When Dr. Eric Mendenhall accepted a position as assistant professor with the Department of Biological Sciences at UAH this past fall, one of the deciding factors was the university's unique relationship with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. "The HudsonAlpha Institute, led by President Richard Myers, is especially prolific in their research, and future collaborations seemed like they would be easy to establish and mutually beneficial," he says. Then with a laugh he adds, "Dr. Myers really helped recruit me to come to UAH with promises of future collaborations!" Joking aside, however, Dr. Myers has more than made good on his promise. He has partnered with Dr. Mendenhall on the ENCODE project, a large consortium effort to define the epigenome across both normal and diseased cells.