• Highlight the crucial role of basic research in addressing scientific challenges related to women's health
• Showcase the contributions of women scientists
• Create a program of support for women scientists
• Encourage more women to embrace scientific research as a focus of their philanthropy

Through the Partners in Discovery fund-raising program, Women & Science has raised more than $10 million for talented women pursuing careers in the sciences at The Rockefeller University. To date, donors to Partners in Discovery have established the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professorship for a senior woman scientist, funded educational opportunities for young women in Rockefeller's summer research programs for high school and college students, and created seed funds for research related to cancer, neuroscience, and global health.

Women & Science has also provided crucial support for 91 postdoctoral and graduate fellowships and, underwritten the cost of initiatives to fund faculty recruitment, the Child and Family Center, career development, and pre-Ph.D. education.

Now in its eleventh year, Women & Science continues to help change the culture of scientific discovery by supporting women scientists in a number of ways. This year, in addition to supporting the summer undergraduate research program (SURF) and the recruitment of outstanding women faculty to The Rockefeller University, W&S will galvanize women scientists on campus through the following initiatives:

• W&S Fellowships Fund - to increase the number of Women & Science graduate and postdoctoral fellowships offered collectively, from 14 to 24 (i.e. 12 graduate and 12 postdoctoral fellowships).
• W&S Child and Family Center Fund - to make scholarships available to women scientists who have children at the University's Child and Family Center. While tuition for the school is determined on a sliding scale, many parents are still unable to afford it.
• W&S Investigator Seed Fund - to enable postdoctoral fellows to pursue independent research by providing them with seed money, beyond their salaries, to engage in novel, risk-taking research.

This year's Annual W&S Lecture and Luncheon will address the topic Understanding Addiction: Genes, Behavior and New Treatment Insights. On May 15, 2008 the event will showcase Mary Jeanne Kreek, M.D., Patrick E. and Beatrice M. Haggerty Professor and Head of Rockefeller's Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases.