Sept. 21: Supercomputing and biomedical research

By Alyssa Patrick, Office of Economic Development

Dimitri-Kusnezov-webPULLMAN, Wash. – Supercomputing’s roles in biomedical research and policy making will be discussed by U.S. Department of Energy chief scientist Dimitri Kusnezov at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, in the CUB junior ballroom at Washington State University.

Register for the free presentation at https://research.wsu.edu/vice-presidents-distinguished-lecture-registration/.

Kusnezov will also speak at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at the Allen Institute in Seattle (https://innovators.wsu.edu/). The lecture is hosted in partnership with the Allen Institute for Brain Science (http://www.alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/brain-science/) and supported by the Washington Research Foundation (http://www.wrfseattle.org/).

Supercomputing and health sciences

The DOE national labs are home to some of the fastest, most powerful supercomputers in the world. The machines work on challenges such as climate change and clean energy but have also played a significant role in health sciences – specifically in the human genome project.

Finding patterns in large sets of data can help health scientists better understand the complexity of illness and the brain. Supercomputers can also help identify effective treatments for diseases such as cancer.

As part of the National Strategic Computing Initiative, there has been an increased effort to integrate supercomputers into health sciences research. Kusnezov’s lecture will provide insight into the collaboration among federal agencies to advance major health and policy initiatives. These include the Cancer Moonshot, Precision Medicine Initiative and Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative.

Lecture series address societal challenges

The Seattle lecture is part of the WSU Innovators Lecture Series. It unites top minds in industry, government and academia to discuss critical challenges of the 21st century. Lectures fuel informed discussions based on WSU research in the areas of health, the environment, social opportunity, education and national security.

Kusnezov is the series’ first visiting lecturer. Learn more at https://innovators.wsu.edu/the-innovators-lecture-series/.

The Pullman lecture is part of the Vice President for Research Lecture Series. It invites world-renowned experts into the WSU community to share ideas and spark conversations around research that addresses society’s most significant challenges. Learn more at https://research.wsu.edu/news-events/events-calendar/distinguished-lecture/.