Jeremy Farrar is Director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in health by supporting the brightest minds. Before joining the Trust he was Director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, where his research interests were in infectious diseases, tropical health and emerging infections. He has contributed to 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and served on several World Health Organization advisory committees. Jeremy was appointed OBE in 2005 for services to Tropical Medicine, and he has been awarded the Memorial Medal and Ho Chi Minh City Medal from the Government of Vietnam, Frederick Murgatroyd Prize for Tropical Medicine by the Royal College Physicians and the Bailey Ashford Award by the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.