I am Pauline de Best, and I am the PhD candidate for project 21,

‘what to do when and where, from theory to practice’. My interest for infectious diseases began during my bachelor biomedical sciences, which I started in 2014 in Nijmegen. During my bachelor I did an internship on Q-fever, a zoonotic bacterium which caused a large outbreak in the Netherlands. From there on my interest in infectious diseases (especially zoonotic) increased and during my Master biomedical sciences (2017-2019, Radboud university Nijmegen), I focused on infectious disease epidemiology with a thesis into prevention measures for zoonotic disease spread to citizens living close to farms in the Netherlands, and an internship at the GGD on infectious disease risk of mud-runs. After I graduated, I came across this PhD function and the topic was a perfect match, it combines my interest for infectious disease with my interest in public health by translating arboviral disease knowledge into public health action. The focus of my project will mainly be on translating research knowledge, and expert opinions of identified stakeholders into actionable interventions and guidelines for arboviral preparedness and control. A great challenge which I am very much looking forward to!