Dr. Gianpiero Palermo was born close to the sea. He likes to fish and be with his friends. When he as little the first school he went to was in Italy. Since he always knew he liked to help people, one day his Dad told him to think about maybe becoming a doctor someday. It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it. After he became a doctor, he realized that he also enjoyed thinking about puzzles and solving them. This turned out to be a cool thing. Because if you can fix puzzles that have to do with being sick or people's health, it sure can help in some big ways. And sometimes the answer to a huge problem can be found with a microscope, if you know how to look for something really tiny! So this is what Dr. Palermo does every day now in New York City. That's a long way from where he started in Italy. I'm glad he does that stuff because I'm not sure if I would be here if he just stayed home and was fishing all the time. -Adam K. age 9, Overland Park, Kansas