Professor Robert Heyderman is a clinician scientist whose work bridges clinical practice, disease prevention and the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of infectious disease. He has established a Mucosal Pathogens Research Group at UCL whose research in the UK and Africa addresses the microbial and immunological basis of severe infection caused by mucosal pathogens and their prevention through vaccination; the regulation of inflammation; and the diagnosis and management of meningitis and sepsis. He is the Director of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Mucosal Pathogens (MPRU), which is an interdisciplinary translational partnership that brings together internationally recognised UK and African investigators to tackle limitations in the long-term effectiveness of existing vaccines to prevent meningitis, pneumonia and sepsis through new approaches to interrupting mucosal pathogen carriage/transmission. His research at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Programme (www.mlw.mw) combines internationally-leading science and research training to improve the health of people in sub-Saharan Africa.