Professor Xiao-Ning Xu talks about his research on emerging infectious diseases in China, from the SARS outbreak in 2003/4 to flu pandemic and HIV infection. Professor Xu also follows a HIV cohort in Beijing, and studies their T cell responses to the HIV conserved region. The stimulation of HIV-specific cytolytic T lymphocytes offers a new strategy for vaccine development. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/