Dr Pascale Ondoa is the Director of Science and New Initiatives of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) since 2016. She holds a medical degree from the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, and a PhD in Virology from the University of Antwerp. She provides scientific and technical leadership to the ASLM team, with the overall goal of advancing the laboratory profession, science and practice. She particularly focuses on addressing gaps of the laboratory systems and networks in African countries. She leads several projects and programmes addressing AMR, diagnostics, external quality assessment, workforce development and laboratory policies covering more than 30 countries in Africa. Pascale Ondoa is a member of the editorial board of Lancet Microbe. She authored 70 peer reviewed scientific publications.