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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2004)
UO scientists help create new brain research grid The computer network will' improve access to patient data and diagnosis By Lisa Catto News Reporter Professors at the University who specialize in neuroscience and com puter science may be able to help vic tims of brain disorders get diagnosed earlier with the help of a new comput er grid. A group of University professors, along with Electrical Geodesics Inc. and IBM, are creating a computer grid to speed and improve the diagnosis of several disorders, such as epilepsy, stroke and depression. The grid is called the Integrated Cognitive Neuro science, Informatics and Computation grid, also known as the ICONIC grid. EGI Chief Executive Officer Don Tucker and a University psychology professor said researchers at the Univer sity Neuroinformatics Center received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to build the grid, and IBM donated the grid's computers. He said this project will bring to gether research of the brain with the technology of computer science. "Grid computing technology from IBM will play an important role in helping EGI provide doctors and re searchers with on-demand access to critical patient data," Tucker said. "We believe grid computing not only brings performance capacity, but al lows the patient security and account ability required for critical medical ap plications." Tucker added that the grid is a new way of doing large-scale computing because a single computer does not have the capability to do such imaging projects. Computer and information science Professor Allen Malony said the grid will use the University network and will connect different computers using a large file system. "With the multiple architectures pro vided by IBM's products, we can con duct research on ways of optimizing the medical informatics demands for high-performance computing," Mal ony said. "At the same time, we can evaluate all of these architectures run ning the Linux operating system, sim plifying our system administration and improving our reliability." Malony also said the computers are specifically used for addressing com putational processing problems that arise in cognitive neuroscience re search. Tucker and Malony said the idea for the ICONIC grid stemmed from theoretical discussions about the importance of computational meth ods for understanding the brain and the difficult computational prob lems that arise while gathering brainwave data. Malony said they need to inte grate different tools and technolo gies to solve the "difficult computa tional problems." He added that it is very important to put the data into a form that neuroscientists can under stand, which is what the ICONIC brain grid does. But Malony said he hopes the work NEWS BRIEF Holocaust Memorial Week commemorates the lost The Jewish Student Union and the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in the Judaic Studies Department are hosting events to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Week this week. Sunday marked Holocaust Memorial Day, called Yom HaShoah in Hebrew. The day marks the an niversary of the Warsaw Ghetto up rising. JSU sponsored a 24-hour name-reading of victims of the Holocaust in the EMU Amphithe ater for the observance of Yom HaShoah. The event started with a ceremony at 7 p.m. Sunday and will continue until this evening. The ceremony in cluded a lighting of six candles, each to commemorate 1 million victims of die Holocaust. JSU co-director and sophomore general science major Ava Asher gave a brief speech and ASUO President Maddy Melton served as an honorary candle-lighter. Asher said remembering the Holo caust can teach everyone important lessons, even in a modem context. "The lesson the Holocaust can teach all of us is how to treat people and how to respect other cultures," she said. JSU director and senior physics major Daniel Gruber said there is a symbolic importance to the reading of names. "For many people there is no one left to remember them because their entire family were wiped out and everyone they knew," he said. "This is to make sure that they have some one to remember them." Gruber encourages students to ex perience the name reading for them selves. "It is psychologically very power ful," he said. "It's not something that can be explained with words, so ex perience is the best way to under stand." Also for Holocaust Memorial Week, William Brustein, a professor of sociology from the University of Pittsburgh, will give a lecture enti tled "The Roots of Contemporary Anti-Semitism," at noon on Tuesday in the EMU Walnut Room. — Moriah Balingit of the ICONIC brain grid will become a part of the problem-solving process, not just a tool. "1 hope we continue to evolve as the ICONIC grid is being developed," Malony said. Malony said the ICONIC grid is still in the installation process, but he hopes it will be mnning by the end of spring term. Tucker said the grid is made of three computer clusters on campus of up to 16 computers each: one in the Lewis Center for Neuroimaging one in De schutes Hall and one in the Riverfront Research Park where EGI and the Neu roinformatics Center are located. He added that the grid allows rapid sharing of database information be tween the clusters and the organiza tion of information is more efficient and protected through the grid. "Every computer has to play well to gether, * Tlicker said. The University isn't the only institu tion experimenting with computer grids. According to http://www.grid computingplanet.com , IBM is work ing with the University of Texas at Austin to build the largest university grid computing project in the nation. The article states that the purpose of this grid is to connect computing re sources across the campus, including personal computers and high-end su percomputers. Those connected to the grid will be able to access massive computer power for simulations, data sharing and data-intensive calcula tions in scientific areas. Contact the crime/health/ safety reporter at lisacatto@dailyemerald.com. Tickets soli at the U0 ticket office on the main floor oftBeEMU ; 54144M363 UNIVERSITY mMfaMfi >> o *»»>*» U\1VERSLT\ tfrr THEATRE a t»con«l ie»9» produdiwi«f tin* im* ‘lieaire ;{ FOPPM* VJhlL^I UO Students!! Present this Coupon with Your Student ID at the UO Ticket Office Main Floor- EMU For a 1 Ticket Fuddy Meers Thursday Performances Only! Career Center 220 Hendricks Hail • (541) 346-3235 http://uocafefrjjor9SOn.edu \ . v1 , T If ’*'*'■ *te-£'** ‘ 220 Hendricks Hall • (54t) 346-3235 http://iiocare ?r uoregcn eiu
