The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center was born from the idea that interdisciplinary research between the data and the life sciences stands to transform biology and improve human health. Two recent revolutions inspired the creation of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center: the exponential growth and widespread adoption of data technologies like machine learning and cloud computing, and the dramatic advances in generating massive amounts of data about living systems through next-generation sequencing, single-cell genomics, and advanced medical imaging. Until now, these fields have largely developed in parallel. The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center will foster a two-way street between the disciplines. We envision that biomedical problems will fuel foundational advances in machine learning — and that machine learning will drive what kinds of biological data scientists generate. We are deeply invested in ensuring that our commitment to the highest level of ethics and equity is brought to bear through each and every project. To that end, we work with researchers focused on engaging underrepresented groups, anticipating outcomes for vulnerable populations, and developing open-source tools that will maximize benefit to all.