Jeremy Farrar is renowned internationally for his outstanding contributions to our understanding of the epidemiology, pathogenesis and treatment of several globally important infectious diseases, especially those affecting South East Asia, including tuberculosis, dengue and influenza. At the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Hospital Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh, which he directed for 18 years prior to taking up his appointment as Director of the Wellcome Trust, he built up a research group which has a global reputation for excellence in the study of infectious diseases and for training scientists from South East Asia and elsewhere in this important speciality.