Barbara A. Gilchrest, M.D., received her undergraduate and medical training from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) respectively. After a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Howard Green at MIT, in 1977 Dr. Gilchrest joined the Department of Dermatology and Division on Aging at the HMS, where she established a tissue culture laboratory to study the aging process in human skin, with support from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). From 1985 until 2008, Dr. Gilchrest served as Professor and Chairman of Dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine, where she directed a large laboratory and an NIH-sponsored post-doctoral research training program. Her laboratory studied cellular aging, regulation of melanogenesis, and telomere-based protective responses in the skin; complementary clinical research interests focused on therapeutic uses of light in dermatology. She remains as Professor on a part-time basis while serving as Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and attempting to commercialize treatment concepts arising from her laboratory-based research effort. Dr. Gilchrest is the author of over 400 scholarly articles, reviews, abstracts, and textbook chapters; and author or editor of eight books. She has served in leadership positions for all the major dermatologic organizations; on the National Advisory Council on Aging and the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute; as associate editor or editorial board member of several major clinical and research journals; as a consultant or scientific advisory board member for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; and as a member of the MIT Corporation (1995-2005). Dr. Gilchrest is a Fellow of the AAAS, an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science, and a Charter member of the National Academy of Inventors.