Rosalind is a high performance computing (HPC) and cloud facility which allows large-scale analysis of research data from sources as diverse as DNA samples to fitbits and health apps. The facility, launched in October 2015, is named after Dr Rosalind Franklin, who did vital work on the structure of DNA at King’s College London in the 1940s and 50s.
The shared off-site HPC facility, private cloud and storage service provides researchers with a modern IT infrastructure that enables analysis of huge volumes of genetics and other molecular data from human samples. This helps to accelerate translational research while also providing the basis for the implementation of customised medicine programmes for patients, where medical decisions, practices, and/or products are tailored to the individual patient.
The speed, versatility, and capacity of Rosalind is enhancing a wide variety of research projects across King’s Health Partners: ranging from analysis of sequencing data and GWAS from UK Biobank, TEDS and Project MINE (which make use of the HPC) to major research projects using the Rosalind cloud, which provides computing resources in a more flexible manner than is possible with the HPC environment.
It was established by the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, the NIHR Guy's and St Thomas' BRC, and King’s College London. All three organisations are part of King’s Health Partners, and substantial funding for the project was also provided by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and the Maudsley Charity.
In October 2020, Rosalind added a Data Safe Haven service complete with a Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT). Now researchers from King's College London and the King’s Health Partners can converge to process personal health and care data in a secure, fit-for-purpose environment in accordance with Department of Health Policy and the security standards set by the National Data Guardian.
