Dr rer. nat. Florian Gehre, MPH is a microbiologist and infectious disease epidemiologist with more than 15 years of international experience in outbreak preparedness, public health, laboratory systems strengthening and infectious disease research across Africa, Europe and Asia. He is co-Head of the One Health Disease Control Group and has been seconded to the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat since 2017, where he coordinates regional laboratory capacity strengthening and outbreak preparedness across the eight EAC Partner States. His research and operational work focus on sustainable outbreak preparedness, mobile high-containment laboratories, One Health surveillance, genomic epidemiology and strengthening local workforces. He advises the EAC and local governments in outbreak responses and the WHO and GOARN in mobile laboratory operations. 

Before BNITM, he previously worked at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, including a secondment to the MRC Unit The Gambia, where he managed a BSL-3 tuberculosis research laboratory and conducted molecular, epidemiological and interventional TB studies across West Africa.

He holds a Biology Diploma and PhD in Microbiology from Humboldt University Berlin/Rockefeller University and an MPH from Imperial College London.

Dr. Aryse Martins Melo is a postdoctoral researcher in the One Health Disease Control Group at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine. She holds a PhD in Microbiology and Parasitology and was a CAPES PDSE fellow at the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal, where she worked at the National Reference Laboratory for Mycology, focusing on fungal pathogens and antifungal resistance. She later worked at the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, contributing to molecular diagnosis and surveillance of respiratory viruses.
Her experience includes molecular diagnostics, surveillance and genomic characterization of respiratory viruses, as well as work with mobile laboratories and rapid-response laboratory capacities for infectious disease surveillance and pandemic preparedness.
Her research focuses on infectious diseases from a One Health perspective, with experience in medical and veterinary mycology, respiratory viruses, molecular diagnostics, genomic characterization, and antifungal resistance.

Etienne Mpabuka is a biomedical laboratory scientist and public health researcher with over 17 years of experience in infectious disease diagnostics, laboratory systems strengthening, and outbreak preparedness across Africa. As a Research Associate at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), he coordinates multidisciplinary projects that strengthen infectious disease surveillance, epidemic preparedness, and research capacity in East Africa, with a particular focus on expanding and operationalizing mobile laboratory networks to enhance rapid diagnostics and emergency response for epidemic-prone diseases.
Prior to joining BNITM, he served as Senior Laboratory Advisor and Regional Technical Advisor at ICAP at Columbia University, providing technical leadership for laboratory strengthening programs in Rwanda, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Sudan, Cameroon, and Côte d'Ivoire. In these roles, he supported ministries of health in developing laboratory policies, implementing quality management systems, expanding diagnostic networks, achieving laboratory accreditation, and strengthening surveillance for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and emerging infectious diseases. 
Earlier, as Director of the Immuno-Virology Unit at the Rwanda Biomedical Center and National Coordinator of the East African Community (EAC) Mobile Laboratory Project, he led national initiatives to strengthen diagnostics for high-consequence pathogens, including viral hemorrhagic fevers, while overseeing national virology and immunology diagnostic services and laboratory quality management program.