Dr. Meurman is professor emeritus of oral infectious diseases at the University of Helsinki and head physician at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.  He was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1947, is married to Elisabet Meurman; has two children and three grandchildren. He is the author or co-author of hundreds of peer-reviewed original research publications, several textbooks and textbook chapters, mainly focusing on the various aspects of oral health and systemic health and in oral microbiology.  Dr. Meurman has also had special interests in probiotics, a new research area he pioneered in the early 1990s, and in Candida infections. He has supervised 25 doctoral theses and lectured extensively in various international forums. Dr. Meurman´s research group has currently 9 registered doctoral students. He has received several honours including the “Echelon Argent” of Ville de Paris, France, in 1991, from President Chirac. In 2004, Dr. Meurman received the title of “Docteur honoris causa” from the Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France. In 2005 he received the “Geriatric Oral Research Award” of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). Dr. Meurman is past-immediate President of the IADR. In 2007 Dr. Meurman was promoted “Doctor honoris causa” in the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, where he also took the position of Adjunct Professor. In 2009 he received his third “doctor honoris causa” from the Medical University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Dr. Meurman is member ad hominis of the Royal Society of Surgeons, Edinburgh (FDSRCS). He is an invited member of the German Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences (ML) and currently Chair of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. Dr. Meurman has been assessor of research and education in several universities: Dresden, Geneva, Karolinska Institute (Stockholm), Oslo, Amsterdam, Turku, and Basel (currently). He has a number of eternal expert commitments, e.g. in the European Food Safety Authority and the Initiative for Science in Europe, Norwegian Research Council, and the Inter-Academies Platform (IAP). He is knight, first order, of Order the White Rose of Finland, and Commander, Order of the Lion of Finland, both distinctions conferred by the President of the Republic.