Interdisciplinary research is where the action is.
He made the same generalization about the IGM's spectacular junior faculty, all of whom have already made major scientific contributions, even though they are at the beginning of their careers. Jane Fountain, who used genetic road maps at the Univ. of Michigan to first identify the location of the gene for Elephant Man syndrome. Now she hunts for the genetic cause of malignant melanoma, the most vicious of skin cancers, a trek that will lead her to other cancers as well. Her goal is to deliver therapeutic agents tailored for specific genetic mutations that lead to melanoma. His elucidation of pathways for the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for undersized hearts guides his exploration of the role of vitamin A and its metabolites in controlling this pathway.