Sun Microsystems Director to Speak on IT and Life Sciences Research and Development at UAlbany School of Public Health Seminar

Contact: Michael Parker (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (February 18, 2004)--Howard Asher, director of Global Life Sciences at Sun Microsystems will speak on how to leverage information technology in life sciences research and development. The seminar will take place Tuesday, February 24, at 4 p.m. at the University at Albany's East Campus, School of Public Health main auditorium.

The estimated $600 billion global life sciences industry will continue to need information technology solutions to deal with the wealth of biological data being generated. Some estimates have the rate of growth as doubling every six months.

To stay current and to capitalize on the latest discoveries, Capitol Region researchers need effective ways to store and manage the sheer volume of data and information being generated by the burgeoning life sciences industry. The Capitol Region�s ability to attract some of the largest players in the microcomputer marketplace attests to the growth of the area�s life science industry.

Asher's seminar will address the convergence of IT and the life sciences, which offers the promise of an entirely new paradigm of health care for the human race. With the knowledge of the human genome project in hand, researchers can now begin to conduct "in-silico" computational simulations of living systems - beginning at the cellular level, on up to the organ level, and eventually to the level of entire organisms. Such simulations mean the probability of predictive models, where the effects of a potential new drug can be tested in-silico prior to any animal or human testing. In effect, a new drug could be tested (by predictive simulation) upon the entire human race. "So we can drastically reduce both the time and the expense of developing new drugs."

For more information and registration, contact Christopher Hans at 518-453-1296 or email: [email protected].