Professor John S. Bradley is a Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, USA. Professor Bradley completed his paediatric infectious diseases training at Stanford University, USA, in 1981 and divides his time between clinical care, clinical research and national policy. His clinical research priorities are the development of effective therapy for neonates, infants and children with infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, working closely with pharmacologists and microbiologists, using pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic modelling techniques for dose optimisation. Professor Bradley is a member of the Scientific Review Committee for a large paediatric clinical trials consortium, the Institute for Advanced Clinical Trials for Children, working with academic centres, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the healthcare industry to study new tests, therapies and vaccines. He is on the executive committee of USCAST, the United States affiliate of EUCAST in support of determination of antibiotic breakpoints. He is also on the FDA’s Advisors and Consultants Staff. Professor Bradley was lead author of the first US national guidelines for the treatment of pneumonia in children, is a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–led Influenza Guidelines Committee and is Co-Chair of the panel developing the new Pediatric Bone and Joint Infection Guidelines that are currently being written. Additionally, he is the editor and a co-author of Nelson’s Pediatric Antimicrobial Therapy, a book providing guidance on the treatment of paediatric infections.