Jean Nepomuscene Hakizimana holds a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Veterinary Medicine from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Morogoro, Tanzania (2021), an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology and Health Risk Management (2015), and a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine, both from Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal (2013). His research interests are on the genomic epidemiology of viral diseases that threaten health, food security and livelihood. In his research, He uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies to provide insights into the transmission dynamics of viral animal diseases, the linkages of viral genetic structure and antigenic diversity by elucidating the mechanisms by which viruses alter themselves to avoid the hosts’ immune response. This information is necessary for designing and validating new diagnostic technologies, formulating science-based control policies and in the long term, the development of vaccines as a more sustainable solution to the control of viral animal diseases. He is currently a researcher at the SACIDS Foundation for One Health (SACIDS) at SUA. SACIDS is an institute of SUA that deals with infectious diseases of humans and animals within the ecosystems of southern, central and eastern Africa.