We kick off season 4 of the Global Health Matters podcast with an episode that highlights the remarkable career journeys of two research leaders and the role of capacity development in their formation. Host Garry Aslanyan speaks with Wilfried Mutombo, the Head of Clinical Operations at the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Yasmine Belkaid, President of the Institut Pasteur in France. As this episode is produced in celebration of the 50th anniversary of TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, TDR Director John Reeder also joins this episode to reflect on the challenges and future frontiers of capacity development.