and reemerging viruses in 2024. She has >170 publications in this field with an H index of 48(Scopus) and > 8900 scientific citations and is a member of the Academy of Science, South Africa (ASSAf) (2021-). She is international One Health day contact for Africa and the Vice President, (Africa) of the World Society for Virology(2020-). She is also advisor to the World Health Organization on Influenza and respiratory syncytial virus surveillance, on the Technical Advisory group for arboviruses and chairs the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens including COVID19 (SAGO). She is on the Global One Health Community Scientific Advisory Board and chair the organising committee for the 8th World One Health Conference (WOHC) in South Africa in 2024.