Pune (Maharashtra) [India], June 18 : The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday marked a significant milestone in advancing India's public health research capabilities with the inauguration of its first High Performance Computing (HPC) facility at the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
The computing cluster named 'Nakshatra' was officially inaugurated by Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary of the Department of Health Research (DHR) and Director General of ICMR, according to an official statement from ICMR.
"Developed under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM ABHIM), the HPC facility forms the cornerstone of a new project titled "High Performance Computing Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Hub". The initiative aims to revolutionize how genomic and bioinformatics data are processed, addressing limitations faced during the COVID-19 pandemic due to conventional computing infrastructure," the statement added.
Addressing a gathering regarding the inauguration of the computing facility, the Director General of ICMR commended the institute for its timely and strategic step towards 'Viksit Bharat 2047' vision by strengthening the country's genomic surveillance and data analysis capacity. He highlighted how enhanced computing resources are crucial in preparing for technology-driven pandemic preparedness and future public health emergencies.
Meanwhile, Director of ICMR-NIV, Dr Naveen Kumar, emphasised the critical role the HPC cluster will play in supporting rapid, data-driven responses to outbreaks. Dr Sarah Cherian, Group Leader of the Bioinformatics and Data Management Group and Principal Investigator of the project, provided a comprehensive overview of the cluster's capabilities and its role in genomic research.
According to the official statement, the newly commissioned HPC cluster features twelve compute nodes offering a total of 700 cores and 1 petabyte of storage.
"The infrastructure is tailored to support complex bioinformatics workflows, including next-generation sequencing (NGS), transcriptomics, phylogenetics, metagenomics, and structural bioinformatics. Initially, the facility will serve five ICMR institutes across the country, acting as a central repository for sequencing data and extending support to Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) soon, making the institute as a critical hub for outbreak investigations and pandemic preparedness, with the potential to accelerate AI-driven drug and vaccine discovery," the statement added.
Highlighting the advantages of the HPC facility, ICMR highlighted how it is a "national investment in speed, precision, and preparedness."
The statement mentioned, "By enabling faster analysis of complex genomic data, the facility positions India to detect new disease threats sooner, respond to outbreaks more efficiently, and accelerate AI-driven vaccine and drug development."