Peter Piot awarded Honorary Knighthood by the British Queen
19/01/2017
Queen Elisabeth II has knighted Peter Piot. She granted him the title of Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Honorary Awards.
© Imperial College London/Tom Whipps
Baron Peter Karel Piot is a Belgian doctor and microbiologist. From 1995 to 1 December 2008 he was the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the UN Programme that coordinates the other UN agencies against aids.
He is known for discovering the Ebola virus in September 1976. Shortly after, a first epidemic affected 318 people, of which 280 died.
Since 2010, Professor Peter Piot is the head of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.