There have been many developments since the academic year ended in
May. The most important news is that the Duke University Laboratory
of Computational Immunology (DULCI) is hard at work writing the software
for a working TDI site. The initial, pilot scale project will test
how efficiently an on-line collaboration can validate malaria
targets. The site should be open for business by the end of the
summer.
Here are the main developments:
TDI CONFERENCE. DULCI organized a three day working group meeting
and symposium in Research Triangle Park between May 22 and May 24,
2006. We are grateful to the Statistical and Applied Mathematical
Sciences Institute (SAMSI), who hosted and served as primary sponsor of
the event. The focus was on finding in silico projects where
on-line volunteers could be effective. We also spent considerable
time talking about what the site should look like, including some of the
tools and databases that volunteers would need. Full details can be
found in the attached Conference report.
PILOT SCALE SITE. At the end of the conference, DULCI generously
agreed to write code for a working site. An "alpha"
release with basic infrastructure is expected to be in place by early
August. At that point, DULCI will be ready to discuss detailed
design choices about what tools/features the site should have.
Expect further news later this month! DULCI is going to need
your comments to design a site that volunteers like and will
use.
PHARMA INVOLVEMENT. It would be very nice if one or more Pharma
companies let their employees participate in TDI. First, this would
open up a new supply of volunteers. Second, companies might let
employee/volunteers screen TDI's targets against proprietary tools and
databases. This would accelerate TDI's work enormously.
Following the Duke conference, I raised this issue in face-to-face
conversations with senior representatives of Pfizer, GSK, Allergan,
Advinus, and Novartis. Most of the responses were at least mildly
positive and Novartis in particular seems eager to help. Needless
to say, I plan to keep pestering these people until someone says
"yes."
PUBLISHER. BioMed Central recently contacted us to discuss
publishing TDI results in some form of on-line journal. One
possibility would be to publish short reviews summarizing the various
lines of evidence that TDI members had uncovered for believing that a
particular protein would/would not make a effective target. But
this is only an idea. TDI has plenty of lawyers who can negotiate
with BMC, but what we need your ideas about what to ask for. What
could/should a TDI journal publish?
PUBLICITY. The media is clearly fascinated with the TDI idea.
A recent description in THE ECONOMIST is attached. A senior writer
for SCIENCE (Eliot Marshall) has also asked us to keep him posted.
This sort of publicity will make funding much easier when the time
comes...
Personally, I am very encouraged by these developments. If we can
prove that the TDI concept works at the pilot scale, foundations will
have no problem funding a full-scale project. What matters now is
volunteers. Please take the time to share your ideas with DULCI and
answer their questions. If you have data or code that you'd like to
contribute, let them know. Above all, tell your colleagues about
TDI. It is important to have as many people log onto the TDI pilot
project as we possibly can.