[BANANA] ASC ITS Seminar - David E. Shaw - Thurs, October 12, 2pm

[Tiffany Ashworth]

ASC Institute for Terascale Simulation
Lecture Series 2006

Presents

<http://www.llnl.gov/casc/calendar/shaw.101206.html>"New Architectures for 
a New Biology"

David E. Shaw
D. E. Shaw & Co.

Thursday, October 12, 2006
Building 123 Auditorium
(Common Use Facility)
2:00pm

ABSTRACT:
Some of the most important outstanding questions in the fields of biology, 
chemistry, and medicine remain unsolved as a result of our limited 
understanding of the structure, behavior and interaction of biologically 
significant molecules.  The laws of physics that determine the form and 
function of these biomolecules are well understood.  Current technology, 
however, does not allow us to simulate the effect of these laws with 
sufficient accuracy, and for a sufficient period of time, to answer many of 
the questions that biologists, biochemists, and biomedical researchers are 
most anxious to answer.  This talk will describe the current state of the 
art in biomolecular simulation and explore the potential role of 
high-performance computing technologies in extending current 
capabilities.  Efforts within our own lab to develop novel architectures 
and algorithms to accelerate molecular dynamics simulations by several 
orders of magnitude will be described, along with work by other researchers 
pursuing alternative approaches.  If such efforts ultimately prove 
successful, one might imagine the emergence of an entirely new paradigm in 
which computational experiments take their place alongside those conducted 
in "wet" laboratories as central tools in the quest to understand living 
organisms at a molecular level, and to develop safe, effective, precisely 
targeted medicines capable of relieving suffering and saving human lives.
UCRL-ABS-224568

SPEAKER BIO:
David E. Shaw serves as chief scientist of D. E. Shaw Research, LLC, and as 
a senior research fellow at the Center for Computational Biology and 
Bioinformatics at Columbia University.  He received his Ph.D. from Stanford 
University in 1980 and served on the faculty of the Computer Science 
Department at Columbia University before turning his attention to the 
emerging field of computational finance in 1986.  In 1988, he founded the 
D. E. Shaw group, an investment and technology development firm with 
approximately $23 billion in assets.  While he continues to serve as 
chairman of the firm's top-level parent companies, Dr. Shaw is now spending 
the great majority of his time on hands-on scientific research in the field 
of computational biochemistry.  His research group is currently involved in 
the design of machine architectures and algorithms for high-speed molecular 
dynamics simulations, and in the use of such simulations to study 
biomolecular systems of interest from both a scientific and a 
pharmaceutical perspective.
In 1994, President Clinton appointed Dr. Shaw to the President's Council of 
Advisors on Science and Technology, in which capacity he served as chairman 
of the Panel on Educational Technology.  He was elected to the board of 
directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 
2000, and has testified before several Congressional committees and the 
National Science Board on various topics related to science and technology 
policy.


Technical Host:  Bronis de Supinski (925) 422-1062
Administrative Contact:  Tiffany Ashworth (925) 424-3491
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