the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. In 2014, in the face of an unprecedented Ebola epidemic in western Africa, Piot and other scientists called for the emergency release of the experimental ZMapp vaccine for use on humans before it had undergone clinical testing on humans. That year, he was appointed by Director General Margaret Chan to the World Health Organization's Advisory Group on the Ebola Virus Disease Response, co-chaired by Sam Zaramba and David L. Heymann. He also chaired an independent panel convened by Harvard Global Health Institute and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine into the national and international response to the epidemic, which sharply criticised the response of the WHO and put forward ten recommendations for the body's reorganisation. In February 2020, he criticised the delay in declaring the 2019–20 novel coronavirus outbreak focused on Hubei, China, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and advocated a five-point scale for outbreaks, rather the current binary (emergency/no emergency) system. In 2020, Piot was appointed to the European Commission’s advisory panel on COVID-19, co-chaired by Ursula von der Leyen and Stella Kyriakides. In the preparations for the Global Health Summit hosted by the European Commission and the G20 in May 2021, Piot co-chaired the event's High Level Scientific Panel. Personal life In May 2020, Piot disclosed that he had had COVID-19. Piot is fluent in English, French, and Dutch. He is married to the American anthropologist Heidi Larson. Other activities Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the Strategy Group on Health (since 2020) Centre for International Health Protection (ZIG), Robert Koch Institute (RKI), member of the scientific advisory board (since 2020) Exemplars in Global Health, member of the senior advisory board (since 2020) Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), member of the board (since 2018) The Lancet Public Health, member of the editorial advisory board (since 2016) Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), chair of the board of directors (since 2017) UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR), chair of the Strategic Coherence of ODA-funded Research (since 2017) Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF), member of the advisory panel (since 2015) Novartis Foundation, member of the board of trustees (since 2015) Antwerp Management School, member of the international advisory board Centre Virchow-Villermé, member of the international advisory board Global Health Corps, member of the board of advisors Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT), member of the board of