Professor Serhat Ünal is a distinguished expert in internal medicine and infectious diseases and he was former Vice Rector and Director of the Vaccine Institute at Hacettepe University. After graduating from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, he completed specialty training there and at Harvard Medical School. Professor Ünal has held numerous leadership positions, including Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. His research interests include resistance mechanisms in bacteria and the use of molecular biology in diagnosing infectious diseases. He has been a prominent member of Turkey's Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board.