05.26.10

Cantwell, Murray Announce Grants to Fred Hutchinson

Grants will fund a new research data center, high-performance computing cluster

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) announced a federal grant award to create a new research data center at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The Center was awarded two grants totaling $10.1 million, which will create a campus-based facility to consolidate and safeguard research data, as well as fund a high-performance computer cluster. 
 
“Fred Hutchinson is a world-leading research center, and we need to protect their research data. Any loss would greatly hinder their efforts to make new discoveries in detecting, treating and preventing cancers,” said Senator Cantwell. “I am pleased that this center will safely store their research, while taking advantage of new energy efficient technologies.” 
 
“Investments in health care technology will help Washington state institutions remain at the cutting edge of research and innovation,” said Senator Murray. “The Hutchinson Center is already a leader in medical research and technology, and this grant will allow them to continue growing and continue fighting to cure cancer and other terrible diseases.”
 
The main grant, of $9.6 million, will construct a 2,300-square-foot, energy efficient data center that will increase the Center’s high-performance storage capacity by 50 percent. Data centers are core computing facilities, with secure rooms that provide power, cooling and networking for servers and storage systems. The data center is scheduled to be running by late 2012. 
 
A second grant of $500,000 will be used to purchase a high-performance computing cluster. The cluster will increase processing power, memory capacity and reliability, while speeding biomedical research in fields using computer-focused approaches. It will support more than 30 groups in 13 different research programs at the Center.
 
The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the National Institutes of Health.
 
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