Dr. Strle’s interest in tick-borne encephalitis is clearly evident from his choice of the topics for his M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses, and later confirmed by his publications. It is interesting that although TBE is well known for over 50 years and that diagnostic approaches in the past 15 years have not changed significantly - and his colleagues managed to discover and publish new observations, such as that early in TBE thrombocytopenia is often present in tick-borne encephalitis, and that the latter displays differently in children than in adults, not only in clinical but also in laboratory results. Dr. Strle’s main area of research is Lyme disease. He recorded his original findings in more than 50 papers published in SCI indexed journals, not only on the topics of clinic research and microbiology, but also in epidemiology and ecology. Some of the findings, especially those concerning the treatment of early Lyme disease, have already become part of daily clinical practice. Dr. Strle and his colleagues discovered Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme borreliosis in Europe, and described the symptoms the infection with this bacterium causes. In recent years, Strle has also been investigating diseases caused by Ehrlichia. He participated in the discovery of the first case of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis in Europe, in describing the findings of the first series of European patients with human granulocyte ehrlichiosis, in assessing the disease in Europe and in identifying pathogens which are transmitted by Ixodes ricinus ticks.