Ben Marais’ area of expertise is tuberculosis (TB), the leading infectious disease killer globally. He co-leads the the ‘WHO Collaborating Centre for TB’ and the ‘NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in TB – both sides of the border’ at the University of Sydney, where he also directs the Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute (Sydney ID). As a paediatrician his main objective is to reduce the TB disease burden in children and to achieve a ‘step-change’ in global TB control, since children are sentinels of uncontrolled community transmission and suffer in areas of the world where adults continue to transmit the disease.