Neann Mathai is completing a PhD in computer science, below is a précis of her work:
" My project focuses on modelling Streptococcus Pnuemoniea Serogroup 6 outer polysaccharides, some of which are used in vaccines. About 91 strains of the S.Pnuemonae bacteria are disease causing bacteria, causing Invasive Pneumococcal Disease a leading cause of death in children under 5. The objective of this project is to relate structure to function in order to explain the various efficacies of Serogroup 6 serotypes used in conjugate vaccines, thereby improving vaccines. I am currently using the ICTS HPC facilities to run molecular dynamics simulations on these polysaccharides. The results of these simulations will elucidate structural details of these serotypes, not normally visible through traditional experimental methods. These simulations are very computationally expensive, and as a result the Dell C6145 64 core nodes on the ICTS cluster has been especially useful in hastening calculations and the rate at which data is produced. "
