Sonja J. Olsen received her PhD in Epidemiology from Columbia University in New York City. She joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch. Currently, she is Chief of the Epidemiology Section of the International Emerging Infections Program (IEIP) in Thailand. The IEIP was founded in 2001, as a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Thai Ministry of Public Health. Her responsibilities include coordinating the program’s infectious disease research and surveillance activities and supervising Thai and U.S. doctoral and master-level staff. Among her many awards and honors, Dr. Olsen has received the SARS Response Award from the Taiwan American Society and the Nakano Citation from CDC. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and written many book chapters. Dr. Olsen is a reviewer for several professional journals, including the Journal of Infectious Diseases and Emerging Infectious Diseases.