Charalambos Billinis graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1993. In 1998, he was awarded his PhD in "Microbiology & Infectious Diseases" from the same university. He holds the European Veterinary Specialist title in Zoological Medicine, with a sub-specialty in Wildlife Population Health (ECZM – Wildlife Population Health). He is the Rector of the University of Thessaly, as well as a Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He has previously served as Vice-Rector for Finance, Programming, and Development, Head of the Department of Public and One Health, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and Head of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Thessaly. He served as the Chairman of the National Committee for the Management and Control of Sheep and Goat Pox. He has successfully supervised 8 PhD students and served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for 25 research projects. He has edited 2 books, published 9 chapters in encyclopedias or books, over 150 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, and 130 abstracts in conference proceedings. He is a member of the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) in the healthcare sector, entitled "Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry Transformation through Artificial Intelligence Digital Services (Health-Hub)".