The freedom allowed – the Foundation does not impose an agenda upon the Vallee Visiting Professor – is perhaps the most desirable attribute

of the program. VVPs are free to use the time however it best suits their objectives (though it has become customary for them to give a public lecture while in residence), and when Jerrold Meinwald came from Cornell in October 1997, the freedom allowed him, among other Daporinad purchase things, to: write first drafts of three chapters for a book; complete or nearly complete four research manuscripts; write and submit a renewal for the NIH grant which supports all my insect related research; and attend several excellent Chemistry Department lectures in Cambridge. For Earl Davie, uninterrupted time was, in many ways, the single most important aspect of my stay at the Karolinska. Free from the usual distractions of telephone calls, administrative duties, and teaching obligations, Earl was able to spend nearly 3 hours every morning thinking and planning both new and old projects underway in our laboratory, which also made it possible to clarify new approaches for our future research. He remembers this time as a very beneficial and exciting experience in my scientific career. In some cases, the Vallee Visiting Professorship changed the direction of the participant’s career. This is perhaps best illustrated by the visit of Klaus Rajewsky. As Klaus approached mandatory retirement age

at the University of Cologne in Germany, it seemed that his career in research would have to come to an end. But, through mutual friends, AG-14699 Bert Vallee became aware of Klaus’

Verteporfin situation and offered him a Vallee Visiting Professorship to explore research opportunities at Harvard Medical School (HMS). As Klaus reflects upon his visit, in the autumn of 1999, my wife and I spent six wonderful weeks in Boston, living in a Vallee-owned apartment…we loved the place, the many friends we made, the electric atmosphere of the medical campus and the general Boston/Cambridge environment. In 2001, we moved to Boston and I became a professor in the HMS Department of Pathology and PI at the Center for Blood Research. The generosity and hospitality of the Vallee Foundation were key to my transatlantic move and to many new bonds and friendships. When Gordon Hammes decided to resume laboratory work after a decade in academic administration, he was offered a Vallee Visiting Professorship. Gordon had been a very successful enzymologist, but after being away from the field for over a decade, wanted to reenter with a new approach. In his words, the professorship was pivotal in getting me started in an entirely new research field: single molecule studies of enzyme catalysis. At Harvard, I was able to talk to many excellent scientists. Most important, I had time to read and think without interruption. Within a year, I had constructed a single molecule apparatus, and my second research career was launched.