Peter Piot, Ph.D., M.D. is director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He helped discover the Ebola virus in 1976 , and subsequently was part of the team that identified and tracked the spread of the new disease in Zaire. He continued working in the area of infectious disease, researching HIV/AIDS in Africa and later leading the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS from 1995 to 2008. As countries confront new and returning viral outbreaks in a globalized world, Piot’s expertise and experience continues to inform responses to pandemics. He was named one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year in 2014 for his Ebola work, and he is currently a COVID-19 special advisor to European Union President Ursula von der Leyen. He has published more than 600 scientific articles and has received numerous scientific and civic awards.