From Tiffany Ryan, VP, Account Services, Palio

I often look to Fast Company for inspiration. I was introduced to it by my first real boss (“real” meaning my first advertising job). And I haven’t stopped reading since.

Fast Company is all about innovation and unexpected discoveries. Never have I been more awe-inspired, than in reading about IBM’s World Community Grid (WCG) project. Utilizing idle time at an individual’s computer, the WCG utilizes the machine’s central processing unit to do calculations for various research sites. This analysis is then fed back to the individual sites. Seems like a simple process, but I have to admit, I don’t have the computer science intellect to really understand how it works.

While I will never understand the software and management of this program, the potential benefits in helping research labs find cures and treatments for some of the world’s most serious illnesses is incredible. This platform is being used to assist cancer, HIV, and muscular dystrophy research centers. It’s even running algorithms to help solve world hunger!

This platform has the ability to revolutionize medical research as we know it. By reducing research times from decades to a few years, the potential impact on our communities is impressive. But what may be most impressive of all, is the ability of the average citizen to give back to medical research so easily – as one campus marketing campaign slogan captured “When doing nothing is doing something.”

And if it helps find more medications to treat HIV? I’m in.