By AMANDA JAMES
aaj006@latech.edu
Tech’s computer science department has high hopes for a
$1.9 million grant that was formally announced Oct. 11 in
Tech was one of eight Louisiana universities to receive
part of a $16.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Tech’s computer science department will work with the
biology and biomedical engineering departments to try to find cures for cystic
fibrosis, herpes simplex virus, Alzheimer’s disease and other genetic diseases.
“The research is all about computer science, but we’re
bridging the gap between several disciplines,” Dr. Sumeet
Dua, the director of the data mining research
laboratory and an assistant professor of computer science, said.
“This is an opportunity for students to research in
several areas.”
Dua said the biology and
biomedical engineering departments will gather data about the genes of people
with cystic fibrosis, herpes simplex virus and Alzheimer’s disease.
He also said the computer science department will then take
the data and put it into a computer program. This is done because the amount of
data is much too large and complicated to work with by hand, Dua said.
Dua said a 550-page proposal
was submitted before the universities were eligible to receive the grant.
“We had five institutions working on one grant,” Dua said.
“We all speak very different languages, but we were able
to bridge the gap.”
The other universities receiving portions of the grant
were Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge; Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center-New Orleans and Southern University-Baton Rouge. Other
universities who will receive a portion of the grant are Louisiana State
University-Shreveport and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
The Louisiana State University Health Sciences
Center-Shreveport and Tulane University-New Orleans are also part of a special
one-year supplement to the grant.
Dua said a grant that Tech has
already received called Louisiana Optical Network Initiative was key in obtaining this grant from the National Institutes of
Health.
“LONI was important for this project,” Dua said. “The main part of this project is getting data.
We would probably have to buy our own FedEx truck if we didn’t have this.”
Dr. Leslie K. Guice, the
chairman of LONI and the vice president for research and development, said LONI
will allow easy
transmission of large amounts of data.
“LONI is an optical fiber network able to transmit very
large amounts of data much larger than standard Internet traffic,” Guice said. “It [will allow] people to
transmit very large images and data from medical centers.”
Guice said LONI drew attention
to Tech’s proposal.
“[The people who award grants] are looking for things
that stretch technology, and they are looking for new research opportunities,” Guice said.
“This will have a direct benefit to computer
science.”
Pradeep Chowriappa,
a doctoral student in computational analysis and modeling, said Tech will
benefit from receiving the grant because it will allow for the opportunity to
become familiar with additional software.
“We generally don’t get to work on equipment of this
nature,” Chowriappa said.
Chowriappa also said the grant
will provide students with the chance to learn through collaboration with other
students.
“Learning through collaboration is something we rarely
get to do,” Chowriappa said.
“We will get to interact in one-on-one meetings with
medical students. We will get to work on real-time data.”
Chowriappa said receiving the
grant will be positive for Tech’s recruitment.
“This will make a difference in how students view Tech,” Chowriappa said.
“With such a project around, Tech will be able to attract
better students. This definitely adds to the growth of the university.”