Dr. Burt Anderson joined the University of South Florida in 1994 and is currently Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Associate Dean-Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs in the Morsani College of Medicine. He started his career early in the 1980s as a bacteriologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) working to unravel the mysteries behind both existing and newly emerging infectious diseases. He was part of a team that identified and recognized new bacteria known as rickettsia, including Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Ehrlichia ewingii and Rochalimaea (now Bartonella) henselae, as well as developing the first diagnostic tools, which have become standards in the medical profession that have been licensed and put into use by the CDC and industry. He has served as national reviewer on multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) Study Sections since 1998, as well as internationally for the Science Foundation of Ireland and the Israeli Science Foundation. His national leadership includes member of the organizing committees for over 9 national and international professional conferences; editorial board member for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology Journal; and reviewer for more than 30 major journals. He has also been a leader in national professional organizations, including the American Society of Microbiology and the American Society for Rickettsiology, in which he served as President, Vice President and Treasurer. He has secured over $6.4 million in research funding, published over 71 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 19 book chapters and other publications, and was an invited speaker at more than 27 symposia. He holds 10 U.S. patents, several of which were licensed to the CDC. He currently teaches both graduate and medical students and serves in multiple mentoring roles for USF students and fellow faculty in USF MCOM.