I am a virologist by training and specialised on the development of vaccines and diagnostic methods for several arboviruses of veterinary importance for almost 30 years. I have a PhD in Biochemistry that I obtained in 2004 and published in several in peer-reviewed scientific journals. I also supervised five post-graduate students for masters and doctoral degrees. Previously I was appointed international expert of the OIE(WOAH) reference laboratory for African horsesickness at Onderstepoort. Over the last five years I have been involved in the R&D of veterinary vaccines at commercial manufacturing facilities. I am currently employed at Design Biologix in South Africa where I lead a team involved in the development, testing, and process optimisation for novel and improved veterinary vaccines.