03/30/2021
IBM Hybrid Cloud, High Performance Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing technologies will serve as the foundation for Cleveland Clinic’s newly launched Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health.
Cleveland Clinic and IBM have announced a planned 10-year partnership to establish the Discovery Accelerator, a joint Cleveland Clinic - IBM center with a mission to fundamentally advance the pace of discovery in healthcare and life sciences through the use of high performance computing on the hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing technologies.
The collaboration is anticipated to build a robust research and clinical infrastructure to enable big data medical research in ethical, privacy preserving ways, discoveries for patient care and novel approaches to public health threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the Discovery Accelerator, the researchers plan to use advanced computational technology to generate and analyze data to help enhance research in the new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health, in areas such as: genomics, single cell transcriptomics, population health, clinical applications, and chemical and drug discovery.
As part of the collaboration, IBM plans to install its first private sector, on-premises IBM Quantum System One in the United States, to be located on Cleveland Clinic’s campus in Cleveland. The company also plans to install the first of IBM’s next-generation 1,000+ qubit quantum systems at a client facility, also to be located in Cleveland, in the coming years. This quantum program will be designed to actively engage with universities, government, industry, startups and other relevant organizations. It will leverage Cleveland Clinic’s global enterprise to serve as the foundation of a new quantum ecosystem for life sciences, focused on advancing quantum skills and the mission of the center.
“Through this innovative collaboration, we have a unique opportunity to bring the future to life,” said Tom Mihaljevic, MD, CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. “These new computing technologies can help revolutionize discovery in the life sciences. The Discovery Accelerator will enable our renowned teams to build a forward-looking digital infrastructure and help transform medicine, while training the workforce of the future and potentially growing our economy.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned one of the greatest races in the history of scientific discovery—one that demands unprecedented agility and speed,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM. “At the same time, science is experiencing a change of its own—with high performance computing, hybrid cloud, data, AI, and quantum computing, being used in new ways to break through long-standing bottlenecks in scientific discovery. Our new collaboration with Cleveland Clinic will combine their world-renowned expertise in healthcare and life sciences with IBM’s next-generation technologies to make scientific discovery faster, and the scope of that discovery larger than ever.”
“Quantum will make the impossible possible, and when the Governor and I announced the Cleveland Innovation District earlier this year, this was the kind of innovative investment I hoped it would advance,” said Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, Director of InnovateOhio. “A partnership between these two great institutions will put Cleveland, and Ohio, on the map for advanced medical and scientific research, providing a unique opportunity to improve treatment options for patients and solve some of our greatest healthcare challenges.”
The Discovery Accelerator will serve as the technology foundation for Cleveland Clinic’s new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health, recently announced as part of the Cleveland Innovation District. The center, supported by a $500 million investment from the State of Ohio, Jobs Ohio and Cleveland Clinic, brings together a research team focused on broadening understanding of viral pathogens, virus-induced cancers, genomics, immunology and immunotherapies. It will build upon Cleveland Clinic’s existing programs and expertise, with newly recruited world leaders in immunology, cancer biology, immune-oncology and infectious disease research, as well as technology development and education. Researchers will expand critical work on studying, preparing for and protecting against emerging pathogens and virus-related diseases.
For more details about the partnership, read the full press release in the Cleveland Clinic Newsroom.
Image: IBM Quantum System One (Courtesy: IBM)
Discover how you can help Cleveland Clinic save lives and continue to lead the transformation of healthcare.
Give to Cleveland Clinic