Prof Bob Mash is a Distinguished Professor at Stellenbosch University in Family Medicine and Primary Care. He is a family physician by background and the Executive Head of the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine. He is also the Head of the Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care. He is an established researcher, rated with the National Research Foundation, and an international member of the USA National Academy of Medicine. He is Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine. He is also the editor of regional textbooks of family medicine, the Handbook of Family Medicine and the SA Family Practice Manual. He has also edited two WONCA books, How to do Primary Care Research and International Perspectives on Primary Care Research. He is the Immediate Past President of the SA Academy of Family Physicians and the President Elect of the World Organization of Family Doctors African Region. He co-ordinates the Primary Care and Family Medicine (PRIMAFAMED) network in sub-Saharan Africa. He has received an award from the South African Medical Association for Extraordinary Services to Medicine and from the World Organization of Family Doctors for his global contribution to family medicine.