This is the main site for the ImmunologyGrid project at Birkbeck College, School of Crystallography.

Introduction: Immunology on the Grid

Collaboration and resource-sharing has often been a stated goal of computational science projects. Achieving this goal is not always straightforward due to technological barriers between sites, e.g. software and hardware compatibility, security concerns and networking issues. The Grid was envisioned as a solution to this problem, providing a framework which enables secure, reliable integration of resources, be they computers, equipment or people. The Globus Project has become almost synonymous with Grid, although it is just one of many pieces of 'middleware' available to construct a Grid-aware system or program.

The aim of the ImmunologyGrid project is to to integrate a series of programs and methods which together will form an easy-to-use Grid-enabled tool for in silico prediction of binding affinities between MHC molecules and associated peptides. Improved knowledge of peptide binding has far-reaching benefits in many areas of molecular medicine and immunology, such as histocompatibility (tissue transfer), vaccine design, autoimmunity and allergy research.

ImmunologyGrid comprises a number of modular components which combine to form a computational 'pipeline' for determining peptide binding affinities, in which the various stages can be tailored to suit specific needs.

Ultimately, tools such as ours need to move from the academic research environment into the clinicians workplace. Together with other Web services, the Grid provides an ideal infrastructure to begin doing this.

Status and Availability

The project is currently under development. For further details contact info@ImmunologyGrid.org, or see Prof David Moss's project page and Dr Barry R Smith's project page.