Freddy Haesebrouck is a veterinarian and PhD from Ghent University, Belgium. In 1988 he became professor in veterinary bacteriology and mycology and since 1993 he has been chair of the Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University. Since 2018 he is chair of the Industrial Research Fund of Ghent University Association. He serves as an Associate Editor for the international journal ‘Veterinary Research’ and handles bacteriology-related manuscripts. He has acted as a reviewer of scientific projects for several national and international funding organizations and he has lectured as invited speaker on various occasions at international meetings held in European countries, U.S., Canada and China. He has published over 750 articles in refereed journals and has mentored 80 doctoral students in his career. His expertise primarily relates to the study of bacterium-host interactions and antibiotic resistance in bacteria of veterinary and zoonotic importance. One of the main research topics relates to gastric non-Helicobacter pylori Helicobacter species. For several of these very fastidious bacteria, cultivation methods have only recently been optimized and the availability of pure isolates has brought new perspectives to the study of the interactions with their hosts. Initially research focused on Helicobacter suis, a species causing gastritis and decreased weight gain in experimentally infected pigs. It is also the most prevalent gastric non-H. pylori Helicobacter species in humans suffering from gastric disease. Other studies have dealt with the canine and feline gastric Helicobacter species which are also of zoonotic significance