Infectious disease physician and clinical microbiologist Charles Chiu is the director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, a translational research laboratory engaged in the development and validation of next-generation sequencing assays, pathogen discovery, bioinformatics software design, nanopore sequencing, and characterization of emerging infections (such as Lyme disease, enterovirus D68, and Zika virus). Next-generation sequencing can dramatically reduce the time necessary for clinical diagnosis of infections from rare, novel, or unexpected pathogens − including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites, and its emergence heralds a new era in infectious disease diagnostics. Charles has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, holds over 15 patents and patent applications, and serves on the scientific advisory board for Therabio, Karius, and Rubicon Genomics.