Partners Research Computing: A Key Component of Partners Research Mission

“I think it’s fair to say that Research Computing is now viewed as an essential asset to the Partners research community,” said Diane Keogh, Corporate Director, Partners Research Computing. “Because of the work we’ve done in the two years that we’ve been formally a separate department, the 8,000 investigators and research support staff in the Partners system can rely on us for infrastructure, administrative, and clinical research support.” The department is organized into four groups: infrastructure, genomics, RPDR, and administrative systems. Here’s what they’re all about:

The Infrastructure Service & Support and The Enterprise Research Infrastructure and Systems (ERIS) groups are managed by Brent Richter. The Infrastructure Service & Support supports non-standard devices and services. It’s divided into two subsections: site teams at both MGH and BWH. “Our site teams focus on non-standard desktop support, since many researchers are heavy Mac users,” said Keogh. This group provides desktop support for Mac users and for users of non-Partners build PC's. Support includes help setting up new machines, placing Macs & PC's on the Partners Network, upgrading operating systems, troubleshooting problems, and repairing out of warranty hardware problems. Machines still under warranty must be repaired by an authorized dealer, but we can help determine what the problem is. In addition, we provide support on UNIX and Linux systems. We also manage and participate in projects that involve collaboration between the Partners research community and Partners Information Systems such as lab software and hardware installations and upgrades. Research Information Computing Systems (RICS), an integral part of Partners Research Computing, is a computer network and a set of support services that deliver support services to the research community at the Brigham & Women's Hospital.

The Enterprise Research Infrastructure and Systems (ERIS) group is focused on scientific and technical computing, massive storage, data security, and large-project infrastructure and informatics needs. This includes “a super-computing hub to allow investigators access to computational clusters that permit ultra heavy-duty use.” They also provide support for open-source servers such as Linux and other bioinformatics applications. “Researchers often make use of programs written for highly specialized purposes that are typically open source and are not normally supported by Partners,” said Keogh.  ERIS provides centralized services such as HPC clusters, bioinformatics and analysis tools, server hosting, large-scale storage, and consultative assistance in support of your projects.

The Partners Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine (PCPGM) (which includes four co-op students and eight Hewlett Packard off-shore development team members) work with Sandy Aronson and the Harvard Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics to translate and integrate the science of genetics and genomics into medical practice. The wave of the future, “personalized medicine” – creating a genetic and genomic profile of a patient and using it to help in diagnosis and treatment – will require increasing amounts of genetic data that must be gathered, organized, and securely stored, and IS is closely involved in developing the infrastructure for this to happen .

The Research Enterprise Applications group is the largest with 22 IS staff working with manager Scott McNeal.“This group supports administrative systems that support research,” said Keogh. “These are both vendor applications and internally developed applications that include grants and contracts, research ventures and licenses, corporate-sponsored research, and the Institutional Review Board.”

Nearly a dozen people work on The Research Patient Data Registry (RPDR), a centralized clinical data registry/warehouse managed by Shawn Murphy, M.D. The RPDR gathers data from various hospital systems and stores it in one place, bringing clinical information to a researcher’s fingertips and ensuring the security of patient information. “The RPDR is a one-of-a-kind asset and a major plus for Partners overall,” said Keogh. “There’s nothing else that allows a researcher access to a powerful query tool that they can use themselves.”

These five areas make Research Computing a valuable asset to Partners. “Nearly one-fourth of Partners revenue overall comes from research – about a billion dollars a year,” said Keogh. The majority of grant funding received is used for overhead, to provide services and infrastructure like that offered by Research Computing. And we are often seen as an aid to getting grant funding in the first place. Public and private sponsors of research can see that, because we have in place things like super-computing clusters and seamless administrative support, there are fewer barriers for researchers do deal with, and our researchers may have a leg up in being granted funding.”

(from Partners Healthcare Information Systems Newsletter, 9.1.06)