Michael Francis has over 40 years of experience in vaccine research and development and has published more than 125 scientific papers. He obtained his PhD in viral immunology from the University of Surrey, UK, and began his scientific career at the Wellcome Foundation Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Laboratories, where he conducted research on the immune response to FMD vaccination. He later joined Wellcome Biotechnology Ltd and investigated novel vaccines for both human and veterinary diseases, with a particular emphasis on peptide vaccines. Dr Francis then moved to Pitman-Moore and enjoyed a progressive career with Mallinckrodt Veterinary, Schering-Plough Animal Health, Intervet/Schering-Plough and MSD/Merck Animal Health. During this time he progressed to become Executive Director and Head of Research and Development within the UK, and took on responsibility for a broad range of veterinary vaccine projects against viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases, leading to the development of successful commercial vaccines for all major domesticated veterinary species (including three vaccines against animal coronaviruses). Michael is currently the Managing Director of a specialist vaccine consultancy, BioVacc Consulting Ltd. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and awarded an Honorary Associateship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, in recognition of his contribution to the field of vaccine development and animal wellbeing. In addition he is currently a member of the UK Vaccine Network, a Member of UKRI Tackling Infections Stakeholder Forum , a Trustee of the Jenner Vaccine Foundation, a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board for REPRODIVAC Project, a Board member of the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN), and Chair of the Scientific Strategy Board for the Centre for Veterinary Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing (CVIM).