I studied medicine in my hometown of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and later specialised in medical virology both there and in London, U.K. I came to South Africa in 2005, attracted by the challenges and the prospect of making a difference in a setting that combines a huge infectious diseases, especially HIV, burden with the means to do something about it. My research interest comprise HIV diagnosis, monitoring of antiretroviral therapy, opportunistic viral infections and emerging / zoonotic viral diseases.