Dr. Maria R. Capobianchi has a PhD in Microbiology and Virology. She has been involved in research activity on viruses since 1977, when she joined the Institute of Virology at the University of Rome Medical School as a fellow and in 1981 achieved a permanent position in charge of research, diagnostic and teaching activity. Since 2000, Dr. Capobianchi has been the Director of the Laboratory of Virology at the National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI), Rome, where she is in charge of diagnostic and research activity on viral diseases. She has more than a decade of expertise in research on the molecular aspect of viral infections, evaluation of molecular diagnostic tools, molecular epidemiology of viruses and epidemic contingencies management.