Our Senior Advisor Dennis Erpelding shared his perspectives on a sustainable food secure world that needs science, innovation and fair trade when shaping public policy. His talk with the post graduate students of the School of Public Policy, Chiang Mai University, captured the current aspects around African Swine Fever (ASF), which is a transboundary and not a zoonotic disease, and the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which is a transboundary and a zoonotic disease. He stressed the need to amplify the proactive and ongoing collaborative efforts amongst governments and the private sector. Both have critical roles to play in addressing transboundary and zoonotic diseases at the national, regional and global levels.