Dr Finlay is a Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories, and the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. He obtained a BSc (Honors) in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta, Canada, where he also studied for his PhD (1986) in Biochemistry under Dr William Paranchych, studying F-like plasmid conjugation. His postdoctoral studies were performed with Dr Stanley Falkow at the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, USA, where he studied Salmonella invasion into host cells. In 1989, he joined UBC as an Assistant Professor in the Biotechnology Laboratory. Dr Finlay's research interests are focused on host-pathogen interactions, at the molecular level. By combining cell biology with microbiology, he has been at the forefront of the emerging field known as Cellular Microbiology, making several fundamental discoveries in this field, and publishing over 250 papers. His laboratory studies cover several pathogenic bacteria, with Salmonella and pathogenic Eschericia coli interactions with host cells being the primary focus. He is well recognized internationally for his work, and has won several prestigious awards including the E.W.R. Steacie Prize, the CSM Fisher Scientific Award, five Howard Hughes International Research Scholar Awards, BC Biotech Innovation Award, the Michael Smith Health Research Prize, the IDSA Squibb award, the Jacob Biely Prize, he is an MRC Scientist, a CIHR Distinguished Investigator, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and is the UBC Peter Wall Distinguished Professor. He is a cofounder of Inimex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Director of the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative. He also serves on several editorial and advisory boards, and is a strong supporter of communicating science to the public.