Dr Stephanie van Wyk is a Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Scientist at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, specialising in genomic surveillance, infectious diseases and antimalarial drug resistance. With over 14 years of experience in molecular biology, genomics and bioinformatics, her research focuses on understanding pathogen evolution, drug resistance and their implications for public health. Her work integrates genomic, clinical and epidemiological data to strengthen disease surveillance and inform evidence-based public health policy. She collaborates with international research networks, including MARC SE-Africa and the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), and has contributed to research on malaria, SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious pathogens. Her research has been published in leading scientific journals, including *Nature*, *Science* and *The Lancet*.