This volume comprises contributions from faculty and postdoctoral finalists of the 2011 New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. The Awards celebrate the excellence of some of the most promising young scientists in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut by acknowledging their highly innovative, multidisciplinary accomplishments in the life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Included in this volume are manuscripts of the individual finalists' areas of research, which provide a glimpse of some of today’s most compelling scholarly work. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit http://ordering. onlinelibrary. wiley. com/subs. asp?ref=1749-6632&doi=10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632. ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www. nyas. org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to the Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit http://www. nyas. org/MemberCenter/Join. aspx for more information about becoming a member. | Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists 2011 Volume 1260 by Editorial Staff of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Paperback | Indigo Chapters