Dr W. Thomas Boyce is Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Health and chief of the Division of Developmental Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also co-director of the Child and Brain Development Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dr Boyce's research addresses the interplay among neurobiological and psychosocial factors leading to differences in childhood health and disease. He is the parent of two wonderful adult children, one orchid and one dandelion. He is also an avid sailor who likes to tie sailing knots and untie scientific ones. He lives with his wife in San Francisco.