SGI and Delaware Biotechnology Institute Summit Examines Technology's Impact On Bioterrorism and Drug Discovery
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SGI (NYSE: SGI - News) and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI) announced today they will jointly sponsor a summit that examines the impact of emerging technology on life sciences research, focusing on such compelling issues as safeguarding against bioterrorism and advancing the drug discovery process.
The Oct. 3 summit, "Delivering Technology Leadership for Life Sciences," will feature a distinguished roster of researchers from leading pharmaceutical companies and bioinformatics organizations. Scheduled to appear is one of the creators of a new national disaster response concept known as Cybercare, which addresses homeland security through a combination of technology and health care initiatives. Other highlights include talks by Jack Collins of the National Cancer Institute and scientists from Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Bayer HealthCare and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, among many other esteemed speakers from academia and the private sector.
The summit will be held at the University of Delaware, where attendees will tour DBI's new Visualization Studio. This state-of-the-art facility applies the latest high-performance computing and visualization technology to various life and chemical sciences research disciplines, including molecular biology, genomics, proteomics, structural biology and computational biology. Built on SGI® Reality Center(TM) technologies, including a powerful SGI® Onyx® 3200 six-processor visualization supercomputer, the Visualization Studio allows researchers to manipulate large images of chemical and biological structures, such as human proteins. The system speeds research by enabling interactions between molecules to be studied in a collaborative environment more quickly and easily than in a laboratory.
"This is a rare opportunity to bring together top researchers from private industry, academia and the public sector in a real-world venue that showcases the latest visualization technologies for accelerating life sciences research," explains event host Dan Stevens, D.M.D., Ph.D., marketing manager, Life Sciences, SGI. "As the industry enters into what could be termed a 'post-genomic period' involving ever-increasing high-performance computing and collaborative visualization needs, we hope that the summit's technology demonstration and free exchange of ideas will enable all who attend to gain a new appreciation for available solutions that can meet the challenges facing the industry today."
Free for professionals in biotechnology, chemistry and related fields, the summit begins with a welcome address by Karl Steiner, Ph.D., associate director, Delaware Biotechnology Institute, and includes the following guest speakers and topics (in order of scheduled appearance):
-- Guang Gao, Ph.D., professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and director, Center for Bioinformatics, DBI, University of Delaware: "The Role of High-Performance Computing in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics"
-- Eng Lim Goh, Ph.D., chief technology officer, SGI: "Outlook for High-Performance Computing in the Life Sciences"
-- Robert Bruccoleri, Ph.D., research fellow, Applied Genomics, Bristol-Myers Squibb: "Delivering the Promise of Bioinformatics"
-- Eliot Grigg, research associate, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College: "Cybercare: Combining Health Care and Computing Technology for Homeland Defense"
-- Joseph Cerro, head of informatics, Bayer Corporation, Pharmaceutical Division: "Chips and Choices: Informatics and Research Productivity"
-- Jack Collins, Advanced Biomedical Computing Center, National Cancer Institute: "Bioinformatics and Biology: Converting Data to Knowledge"
-- George Shields, Ph.D., professor and chair of Chemistry, Hamilton College, and director, Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate computational chemistRY (MERCURY): "Formation of MERCURY and Acquisition of High-Performance Computers to Support Research in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry across New York and New England"
-- Russ Miller, Ph.D., director, Center for Computational Research, University at Buffalo: "The Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics: Utilizing HPC and Visualization Technologies to Support University and Bio-Incubator Environments"
-- Anastasia Christianson, Ph.D., associate director, Enabling Science and Technology, Bioinformatics, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals: "Bioinformatics in Drug Discovery"
The day ends with the Visualization Center tour. This event takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of Delaware, 15 Innovation Way, Newark, Delaware. For complete details, visit www.sgievent.com/dbi2002.
SGI delivers computational and visualization solutions for life and chemical sciences discovery research organizations in pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, academic and national research labs. SGI® solutions address key research IT challenges, including the need for:
-- Visualization environments to facilitate group collaboration and immersive data analysis
-- Storage and data management systems designed for terabytes of data
-- Scalable computational analysis and knowledge management systems
For further background on SGI and the sciences, visit www.sciences.sgi/go/chembio. For details on the University of Delaware's DBI, visit www.dbi.udel.edu.
About SGI
Celebrating its 20th year, SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is the world's leader in high-performance computing, visualization and the management of complex data. SGI products, services and solutions enable its technical and creative customers to gain strategic and competitive advantages in their core businesses. Whether being used to design and build safer cars and airplanes, discover new medications and oil reserves, predict the weather, entertain us with thrilling movie special effects or provide mission-critical support for government and defense, SGI systems and expertise are empowering a world of innovation and discovery. The company, located on the Web at www.sgi.com, is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and has offices worldwide.
NOTE: Silicon Graphics, SGI, Onyx and the SGI logo are registered trademarks and Reality Center is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries worldwide. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Source: SGI
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