Professor Ruth Zadoks is Professor in Production Animal Health in the Sydney School of Veterinary Science, at the University of Sydney. She is a veterinarian working in the areas of One Health and food security, and is interested in promoting the health, welfare and productivity of food-producing animals and the people that look after them or use their products. Her main research interest is bacterial infectious disease of livestock, fishes and people. She uses DNA-based methods to refine the characterisation of disease-causing organisms. Such ’DNA fingerprinting’ or ‘strain typing’, provides detailed insight into pathogen sources, transmission routes and disease manifestations. Based on understanding these mechanisms, she provides advice to farmers, veterinarians and policy makers about ways to improve animal and human health and productivity. Her work on GBS spans six continents and even more host species, and includes the development of strategies and tools to reduce the risk of GBS in people and animals.