May 2019 Summaries

In the Big Compute Podcast episode, Gabriel Broner interviews Irene Qualters about her extensive career in high-performance computing (HPC) and her impactful contributions to the field. Irene Qualters, an early pioneer in HPC, started her career at Cray Research, working closely with Seymour Cray, and eventually became president of the company. Her work at Cray included developing the first commercially successful auto-parallelizing compiler, which significantly contributed to Cray's success by enhancing computational performance. After 20 years at Cray, she transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry, working at Merck, where she envisioned using computational models to transform drug development and reduce reliance on animal trials. Her passion for computer science led her to the National Science Foundation (NSF), where she supported scientific advancements and international collaborations, including funding research on HIV virus simulations and gravitational wave detection. Currently, she is the Associate Laboratory Director for Simulation and Computation at Los Alamos National Lab. Throughout her career, Irene has emphasized the importance of diversity in thought and experience, advocating for the next generation of leaders to embrace diverse perspectives to tackle the world's most challenging problems.

In a Big Compute Podcast episode, Gabriel Broner discusses with Mark Borodkin, COO of Bionano Genomics, how advances in genomics and high-performance computing (HPC) are transforming medicine by enabling personalized treatments based on individual DNA variations. This approach contrasts with traditional methods that prescribe treatments based on disease categories like lung cancer, which do not account for individual genetic differences. Borodkin explains that DNA variations can indicate specific disease types and the most effective treatments, particularly for complex diseases such as rare disorders and cancer. Modern techniques like DNA sequencing and optical mapping help detect these variations, facilitating more accurate diagnoses and the development of new therapies. Borodkin also highlights the role of HPC in the cloud, which allows Bionano Genomics to efficiently process large amounts of genomic data, ensuring scalable and secure solutions for researchers and clinicians. The episode suggests a future where regular DNA testing may become common in medical practice, though challenges such as the need for genetic counselors to interpret complex genomic information remain.