vitamin B₁₂ deficiency in the elderly in the United States. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Nutrition and was awarded the Kellogg International Nutrition Prize in 1997. Her other responsibilities on the Food and Nutrition Board include serving as chair of the Committee on International Nutrition and as a member of the Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes.

LYNN B.BAILEY, Ph.D., is a professor of nutrition in the University of Florida’s Food Science and Human Nutrition Department. Before joining the faculty in 1977, Dr. Bailey completed her Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at Purdue University in the area of human nutrient requirements. Her research has focused on the estimation of folate requirements and the evaluation of folate status in different life stages, including adolescence, young adulthood, pregnancy, and postmenopause. Collaborative studies involving folate labeled with stable isotopes have provided new information related to factors affecting folate bioavailability. Many scientific journal publications and book chapters have resulted from Dr. Bailey’s research, and she was editor of the book Folate in Health and Disease. She has served on numerous expert scientific panels, including the Food and Drug Administration’s Folate Subcommittee, which addressed the fortification of cereal grain products with folic acid in an effort to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. Dr. Bailey was the recipient of a national U.S. Department of Agriculture Award for Superior Service for her research accomplishments related to estimating folate requirements.

MERTON BERNFIELD, M.D., is an internationally recognized leader in developmental biology. Dr. Bernfield studies the molecular mechanisms underlying how organs take shape during embryonic development, which is important for understanding birth defects. He developed the most suitable mutant mouse model for human neural tube defects and has conducted research on prenatal care and birth outcome in blacks and whites. Dr. Bernfield serves as the Clement A.Smith Professor of Pediatrics and professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Bernfield has received various honors, including Guggenheim and Macy fellowships, and distinguished lectureships, including the Swedish Zetterstrom Lecture, the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Lecture and the Wellcome Visiting Professorship in the Basic Medical Sciences. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and a member of the American Asso-