Cyberinfrastructure Day 2008 (agenda) for the research community was hosted by the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology. Sheila Sanders, vice president for IT, welcomed all attendees and prefaced this year's conference theme, "Cyberinfrastructure Advances - a national, regional, state and campus perspective." Experts presented information related to Cyberinfrastructure and highlights of the resources available to researchers at UAB. Video recordings (RealPlayer required) of the presentations, and the related slides are available for viewing below:
National Perspective
Mark Adams, caBIG, an Open Platform for Interoperable Biomedical Informatics
Regional Perspective
Gary Crane, SURA, Supporting Transformative Research through Regional Cyberinfrastructure
State Perspective
David Young, CSC, HPC and Network Offerings from the Alabama Supercomputer Authority
Campus Perspective
John-Paul Robinson, UAB HPC Services, Cyberinfrastructure for Research Teams
Speaker Biographies
R. Mark Adams, Ph.D.Dr. Mark Adams has been in the field of bioinformatics for more than 15 years with extensive experience in the design and implementation of large-scale informatics systems, including regulated systems for use in clinical trials and the management of high-throughput laboratory processes. His theoretical work has encompassed abstract mathematical and computational analysis of molecular genetic and protein structure. Additionally, his scientific work has resulted in many patent applications, with several patents granted. As a biotechnology executive Dr. Adams has extensive experience in the strategic leadership and management of scientific and technical teams, having managed teams of up to 50 biologists and computer scientists designing and implementing high-throughput molecular biology and bioinformatics systems. In his role as vice-president of a public biotechnology company, Dr. Adams served on the executive committee, chartered with creating and executing a strategic plan for cancer pharmacogenomics. Dr. Adams has experience in the development and management of large government contracts and federal health research activities, with an emphasis on developing community-focused collaborative research and informatics programs. He is currently the Booz Allen Program Manager of the National Cancer Institute cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) project. Dr. Adams is an active member of the field of bioinformatics where he speaks and publishes frequently. He is currently an editor of the Journal of Applied Analytics in Consulting, and a past editor of Briefings in Bioinformatics.
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Gary Crane
Gary Crane is the Director of Information Technology Initiatives for the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA). Gary is responsible for the development of SURA's information technology projects and programs (http://www.sura.org/programs/it_initiatives.htm), including SURAgrid, a regional grid development initiative that includes partnerships with IBM and Dell that are facilitating the acquisition of high performance computing systems by SURA members and a partnership with AT&T that is providing national academic regional optical network operators with access to low cost fiber optic facilities. Gary holds B.S.E.E. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Rochester.
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David Young, Ph.D.
Dr. David Young provides software applications support to users of the Alabama Supercomputer Center. He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Michigan State University as well as degrees in Computational Mathematics and Business. Dr. Young's first book, Computational Chemistry: A Practical Guide for Applying Techniques to Real World Problems, has been a best seller in its field. His second book, titled Computational Drug Design: Things That All Drug Designers Should Know, is expected to be published late in 2008.
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John-Paul Robinson
John-Paul Robinson is a grid systems architect deeply engaged in the development of UAB and regional research Cyberinfrastructure. He is currently involved in the development of HPC resources for UABgrid, applications support for caBIG, and is serving as co-chair of the SURAgrid Governance Committee. He has broad experience in systems integration projects for the academic and medical environments over the past 15 years. John-Paul holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Jacksonville State University.
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