Technology at St. Jude Children’s Research

HospitalBy Kristin Rathke

May 22, 2006Computer & Society

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research

Hospital is to find cures for children with catastrophic illnesses through research

and treatment.

Founding of St. Jude• St. Jude Children's Research

Hospital was founded by entertainer Danny Thomas and opened in 1962. 

• Located in Memphis, Tennessee.

• St. Jude is supported primarily by funds from volunteer contributions raised by its national fund-raising arm, ALSAC (American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities) which sole purpose of existence is to fund St. Jude

About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the only hospital in the country solely dedicated to pediatric cancer

• St. Jude is the only pediatric research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay.

St. Jude Campus

Patient Care

• About 4,700 patients are seen at St. Jude yearly, most of whom are treated on a continuing outpatient basis as part of ongoing research programs.

• The hospital's daily operating costs are approximately $1,146,616, which are primarily covered by public contributions.

Computing Cures at Super Speed

• Back in 2004, St. Jude installed a supercomputer, an IBM eServer® BladeCenter™, which is equivalent to 280 servers working at once

• Now in 251st place among 500 super computers around the world

• The supercomputer, known technically as a Linux cluster, permits several projects at once

Computing Cures at Super Speed

• Can perform more than 600 billion operations per second

• St. Jude is one of only two medical institutions and the only children’s research hospital on the list

• This resource is dedicated to research that will benefit children and, in the long run, benefit all people who suffer from some of the same catastrophic diseases that threaten children around the world. In that sense, although this is a St. Jude resource, it will produce knowledge that will be a resource for the entire world

Hartwell Center

• Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology• The Hartwell Center is unique in integrating high-

throughput biotechnology services, bioinformatics support, and an academic division to provide St. Jude research programs the best possible research environment.The Center has evolved over a period of 20 years and has led to contributions to most research efforts and publications produced by St. Jude faculty and numerous discoveries impacting the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of pediatric diseases

• Video

Hartwell Center

• St. Jude has eight doctoral-level bioinformaticists working in the Hartwell Center who provide expertise in mining genome data, gene expression data, proteomics data and other kinds of information.

• The supercomputer is being used by the Bioinformatics group and researchers in the Structural Biology department for many projects at St. Jude.

Cutting Edge Research

• Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are using computer technology and new information about human genes to learn why some children with leukemia can be cured with few side effects while others reap no benefit from identical medications.

• This emerging field of science is called pharmacogenomics and could someday allow doctors to use genetic snapshots to determine how each patient will process drugs and how to adjust dosages accordingly.

• Genetic Testing is revolutionizing medical research

3-D Radiation Therapy• Using CAT scans and MRIs,

radiologists create pictures that a computer converts into a 3-D image of a tumor exactly as it is positioned in the brain or other parts of the body. Computer-controlled radiation beams can then be meticulously aimed to attack the tumor while sparing healthy tissue.

• Computer-based 3-D radiation therapy technique for pediatric brain tumor treatment minimizes damage to healthy tissue and preserves cognitive development in children

Other Research

• Researchers at SJCRH have completed the first large-scale study of bird flu virus genomes

• This has doubled the amount of genetic information available on the genes and proteins of these viruses

• The results of the project could lead to major insights into the bird flu virus known as H5N1

• St. Jude is uniquely positioned to conduct these studies because it houses a large collection of bird flu viruses collected over several decades.

• The Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology has provided the necessary expertise and biotechnology resources

• The supercomputer has the horsepower needed to conduct these studies.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is now

and always will be a beacon of hope for

catastrophically ill children around the world.

References

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. (2006). Retrieved May 22, 2006, from     http://www.stjude.org

• Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology. (2004). Retrieved May 22,2006, from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Web site: http://www.hartwellcenter.org/