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Caron Jacobs is a South African cell biologist and imaging scientist, at the University of Cape Town. She is also the co-founder of the African BioImaging Consortium (ABIC) (africanbioimaging.org), a pan-African initiative striving to unite and strengthen the African microscopy community and increase access to bioimaging infrastructure and education across the continent. Caron completed her PhD at University College London in 2018, where she used quantitative super-resolution imaging to study viral-cell infection processes. She returned to South Africa for post-doctoral research developing imaging and analytical tools for spatially-derived omics and mycobacterial research at the University of Cape Town. Caron’s interests in human disease biology, host-pathogen interactions, and the development of specialist microscopy assays to target challenging questions in these fields are complemented by her passion for skills transfer and the elevation of research technologies in settings where they can have the greatest impact. Caron was awarded a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Imaging Scientist fellowship in 2020, to develop projects working to democratize bioimaging for infectious disease research in Africa. Working with diverse African colleagues, the African BioImaging Consortium (ABIC) was launched in March 2021. ABIC’s efforts focus on facilitating information, opportunity, and resource sharing, and promoting community activities to develop and advocate for growing imaging capacity and expertise across the continent.