Dr. Barker, along with Co-Directors Dr. Sander van der Leeuw, and Dr. George Poste, will launch new research in CAS-Knowledge Networks and a workshop series on Complex Adaptive Systems. Dr. Barker served as the Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and as the NCI’s Deputy Director for Strategic Scientific Initiatives from 2002 until her retirement in August, 2010. She was a member of the NCI’s Executive Committee and participated in all aspects of strategic planning, decision making and program implementation to achieve the NCI’s mission. Dr. Barker led the planning, development and implementation of a number of strategic scientific and advanced technology initiatives and novel partnerships that emphasize innovation, trans-disciplinary teams and convergence of scientific disciplines to enable progress against cancer. These programs also stress the synergy of large scale and individual initiated research, precompetitive research and public databases and translation of discoveries into new interventions to detect, prevent and treat cancer more effectively.