BOCA RATON, Fla., 21 February 2006 — IBM and the Scripps Research Institute have created a collaborative initiative to conduct advanced research on pandemic viruses. The objective of “Project Check-mate” is to develop means to anticipate, manage and contain infectious diseases.
The Check-mate Initiative will capitalize on Scripps Research’s world class research in the areas of biochemical modeling and drug discovery and IBM’s expertise in computational biology bio-patterning and supercomputing.
The joint research team will exploit the use of IBM’s Blue Gene Supercomputer, the world’s fastest supercomputer technology, and have access to Scripps Research’s new state-of-the-art biomedical research facility, Scripps Florida.
“The US government and the international community have realized the magnitude and potential severity of pandemics,” said Dr. Richard A. Lerner, Scripps Research president. “Having the opportunity to work with IBM makes possible the concept of modeling and simulating a virus with the ultimate goal of containment.”
This combined team will have access to resources from Scripps Research’s network of scientists and to IBM Research’s depth of expertise in bioinformatics, structural biology, life sciences research, functional genomics, systems biology and medical informatics.
Project Check-mate will create a “collaboratory” in south Florida, to focus and accelerate the pace of discovery for advanced research of infectious diseases, such as avian influenza.
“This combination of talent and technology will provide powerful and unique innovation to better understand and proactively anticipate the behavior of these complex viruses,” said Pete Martinez, IBM senior executive for south Florida and vice president, Business Consulting Services.
