March 30, 2021 – Cleveland Clinic and IBM have announced a 10-year partnership to establish the Discovery Accelerator, a joint center with the mission of fundamentally advancing 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 companies expect the collaboration to build a “robust research and clinical infrastructure to empower 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
- 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 U.S., 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, the companies said.
The Discovery Accelerator will serve as the technology foundation for Cleveland Clinic’s new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health, announced last month as part of the Cleveland Innovation District.
The center brings together a research team focused on broadening understanding of viral pathogens, virus-induced cancers, genomics, immunology and immunotherapies. Researchers will expand critical work on studying, preparing and protecting against emerging pathogens and virus-related diseases.