Jaime Martinez-Urtaza is Professor in Genetics at the Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University Autonomous of Barcelona (UAB) where contributes to different under- and postgraduate degrees on Genomic Science and Bioinformatics. He has held positions at The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (UK), the European Centre for Disease Control (Sweden), and University of Bath (UK). His work has pioneered the use of whole genome sequencing to investigate the evolution and global dispersion of pathogenic bacteria. He has applied innovative approaches integrating biological information with climatic data to develop and implement new and cost-effective tools to estimate the risk of infections associated with foodborne and zoonotic human pathogens.