The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Joins CENIC’s Broadband Network

LA MIRADA, Calif. & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZ Biohub) has joined CENIC’s California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-speed, high-capacity broadband computing network that connects 20 million users from the vast majority of research and academic institutions across California.

Medical research collaboration and discovery across multiple institutions is central to the mission of the CZ Biohub, which brings together physicians, scientists, and engineers from Stanford University, UC San Francisco, and UC Berkeley. Through its programs and funding, the CZ Biohub supports a new generation of medical researchers who are seamlessly integrating biology, engineering, mathematics, physics, and computer science to solve the world’s biggest medical problems and to collaborate with scientists around the world.

“Open science is better science. Collaboration and sharing accelerate discovery and will help us answer some of science’s biggest questions -- and the work relies on an underlying, powerful network,” said Rosio Alvarez, PhD, vice president, data security and IT, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. “That’s why we are excited to join CENIC. CENIC and Internet2 will provide us access to one of the most sophisticated high-capacity computer networks in this country dedicated to researchers and educators.”

CZ Biohub is joining CENIC at 10 gigabits per second, with the ability to upgrade to 100 Gbps, enabling the center’s researchers and their partners to better access, share, and analyze massive datasets, employ remote scientific instruments and computational resources, and take part in multi-institution collaborations. CENIC connectivity will improve the ability of the CZ Biohub’s researchers to work with the most advanced research technology available and to build new scientific tools.

“Bandwidth should never constrain the work of California’s scientific and medical research organizations,” said Louis Fox, CENIC president and CEO. “The CZ Biohub is now part of a network that links 12,000 research and education organizations within California to tens of thousands of research and education institutions around the globe — a fiber network and, equally important, a human network."

CENIC membership provides the CZ Biohub with direct access to CENIC’s networks, supercomputing facilities, bundled peering, and participation in experimental network activities, initiatives, testbeds, technical support services, workshops, conferences, and other critical services. As a CENIC member, the CZ Biohub also gains access to the Internet2 network, an advanced technology community for research, and to Pacific Wave, the Asia-Pacific International Peering Exchange operated by CENIC and the Pacific Northwest Gigapop.

CZ Biohub’s Internet2 membership furthers their ability to collaborate with other Internet2 higher education, affiliate, federal affiliate, and industry members, including their current partners of UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, and Stanford.

“We are thrilled to welcome CZ Biohub to Internet2 and look forward to their active participation and valuable contributions to a vibrant and collaborative community that supports research and innovation,” said Michael Erickson, associate vice president of community engagement at Internet2. “This is an exciting time to join Internet2 as we are nearing the completion of an upgraded national research and education network infrastructure with increased capacity, on-demand capabilities, and network scalability. CZ Biohub will be able to leverage these new capabilities to further empower their researchers in accessing cloud resources and sharing research data as securely and rapidly as possible.”

About the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub | czbiohub.org

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub is a nonprofit research center that brings together physicians, scientists, and engineers from Stanford University, UC San Francisco, and UC Berkeley. CZ Biohub seeks to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying disease and develop new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies. Its ultimate vision is to cure, prevent, or manage all disease by the end of the century. To learn more, visit CZBiohub.org.

About CENIC | www.cenic.org

CENIC connects California to the world — advancing education and research statewide by providing the world-class network essential for innovation, collaboration, and economic growth. This nonprofit organization operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity network designed to meet the unique requirements of over 20 million users, including the vast majority of K-20 students together with educators, researchers, and individuals at other vital public-serving institutions. CENIC’s Charter Associates are part of the world’s largest education system; they include the California K-12 system, California Community Colleges, the California State University system, California’s public libraries, the University of California system, Stanford, Caltech, USC, and the Naval Postgraduate School. CENIC also provides connectivity to leading-edge institutions and industry research organizations around the world, serving the public as a catalyst for a vibrant California.

About Internet2 | www.internet2.edu

Internet2® is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 serves 320 U.S. universities, 59 government agencies, 45 regional and state education networks and through them supports more than 100,000 community anchor institutions, over 1,000 InCommon participants, and 56 leading corporations working with our community, and 70 national research and education network partners that represent more than 100 countries.

Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research and community service missions. Internet2’s core infrastructure components include the nation’s largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework. Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.