Dr Christopher Barbara is the current Clinical Chairperson for the Pathology Department at Mater Dei Hospital. He is a medical microbiologist and virologist and has a special interest in vaccinology. He is Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta and has presented various topics in microbiology both at a national and international level. He is the National Microbiology focal point for Malta at the European Centre for Disease Control in Sweden and is currently a member of the scientific committee responsible for the International ESCAIDE conference. He is also the head of the WHO National Influenza Centre (NIC) for Malta. He is also a member of the Pastoral Commission of the Archdiocese of Malta and a member of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practice within the Ministry for Health. He is also the Medical Microbiologist at HSE Laboratory Services.