Message from the Director

	Stephen Desiderio, M.D., Ph.D. Director

I'm excited about the future. As an institution, Johns Hopkins is investing in fundamental science to a greater extent than seen in decades. Two new basic research buildings, one already completed and occupied, and one new cancer research building under construction are providing additional research space so Hopkins faculty, students, fellows and staff can expand efforts to probe the fundamental questions of biology, health and disease. As faculty, we're working harder than ever and taking advantage of Hopkins' great collegiality. There's hardly such a beast as an individual lab any more. Any single investigator has multiple collaborations that bridge gaps, break new ground, and bring new perspectives to some of science's most puzzling mysteries.

The IBBS is feeding that trend. We are identifying important resources and areas of expertise that will be critical as once separate research endeavors begin to overlap. One of these is the power inherent in looking at many samples, many genes, many cells, all at the same time. As a result, IBBS established the Intelligent High Throughput Biology Center, or HiT Center, a collection of faculty labs devoted to gene and protein microarrays, chemical screening, proteomics, and gene and protein synthesis and sequencing. IBBS faculty and others are considering what our next "center" might emphasize to help cross-pollinate science at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Some options are: