Tonight on National Geographic Channel, a groundbreaking new series, BREAKTHROUGH, premieres at 9/8c with first episode, “Fighting Pandemics.”

Here’s a bit more from the official release from National Geographic:

In an unprecedented partnership, National Geographic Channel (@NatGeoChannel) and GE (@generalelectric) present the new series BREAKTHROUGH, produced by Imagine Entertainment and Asylum Entertainment. BREAKTHROUGH kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on National Geographic Channel. For more information, visit our press room at foxflash.com and follow @NGC_PR on Twitter.

Executive produced by Brian Grazer (@BrianGrazer), Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward), Steven Michaels, Jonathan Koch, Mark Dowley and Kurt Sayenga, BREAKTHROUGH is a revolutionary new series about scientific explorers from leading universities and institutions and how their cutting-edge innovations and advancements will change our lives in the immediate future and beyond. The series intends to bring to life the stories, people and technology behind these breakthroughs, and show how they are changing our world.

Each hourlong episode is directed by a Hollywood visionary — Angela Bassett (@ImAngelaBassett), Peter Berg, Paul Giamatti, Akiva Goldsman (@AkivaGoldsman), Ron Howard and Brett Ratner (@BrettRatner).

BREAKTHROUGH explores remarkable scientific discoveries in brain science, longevity, water, energy, pandemics and cyborg technology. Lifesaving, mind-boggling innovation is a part of everyday life, so we sometimes take it for granted. It happens in the blink of an eye — on battlefields and playgrounds, in supercolliders and the International Space Station, in smart homes and smart cars. These are modern-day revolutions in how we live.

BREAKTHROUGH will explore the courage, imagination, passion and self-sacrifice of the scientists bringing these innovations to life.

The series is remarkable and you don’t have to wait until tonight to check out the hour directed by FNL favorite Peter Berg. You can watch it RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!!!

Berg will take viewers into the dramatic, inspiring and sometimes heartbreaking world of pioneers scrambling to stop an outbreak and save the world from future plagues. The recent Ebola outbreak forced medical science to evolve as quickly as the virus it is fighting, provoking breakthroughs that may give birth to a world virtually free of pathogens. From antibiotics and vaccines to computer programs that predict how viruses will spread, new lifesaving tools will be used to fight a wide range of viruses in the near future, including HIV, influenza, dengue fever, malaria and a host of other killer diseases. Follow Dr. Maria Croyle, who has developed a revolutionary way to introduce a vaccine into a common cold virus; Erica Ollman Saphire, who organized a world-wide consortium to find an antibody treatment for viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola; and Dr. Ian Crozier, a World Health Organization (WHO) virologist who fought Ebola in Sierra Leone until he contracted the disease himself and spent 40 agonizing days locked in an isolation ward at Emory University Hospital. Crozier recovered — only to find the virus was still multiplying in his eye.

Now is your chance to also win a full year’s subscription to National Geographic Magazine! Ten lucky winners will be chosen at random to receive a full year – all you have to do is leave us a comment telling us about something you learned from watching the show or how it’s opened your eyes in anyway. While you’re at it, what are you looking for in future episodes??