POTATO BREEDING AND VARIETY DEVELOPMENT IN THE EASTERN U.S IS ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH AN INTEGRATED, SEVEN-STATE (FLORIDA, MAINE, NORTH CAROLINA, NEW YORK, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, AND VIRGINIA) EFFORT WITH FOUR COLLABORATING BREEDING PROGRAMS CONDUCTING MULTI-SITE AND -DISCIPLINARY SELECTION AND VARIETY DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH ACROSS THE EASTERN SEABOARD. BREEDING PRIORITIES ARE DETERMINED FROM STAKEHOLDER INPUT. OUR OVERALL GOAL IS TO DEVELOP ATTRACTIVE, PRODUCTIVE, ABIOTIC STRESS-TOLERANT, DISEASE- AND INSECT-RESISTANT POTATO VARIETIES THAT CAN BE GROWN BY SMALL AND LARGE POTATO PRODUCERS TO ENHANCE MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES, FARM SUSTAINABILITY AND PROFITS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE: 1) CREATE 85,000 NEW SEEDLINGS YEARLY AND EVALUATE EARLY- AND ADVANCED-GENERATION CLONES FOR MARKET QUALITY, STRESS TOLERANCE, AND PEST RESISTANCE; 2) DEVELOP AND EVALUATE DIAGNOSTIC MARKERS FOR RESISTANCE TO INTERNAL HEAT NECROSIS, LATE BLIGHT, AND RACE RO2 OF THE GOLDEN NEMATODE; 3) PHENOTYPE AND GENOTYPE TRAINING POPULATIONS FOR FUTURE GENOMIC SELECTION; AND 4) ENHANCE WEB-BASED REPORTING OF PROJECT RESULTS AND EVALUATE THE FIELD BOOK APP FOR COLLECTING PHENOTYPE DATA ACROSS ALL TRIAL SITES. OUR LONG-TERM PRIORITY IS TO USE CONVENTIONAL AND MARKER-ASSISTED BREEDING AND SELECTION TO DEVELOP VARIETIES WITH RESISTANCE TO IMPORTANT ABIOTIC STRESSES AND PLANT DISEASES SUCH AS LATE BLIGHT, SCAB, PVY, EARLY BLIGHT, AND GOLDEN NEMATODE. OUR SELECTION PROCEDURES UTILIZE DIVERSE EASTERN GROWING CONDITIONS TO SELECT POTATO GERMPLASM WITH RESISTANCE TO PESTS, HEAT STRESS, AND STRESS-RELATED DEFECTS, AND OUR PROGRAMS CONTINUE TO ADOPT UNIFORM DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION TECHNIQUES TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND RESEARCHERS, AS WELL AS TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE UTILIZATION OF GENOMIC SELECTION.