NetApp Donation

To address the significant need for gastric cancer research, NetApp, a leading data storage provider, recently donated more than $600,000 in hardware, software, and services to the Stanford Genome Technology Center on behalf of the Gastric Cancer Fund.  With this donation, the Stanford Genome Technology Center is building the country’s first comprehensive gastric cancer registry powered by NetApp^® storage technology.

The Gastric Cancer Fund is working with the Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center and Stanford Genome Technology Center to build a comprehensive gastric cancer registry to aggregate all pertinent clinical and genetic data on gastric cancer patients and serve as a resource in developing strategies for this cancer’s detection, treatment, and prevention. The registry leverages a high-performance computing system which will be integrated into state-of-the-art genomic DNA sequencing of gastric cancer tumors and patient DNA samples to better understand the genetic make-up of the gastric cancer cell.   Cancer genome DNA sequencing generates enormous amounts of data and requires a high-performance and easy-to-manage data storage system to accelerate the research process.

“NetApp technology will help us to advance research in gastric cancer by allowing us to sequence gastric cancer genomes and manipulate the vast amounts of DNA sequence data generated at a level unachievable just a few years ago” said Dr. James Ford, medical oncologist and geneticist at Stanford University Medical Center. “The dramatic improvement in performance and management capabilities has allowed our scientists to optimize our research processes and will accelerate our quest to improve the detection, treatment, and prevention of gastric cancer.”

NetApp donated a FAS3070 data storage system to support the Stanford Genome Technology Center’s research. The system includes the NetApp Data ONTAP^® 8.0 operating system, which is one of a few select file systems that can handle the large throughput requirements for supporting genomic sequencing. NetApp is also providing complimentary professional services to help the Stanford Genome Technology Center rearchitect the way it does sequencing.

 “We are pleased to support the Stanford Genome Technology Center and the Gastric Cancer Fund in this critical endeavor,” said Rob Salmon, executive vice president, Field Operations, NetApp. “At NetApp we are passionate about being a great place to work, and strive to make a positive impact on our communities and support causes that are important to our employees.”

For more information on NetApp, please click here.

For more information on the Stanford Genome Technology Center, please click here.