NSF Award
0521456
A grant has been awarded to the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research on the behalf of Prof. Paul Matsudaira for partial support of data storage hardware associated with imaging and systems biology research. In typical studies, image data is acquired by high content or high resolution imaging platforms, processed by shared multi-processor computers, organized in image databases, and stored on hard disk or tape systems. However, automated imaging projects are capable of generating several Tbs per month of image data but are limited by sufficient, capacity of low cost but easily accessed archival storage. With this NSF award WI investigators will be able to accumulate multi-TB-scale image datasets that will be stored on a fixed content data storage system for downstream processing and analysis. <br/><br/>WI investigators study large-scale systems-level problems in cell migration, cell metabolism, cell wall synthesis, protein folding, and signaling through membrane receptors. Systems-based studies of the proteome machinery that drive these processes requires the collection of large GB-TB size image datasets and quantitation of the static and dynamic features in images. Analyses of these datasets reveal systems-level trends, cellular functions for previously unknown genes, and the kinetics and mechanics of cellular processes. <br/><br/>The problem of collecting, organizing, and storing TB-scale image datasets attracts collaboration with diverse industrial partners. The image databases, the storage of image datasets, large-scale image processing and analysis, high-end imaging, and imaging-based bioinformatics are attractive research problems for the training in the WI labs of women and minority students and for the training of graduate students and postdocs affiliated with MIT and other universities.
