An interview with Hakim Djaballah, Ph.D. Interview by Vicki Glaser

Dr. Hakim Djaballah is Director of the High-Throughput Screening (HTS) Core Facility at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), in New York City. He has several years of industrial experience in preclinical drug discovery, working in both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He has been involved in developing and screening antibacterials, antivirals, and antifungals, as well as identifying targets in various therapeutic areas, including diabetes, central nervous system, cardiovascular system, oncology, and inflammation. He obtained his B.S. in biochemistry with biotechnology from the University of Birmingham and completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Leicester, both in England. He was recruited to MSKCC in 2003 to set up and direct the HTS Core Facility, a drug discovery laboratory involved in both chemical and RNAi screening. Dr. Djaballah was the recipient of the 2007 Robots and Vision User Recognition Award. Sponsored by the Robotic Industries Association and the Automated Imaging Association, the award is presented every 2 years to individuals in institutions that have successfully implemented robots in their work.