Transcript Technology at St. Jude Children`s Research Hospital

Technology at St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital
By Kristin Rathke
May 22, 2006
Computer & Society
The mission of St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital
is to find cures for children with
catastrophic illnesses through
research and treatment.
Founding of St. Jude
• St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital was founded by
entertainer Danny Thomas and
opened in 1962.
• Located in Memphis,
Tennessee.
• St. Jude is supported primarily
by funds from volunteer
contributions raised by its
national fund-raising arm,
ALSAC (American Lebanese
Syrian Associated Charities)
which sole purpose of
existence is to fund St. Jude
About St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the
only hospital in the country solely dedicated
to pediatric cancer
• St. Jude is the only pediatric research center
where families never pay for treatment not
covered by insurance, and families without
insurance are never asked to pay.
St. Jude Campus
Patient Care
• About 4,700 patients are seen at St.
Jude yearly, most of whom are treated
on a continuing outpatient basis as part
of ongoing research programs.
• The hospital's daily operating costs are
approximately $1,146,616, which are
primarily covered by public
contributions.
Computing Cures at
Super Speed
• Back in 2004, St. Jude installed a
supercomputer, an IBM eServer®
BladeCenter™, which is equivalent to 280
servers working at once
• Now in 251st place among 500 super computers
around the world
• The supercomputer, known technically as a
Linux cluster, permits several projects at once
Computing Cures
at Super Speed
• Can perform more than 600 billion operations per
second
• St. Jude is one of only two medical institutions and
the only children’s research hospital on the list
• This resource is dedicated to research that will
benefit children and, in the long run, benefit all people
who suffer from some of the same catastrophic
diseases that threaten children around the world. In
that sense, although this is a St. Jude resource, it will
produce knowledge that will be a resource for the
entire world
Hartwell Center
• Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology
• The Hartwell Center is unique in integrating high-throughput
biotechnology services, bioinformatics support, and an
academic division to provide St. Jude research programs the
best possible research environment.
The Center has evolved over a period of 20 years and has led
to contributions to most research efforts and publications
produced by St. Jude faculty and numerous discoveries
impacting the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of
pediatric diseases
• Video
Hartwell Center
• St. Jude has eight doctoral-level
bioinformaticists working in the Hartwell
Center who provide expertise in mining
genome data, gene expression data,
proteomics data and other kinds of
information.
• The supercomputer is being used by the
Bioinformatics group and researchers in the
Structural Biology department for many
projects at St. Jude.
Cutting Edge Research
• Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
are using computer technology and new information
about human genes to learn why some children with
leukemia can be cured with few side effects while
others reap no benefit from identical medications.
• This emerging field of science is called
pharmacogenomics and could someday allow
doctors to use genetic snapshots to determine how
each patient will process drugs and how to adjust
dosages accordingly.
• Genetic Testing is revolutionizing medical research
3-D Radiation Therapy
• Using CAT scans and MRIs,
radiologists create pictures that a
computer converts into a 3-D
image of a tumor exactly as it is
positioned in the brain or other
parts of the body. Computercontrolled radiation beams can
then be meticulously aimed to
attack the tumor while sparing
healthy tissue.
• Computer-based 3-D radiation
therapy technique for pediatric
brain tumor treatment minimizes
damage to healthy tissue and
preserves cognitive development
in children
Other Research
• Researchers at SJCRH have completed the first largescale study of bird flu virus genomes
• This has doubled the amount of genetic information
available on the genes and proteins of these viruses
• The results of the project could lead to major insights into
the bird flu virus known as H5N1
• St. Jude is uniquely positioned to conduct these studies
because it houses a large collection of bird flu viruses
collected over several decades.
• The Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology
has provided the necessary expertise and biotechnology
resources
• The supercomputer has the horsepower needed to
conduct these studies.
St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital is now and always
will be a beacon of hope for
catastrophically ill children
around the world.
References
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
(2006). Retrieved May 22, 2006, from
http://www.stjude.org
• Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and
Biotechnology. (2004). Retrieved May
22,2006, from St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital Web site:
http://www.hartwellcenter.org/