Although the crocus are peeking out of the earth and the Spring edition of the Newsletter is here, the winter does not want to pass the baton over to our next season (as I write this column the weather is 39 degrees). Despite this, time moves forward and our activities increase as do most organizations, and even individuals when the seasons change and the days get longer. The newest activity at our Center is the ALSGENES Project, an exciting collaboration investigating more on the epidemiology of ALS. Dr. Mitsumoto is leading the project, which Grace Hillyer (project coordinator) will tell you more about on page 7. In the meantime, I will introduce Ms. Hillyer to you as the newest member of the ALS Center ’s Research Team . Ms. Hillyer is managing the MDA-funded ALSGENES study aimed at exploring environmental-genetic interactions that may contribute to the development of ALS. Prior to joining the team, Ms. Hillyer was project director in the department of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center . For three years she managed all aspects of two randomized clinical trials dedicated to reducing the morbidity and mortality of colorectal and cervical cancer, respectively, among the medically underserved, minority populations of New York City through the systematic education of primary care physicians Ms. Hillyer is a graduate of the Mailman School of Public Health and holds a Master in Public Health degree in Epidemiology. She interned for one year in the molecular virology laboratory of Drs. Patrick Moore and Yuan Chang of Columbia University, co-discoverers of the Herpes 8 virus – etiological agent of Kaposi’s Sarcoma. Her Master’s Thesis research was conducted in collaboration with the Federal Food and Drug Administration and examined the role of viral interleukin-6 in the progression of Kaposi’s Sarcoma. Additionally, Ms. Hillyer is a certified Medical Laboratory Technologist who, for 20 years, managed a clinical microbiology and immunology laboratory in a large urban New Jersey hospital. Welcome Grace!