Dr. Fitzpatrick was named Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director of the Max Planck Florida Institute on January 3, 2011. Prior to his arrival in Jupiter, he was the James B. Duke Professor of Neurobiology at the Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. Dr. Fitzpatrick was also the founding Director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. In this capacity, he led the development of numerous cross-school, interdisciplinary initiatives that spawned new areas of collaborative research, recruited new faculty, and supported the development of new educational programs in the neurosciences.

Dr. Fitzpatrick's scientific contributions have earned him international recognition as a leader in systems neuroscience, with a focus on the functional organization and development of neural circuits in the cerebral cortex—the largest and most complex area of the brain, whose functions include sensory perception, motor control, and cognition. His research probes fundamental mechanisms of cortical processing that underlie a wide range of brain functions and are critical for understanding how cortical circuits are altered in neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Fitzpatrick has received a number of awards for his research accomplishments, including an Alfred P. Sloan Research Award, The Cajal Club Cortical Discoverer Award, and The McKnight Neuroscience Investigator Award. He has served on numerous scientific advisory boards including the Society for Neuroscience, the Searle Scholars Program, the Riken Brain Science Institute, the Max-Planck-Institute for Neurobiology, and the National Institutes of Health. He also has served as an editor for a number of scientific journals, most recently as a Senior Editor for the Journal of Neuroscience.

At Max Planck Florida Institute, as the Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Baines is responsible for the scientific infrastructure, including establishing and managing the laboratories and scientific services and implementing a budget management structure for maximum quality and productivity of the new 100,000-square-foot biomedical facility scheduled for completion in 2012. He also serves on the executive board of directors that oversees the design and operation of the institute.

Dr. Baines received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Biochemistry from University College London, performed 6 years postdoctoral research and 2 years independent research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), before joining the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to help administer its then $2.8 billion budget for basic and clinical research and to promote the Small Business Innovation Research program. He helped set up and run the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden where he is currently also COO. He has advised more than 100 biotech and life sciences companies and helped establish biotech incubators in Dresden and Leipzig in Germany.

Dr. Hillinger has been in Florida since 2008, under her direction the new Max Planck Florida Institute established itself in temporary quarters on the Florida Atlantic University Campus in Jupiter, Florida. In addition, Dr. Hillinger serves as President of the Max Planck Florida Foundation, and provides leadership to an expanded community relations and public outreach program, including all phases of institutional advancement and fund raising initiatives.

Dr. Hillinger joined the Max Planck Society in 1998 and was responsible for Institute development before becoming the research coordinator and head of the Central Scientific Laboratories and Technical Facilities for the Max Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, which focuses on climate change, earth system sciences and biodiversity. Previously, she held the position of research group leader at the Institute of Botany and Microbiology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and served as assistant to both the American Deputy Director and the German Program Director at the American Embassy in Bonn, Germany and Amerika Haus München. Dr. Hillinger received her bachelor's degree in English and Spanish from the Academy of Foreign Languages in Munich; a master's of science degree in biology from TUM; and her doctorate in biology from the Institute of Botany and Microbiology at TUM.