Keynote

Grid Computing in Drug Discovery by Manuel C. Peitsch Information & Knowledge Management Novartis

Slides | Photos

Abstract

Drug Discovery is aimed at finding novel approaches to unmet medical needs.  This requires identifying and validating biological pathways and their associated molecular targets, discovering and optimizing chemical structures and running Proof of Concept trials in humans.  Each step along this process is aimed at selecting a limited number of scientifically sound options from the large pool of known genes and available chemical diversity.  This complex process relies on experimental approaches which yield large amounts of data, leading to major challenges in data analyzed and interpretation.  In this context, it is not surprising that in silico methods are being developed with the aim to to accelerate and optimize the Drug Discovery process.  These methods range from data mining, modeling and simulation of molecular interactions, biological networks and processes and the large scale computer-aided analysis of scientific literature and patents. The demands for such approaches will increase dramatically in the years to come, providing Drug Discovery with new ways to associate pathways and targets with diseases and select candidate drugs. This presentation will outline how in silico approaches and High Performance Computing can impact Drug Discovery through specific examples.

Biodata

Prof. Manuel C. Peitsch, Ph.D. is the Global Head of Systems Biology at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. In this position, he directs a department spanning experimental sciences (Proteomics), Computational Systems Biology, Computational Knowledge Management and Text Mining as well as Information Sciences.  Prior to his current position, Manuel was Global Head of Informatics and Knowledge Management and was responsible for Research IT, Scientific Computing and Knowledge Management.

Manuel published numerous papers, book chapters, technical reports and patents and made his most important contributions in the fields of life science informatics (bioinformatics, protein structure modeling, knowledge management) and cell death research.  He is also the recipient of several honors and awards.

In addition to his work at Novartis, Manuel serves on the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation, on the Foundation Council of the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and on the Steering Boards of the Swiss Supercomputing Centre and the SwissBioGRID.

In 1997 Manuel has co-founded the start-up company Geneva Bioinformatics and the Research site GlaxoWellcome Experimental Research in Geneva.  In 1998 he co-founded the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and later plaid a key role in extending this Institute to Basel.  In 2003 he co-founded the SwissBioGRID.

Manuel received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and spent his post-doctoral years at the National Cancer Institute of the NIH and at the University of Lausanne. Since 2002 he is a Professor for Bioinformatics with the University of Basel.