Joanna L. Batstone, Ph.D., is the Director for Distributed Computing in IBM Research, with worldwide strategy responsibility for Distributed Computing. Joanna manages the Research relationship with IBM Software Group's Application Integration and Middleware team and oversees a portfolio of joint AIM/Research investments. Previously she was the Program Director, Development, for IBM's Sensors & Actuators business unit and a Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM Software Group. She spent 5 years as a Senior Manager for Solutions Development in IBM's Healthcare & Life Sciences Business Unit with development responsibilities for IBM's Life Sciences solutions for Pharma and Biotech. Under her leadership, IBM launched industry solutions for data integration, regulatory compliance, clinical trials management and information lifecycle management. Before joining the IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences team, Batstone spent 11 years in IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, in the Physical Sciences and Computer Sciences departments. Joanna has published over 80 papers and organized many industry conference symposia. She received a B.Sc., in Chemical Physics and a Ph.D., in Physics from The University of Bristol, UK, followed by postdoctoral work at AT&T Bell Laboratories, NJ, and a Lectureship in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Liverpool, UK, before joining IBM Research. She received the '95 Burton Medal from the Microscopy Society of America, the '91 Robert Lansing Hardy Gold Medal from The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and the '89 Cosslett Award from the Microbeam Analysis Society.