Dr. Roberts joined the National Cancer Institute in 1976. She has achieved international acclaim for her work in growth factor research, having discovered and characterized, together with Dr. Michael Sporn, the cytokine transforming growth factor- b (TGF- b). Dr. Roberts’ research has established roles for this peptide in autoimmune disease, fibrogenesis, carcinogenesis, and wound healing which are leading to the development of new therapies for these diseases. From 1995 to 2004 Dr. Roberts served as Chief of the Laboratory of Cell Regulation and Carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute. She was recently named the 49th most cited scientist, worldwide, for the period from 1982-2002 by the Institute for Scientific Information, making her the second most highly cited woman scientist. She was among the first group of NIH scientists elected to the Senior Biomedical Research Service and was a past president of the Wound Healing Society. Dr. Roberts has authored over 330 articles and serves on numerous scientific advisory and editorial boards. Her present research interests are focused on identification of the roles of specific downstream signaling pathways of TGF- b in disease pathogenesis and on the possibility of applying this knowledge to design of novel therapies. Dr. Roberts obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin for the study of the metabolism of retinoic acid with Dr. Hector DeLuca followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University Medical School .