Power of Computing: The Rise of the Machines

Earlier in the Global Conference, we heard about research going global and the importance of funding for innovative research. In the session entitled "The Power of Computing: How Technology is Transforming Medical Research and the Discovery of Cures," panelists discussed how large-scale computing can, will, and is being used to foster data sharing and processing to accelerate the discovery of new therapies and cures.

Anna Barker, Deputy Director for Advanced Technologies and Strategic Partnerships at the National Cancer Institute, kicked off the session by providing an overview of what the NCI is doing in the realm of large-scale or "grid" computing. Cancer continues to evolve as an increasingly global and expensive disease. Compounding this is the fact that cancer cases show incredible diversity--some cancers are caused by single gene mutations, while many are caused by the compound effects of unhealthy living. In fact, researchers and medical practitioners working in the cancer field are faced with a veritable "tsunami of data," and therefore need some mechanism through which this information can be processed and shared. The NCI's solution is caBIG--an IT infrastructure with the goal of creating common data standards, common architecture, and open-access data. caBIG is currently being piloted in the 61 NCI Cancer Centers across the United States, with the intent of expanding to a much larger and global scale.

Stanley Litow followed Dr. Barker's comments with an overview of IBM's effort in the grid computing realm. The World Community Grid is the world's largest public computing grid that is currently being used for an HIV/AIDS project at the Scripps Research Institute, and the Human Proteome Folding Project. A key component of the success of the World Community Grid, according to Litow, is its ability to make an individual feel as though he or she is contributing directly to important research causes by "loaning" personal computing power. This served as an important reminder that while computing power is not the only thing necessary for healthcare breakthroughs; public support also serves to make or break cutting-edge advances.

Mark Blatt brought the discussion out of the laboratory and into the medical practice, focusing on the importance of making the use of electronic medical records more common. The resistance to EMR adoption is two-fold. First, clinicians do not want to, or are unable to pay for the initial set-up costs. Secondly, they are unwilling to alter their current workflow process. However, EMRs have the potential to decrease healthcare costs, improve access to treatments, and improve the overall quality of administered care. EMR use by large healthcare plans can also result in the detection of negative health reactions. In fact, the Kaiser health care system was the first to indicate negative health effects from Vioxx through an EMR data mining project. But, as U.S. healthcare becomes more and more computer-based, tough issues such as data ownership will have to be tackled.

While caBIG, the World Community Grid, and EMRs seem as though they will do great things for biomedical research, if researchers aren't using them, what's the point? David Agus, a prostate cancer researcher turned the tables on the discussion by taking the practicing physician/researcher's point of view. Dr. Agus' work is in the emerging area of proteomics. In fact, from one single drop of blood, Dr. Agus is able to obtain 60 gigabytes (yes, that is the size of the 15,000 song-holding iPod) of data. He stressed, however, that the biggest discoveries in disease research are not made by individuals, but by collaborative teams. Programs like caBIG will allow for large scalability and sharing of data that will allow researchers to progress more rapidly than possible if attempted in isolation. The greatest hurdle, in fact, might not be the technology, but the culture of science. Scientists need to share, and they need to share with people outside their particular area of expertise.

Grid computing appears to be the autobahn to finding new cures and therapies for deadly diseases, however, someone needs to remind scientists and medical practitioners to get on the bus.

Photo: (L to R) Mark Blatt, Greg Simon, David Argus

For more information on this session, click HERE.