Made-in-Singapore antibody test for multiple viruses now used worldwide
SINGAPORE – A test developed by local researchers to help tackle the next pandemic is now in use in more than 90 countries.
Known as the multiplex surrogate virus neutralisation test (sVNT), it can detect if a person has antibodies capable of neutralising multiple viruses to prevent disease.
Such antibodies offer protection against a variety of highly pathogenic viruses, including variants of Sars-CoV-2 – the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
The test can also be used for other pathogens such as Ebola and henipaviruses, a group of zoonotic viruses such as Nipah.
Experts have warned that zoonotic viruses – transmitted from animals to humans, and vice versa – could spark future pandemics.
The test was developed by a team led by Dr Tan Chee Wah of the microbiology and immunology department at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) and Professor Wang Linfa of the emerging infectious diseases programme at Duke-NUS Medical School.
It has a number of benefits, Prof Wang noted, especially its ability to measure neutralising antibodies. 'Neutralising antibodies are a functional measure of your immunity. So if you have a high level (of them), you will most likely be protected against future infection,' he said.
This ability to measure an individual's immunity can in turn be used to determine the efficacy of new vaccines, he added.
Such insights could then be used to make future vaccines more effective by broadening their coverage to include a variety of different, but related, viruses, said Prof Wang.
The test can also support contact tracing in future epidemics by enabling the authorities to identify individuals who were previously infected and developed antibodies, thereby uncovering the chains of transmission.
It can be used on animals as well, Prof Wang added, noting its use in tracing the spread of Sars-CoV-2 from humans to white-tailed deer in a US study published in the journal Nature Communications in 2023.
This is important as future pandemics are likely to be the result of zoonotic diseases, as was the case for Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and Covid-19, said Professor Paul Tambyah from NUS Medicine.
Dr Tan noted that another advantage is that the test does not require the use of a live virus – which carries a risk of infection – to determine the presence of neutralising antibodies.
Instead, it requires only a spike protein from the virus – the component that the virus relies on to invade human cells, which is relatively harmless on its own.
The multiplex sVNT was developed under the Integrated Innovations in Infectious Diseases (I3D) large collaborative grant, funded by the National Medical Research Council.
Established under the Ministry of Health in 1994, the council oversees the development and advancement of medical research in Singapore.
The test kit is based on cPass, the first commercial tool to detect whether someone has antibodies that neutralise Sars-CoV-2.
Developed in 2020, cPass was created by a team led by Prof Wang, in collaboration with biotech firm GenScript and A*Star's Diagnostics Development Hub.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted cPass emergency use approval in November 2020.
However, cPass was limited in its ability to detect the different variants of Covid-19 that emerged as the virus evolved, noted Prof Tambyah, who is also lead principal investigator of I3D.
This underscored the need for an enhanced test, he said.
The multiplex sVNT is now being used in more than 90 countries, Prof Wang noted.
This includes at institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Indonesia and the University of Melbourne.
The team is now trying to build a test that can be used for all the pathogens on the World Health Organisation's global priority list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Dr Tan said.
Prof Wang added: 'The challenge now, and also our excitement, is trying to build up a really multi-family, multi-class surrogate virus neutralisation test, so that we're ready for any disease X'.
The term 'disease X' refers to an unknown pathogen that could cause a serious global pandemic.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Singapore has been ramping up its pandemic preparedness efforts.
In 2022, the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response, headed by Prof Wang, was launched. With funding of $100 million over five years, it aims to bring together experts from various fields to respond to future infectious disease outbreaks.
And in April 2025, a new statutory board – the Communicable Diseases Agency – was launched. It consolidates public health functions that detect and control infectious diseases, enabling a faster response to disease outbreaks.
Zhaki Abdullah is a correspondent at The Straits Times. He is on the health beat, in addition to occasionally covering science, environmental, tech and Muslim affairs issues.
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Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
NUS Medicine's target? To be world's top medical school for Asia
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has come far in 120 years. The Straits Times takes a look at some of its achievements and where it is headed. NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine's dean, Professor Chong Yap Seng, wants the school to lead the world in advancing health beyond the treatment of disease. SINGAPORE – The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine is one of the world's best medical schools – and it is not the one saying it. For the past six years, it has ranked among the world's top 20 medical schools in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings – at 17th in 2025. In 2024 and 2025, it ranked 18th in the QS World University Rankings for medicine . But the school's dean, Professor Chong Yap Seng, wants more than that. He wants it to become the world's leading medical school to represent Asia on the global stage. He said the school is well-positioned to produce Asia-contextualised research and knowledge to develop solutions that are relevant and effective for Asian communities. The top medical schools in the world today are largely American or European, and they cannot be counted on to understand and research Asian patterns of disease. This is reflected in medical literature that is based on Western perspectives and derived from Western research efforts. Prof Chong wants to demonstrate that NUS Medicine and Asia can lead in setting new standards for medical education, research, health and healthcare, and most importantly, to be able to shape the future of global health. He aims to do that by focusing the school's efforts on optimising health, moving beyond the treatment of disease and truly leveraging digital technology, data and artificial intelligence to unlock the value of health data. This is not simply to have a claim to fame, he insisted. 'Asians are quite different in the way they respond to drugs.' As an example, he cited warfarin, a common blood thinner used to prevent blood clots that could cause strokes or heart attacks. 'If you give the normal dose for Caucasians to Singaporeans, they will probably bleed to death,' he said. Asians need, on average, half to two-thirds the dose given to Caucasians. The medical school, which was started 120 years ago to train locals as assistants to colonial doctors, is ready to come into its own as the premier institution focusing on how diseases and treatments affect Asian populations differently, Prof Chong said. Singapore is well poised to lead research in this area, having completed the whole genome sequencing of 100,000 locals, and having started on the genomes of another 450,000 patients with known diseases. Some of the research has already improved outcomes for the population. An ongoing longitudinal study begun by Prof Chong in 2009 has helped hundreds of women and their babies by identifying gestational diabetes and treating it early in pregnant women, thus avoiding serious complications. The Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (Gusto) study found that one in five Asian women, even those without risk factors such as being overweight, suffers from gestational diabetes – double the rate in Caucasian women. Because of Gusto's findings, pregnant women are now routinely checked for this complication. Prof Chong's aspiration has not been without criticism that he is over-valuing rankings, but he argued it is not a vanity project. 'Actually, it is business. It is partly recognition, partly achievement, but also partly business. If you are not among the top, people don't really want to work with you,' he asserted. In March, the school signed a memorandum of agreement with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on a women's health initiative. Ten years ago, said Prof Chong, Harvard – one of the world's top universities – might not even have agreed to meet him. 'The ability to be among the top in the world gives you the ability to work with the best people in the world. We have their full attention, which is very important for us to really make progress,' he said. Global ranking is based on many factors, such as an institution's international research networks, how often published articles by faculty are cited by others, the amount of grants it receives, and the quality of its education. Prof Chong focused on driving up citations by increasing the quality of the school's research and publications. 'If we want to be world-class, we have to compete on the world stage in terms of quality and impact. If you are very well-cited, it means that your work is influencing other people and is driving the science,' he said. As a result, NUS Medicine's citation impact has gone up from 1.68 when he took over as dean in 2019, to 2.59 in 2024. The citation impact reflects the prestige of the article, with 1 signifying an average number of citations, and 2 meaning that the article has been referred to twice as often. This even includes research published by students. For example, a study on gastric cancer by fifth-year student Joseph Zhao was published in 2022 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which had a very high impact factor of 45 in 2024. A study on liver cirrhosis by another fifth-year student, Ms Lim Wen Hui, was published in 2023 in the Journal of Hepatology which boasts an impact factor of 26.8. An impact factor of 10 or higher is considered remarkable for medical journals. To drive up citations, the medical school has been hiring quality researchers from around the world who do impactful work, with the potential to make significant contributions to the school's research goals. Another change Prof Chong has instituted is to refocus medical training, from treating diseases to prolonging good health in people. He said: 'Every medical school is good at diagnosing and managing diseases. I believe that a medical school should go beyond disease. So we are now looking at health.' Life expectancy in Singapore has risen over the past decades, and people here are among those who live longest in the world today. But the increase in years of good health has not kept pace, he said. 'We have to start looking at health span. What can we do to extend that?' He added: 'What I'm interested in is how long I can keep you healthy so that when you finally have a disability and start to experience frailty, that part is as short as possible.' In pursuit of that aspiration, Prof Chong plans to introduce lifestyle medicine into the undergraduate curriculum, to focus on the four things that drive health: nutrition, physical activity, sleep and purpose. Purpose in life is important, he noted. 'If people don't have a good reason to do what they're doing, or feel that what they're doing is not important, they won't maintain their health, and they won't have mental clarity. People who lose purpose in life, for example after retirement, often lose their health and die earlier,' he said. One change he has already made to the curriculum to prepare graduates to perform well into the 21st century is to make bioinformatics and artificial intelligence a compulsory minor subject. All students enrolled from 2023 have to take this as a minor subject in their first three years. With health data accounting for 30 per cent of all data produced in the world, it is crucial that doctors can understand and interpret it , to improve the care they give to patients, Prof Chong said. As an example, he cited a check in 2016 conducted by one of the school's cardiologists, Associate Professor James Yip, on which drug the department spent the most money on in treating patients. To Prof Yip's shock, instead of a heart-related drug, the largest expenditure was on proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as omeprazole, which is used to prevent gastric ulcers. Doctors prescribe such medication to patients alongside aspirin, which is known to be damaging to the gastric wall. But Prof Chong said the aspirin prescribed is usually a low dose, and rarely causes ulcers. Instead of the more expensive PPI, a low-cost antacid would do. Since this discovery, there has been a conscious effort to reduce the use of PPIs, resulting in a 10 per cent drop in prescriptions. Prof Chong said another example of medical school dogma, rather than new data, influencing prescriptions is the low uptake of SGL T-2 inhibitors, a medication that had become standard of care for diabetics and early-stage kidney and heart failure patients in 2017 – as it can reduce the risk of kidney and heart failure. Despite the Ministry of Health providing subsidies for this drug, fewer than half of patients who could benefit are prescribed the medication. Prof Chong said doctors continue to prescribe drugs they are familiar with, instead of switching to better drugs as they become available, because they may not understand the data supporting the new drug. He said there are now plans to use information technology to prompt doctors at specialist outpatient clinics within the National University Health System (NUHS) cluster to prescribe it to eligible patients. 'Doctors really need to master data, because that's the future,' he added. 'All data will be available digitally. It's a waste that they don't use it. If our doctors are not equipped to use it, they will be less effective compared with the doctors of other places who use it.' Looking back on NUS Medicine's long history, Prof Chong said the 120 years fall roughly into four major phases. In 1905, when the school was opened, almost one in three children born here died before the age of one. The focus at the time was to provide medical care and improve public health. The second phase in the 1950s was when it gained a reputation as a good medical school, attracting 'the best students from Asia' to study here. The third phase, occurring around the cusp of the millennium, is when it turned its eyes towards research. For the past six years, the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has ranked among the world's top 20 medical schools in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings – at 17th in 2025. PHOTO: NUS Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, a nephrologist by training who was dean from 1997 to 2000, made major reforms to the school's curriculum with an emphasis on research. He later continued his push to make both the school and the National University of Singapore research-intensive in his roles as the university's senior deputy president (2004 to 2008) and president (2008 to 2017). The Government's Biomedical Sciences Initiative in 2000 also fuelled Singapore's research boom. NUS Medicine started recruiting the best scientists they could find and establishing international research collaborations. The school geared up to attract global talent, aiming for better funding opportunities, developing world-class infrastructure, and fostering collaborations across academia, healthcare and industry. In 2005, it received $100 million from the Yong Loo Lin Trust – the largest single donation to a tertiary institution by a private donor. This was Professor John Wong's doing, said Prof Chong. Prof Wong, an oncologist-haematologist, was dean from 2003 to 2011. Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, who was dean from 2011 to 2018, strengthened the clinician-scholar and clinician-scientist tracks. A noted researcher, he was listed among the world's top 2 per cent of scientists by Stanford University in 2023 in the field of clinical medicine. One of his most prominent research projects is the Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium, which has made several breakthrough discoveries in diagnosing the cancer early. Prof Yeoh, who is a gastroenterologist, currently holds the position of chief executive at NUHS. Prof Chong has moved the school into its fourth phase: to transform the practice of medicine to focus more on preserving health rather than just treating illness. As the school celebrates 120 years, he hopes his legacy as dean will be to have made a difference that matters. For him, this means making the school the best in terms of understanding and treating Asians, and for the doctors it trains to practise intellectual flexibility, be technology-savvy and have lifelong curiosity. From wooden hut to top 20 in the world In 120 years, NUS Medicine has grown from providing basic medical care to becoming a research-intensive medical school focused on cutting-edge medicine. 1821 Singapore's first general hospital is an unsanitary small wooden building near the junction of Bras Basah and Stamford roads, offering basic treatments. 1905 A new school of medicine to train locals opens at Sepoy Lines (the current site of the Singapore General Hospital) with 23 students. Merchants led by Mr Tan Jiak Kim and Mr Seah Liang Seah raise $87,000 in 1905 and another $120,000 in 1912. The Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, Sepoy Lines. PHOTO: NUS 1910 Seven local medical students are the first to obtain Licentiates in Medicine and Surgery. The Magnificent 7 become assistant medical officers or assistant surgeons, earning a lowly $250 a month. A pioneering class with a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery standing behind teachers. PHOTO: NUS 1911 Ms Eugenie Nunes becomes the first woman graduand, but she returns to Pakistan on graduating. 1912 Physiology is the first professorial chair to be set up. 1916 A medical students' hostel is set up to accommodate students from Malaya. 1932 Asians, considered inferior by the colonial government, are finally allowed to take positions in the Straits Settlements Medical Service. Mid-1930s Dr Gopal Haridas is the first local graduate to receive further training in England and admitted as a member of the Royal College of Physicians. Dr Michael Thiruchelvam is the first local graduate to obtain higher qualification in surgery. 1936 A huge bungalow on Grange Road, called Holne Chase, is converted into a hostel for 30 female students. 1941-1945 During World War II, more than 200 medical students join the Medical Auxiliary Service and are deployed to hospitals and first aid posts, often working 18 hours a day. 1942 Tan Tock Seng Hospital is bombed on Feb 13, killing medical student Yoong Tatt Sin. Another 10 medical students are killed the following day at his funeral. The medical school closes. 1946 The King Edward VII College of Medicine reopens on June 17, following the war. About 200 pre-war students return to complete their studies. King Edward VII College of Medicine. PHOTO: NUS 1950 The newly formed University of Malaya confers the first Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) on 17 graduates at the Bukit Timah campus. 1957 The Academy of Medicine is founded, paving the way for formal postgraduate training and continuing education. 1962 Singapore establishes the University of Singapore, with Professor Kangaratnam Shanmugaratnam as the medical school's dean. Professor Kangaratnam Shanmugaratnam. PHOTO: NUS 1980 The university officially becomes the National University of Singapore, in Kent Ridge, after a merger with Nanyang University. 1983 The Faculty of Medicine relocates from Sepoy Lines to Kent Ridge. 1985 The University Hospital (precursor to the National University Hospital) is set up as a government-owned hospital run as a self-governing entity. This is the model for all public hospitals today. 1994 The National Medical Research Council is set up to oversee, coordinate and approve funds for medical research. The White Coat Ceremony is introduced to induct medical students into the fraternity. Faculty members help incoming students don their first white coats, a symbol of physicians. A White Coat Ceremony held in 2024. PHOTO: NUS 2002 The government-imposed quota of no more than a third of medical students be women is lifted, resulting in an immediate jump in female students to 43 per cent of intake in 2003. 2005 Duke-NUS Medical School is set up. So is the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, with a $30 million gift from the Lee Foundation. The Faculty of Medicine is renamed the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine on the school's centenary with a $100 million gift from the Yong Loo Lin Trust. 2008 The National University Health System (NUHS, below) is established to integrate and improve education, research and the provision of healthcare. The NUHS Tower Block at Kent Ridge Road in a photo taken on June 17, 2025. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO 2011 A $30 million donation from NUS alumnus Professor Saw Swee Hock (below) leads to the setting up of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. Professor Saw Swee Hock. PHOTO: ST FILE 2012 The 15-storey Centre for Translational Medicine is officially opened. The Silent Mentors programme is initiated, with students taught to treat donated cadavers with utmost respect. 2014 The Centre for Biomedical Ethics is designated a World Health Organisation collaborating centre – the first in Asia and 5th in the world. 2019 School ranked among top 20 in the world – a ranking it maintains today. The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Building on Medical Drive in a photo taken on July 17, 2019. PHOTO: ST FILE 2025 Yong Loo Lin Medical School celebrates 120 years.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
NUS Medicine hopes to help Singaporeans age more healthily
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has come far in 120 years. The Straits Times takes a look at some of its achievements and where it is headed. SINGAPORE - Eternal youth might be a pipe dream, but having healthier bodies as one ages is a reality that the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme hopes to make possible for people. Its mission is to add healthy years of life by delaying ageing, as well as having people stay free of disease for as long as possible, so they are able to lead physically adept and socially active lives. It is an ambitious project involving about 45 NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine faculty members. They are leading or participating in many associated projects that look at different aspects of ageing, with the aim of slowing its progression. The programme, headed by Distinguished Professor Brian Kennedy, who was trained in biochemistry, mathematics and biology, was launched in 2022. Prof Kennedy said they hope to accomplish this goal 'through developing biomarkers to measure ageing, testing interventions to slow ageing, and creating implementation strategies to extend healthy life expectancy in Singapore'. The programme has developed an algorithm to calculate people's biological clock, which could be different from their years of life and indicates their mortality risk. Prof Kennedy said Singaporean Chinese, in general, have a biological age that is three to four years younger than their chronological age. But while Singaporeans today have a life expectancy of 83.5 years, they will spend an average of 10 years in relatively poor health. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Seniors can claim $800 SG60 vouchers from July 1; adults to get $600 in vouchers from July 22 Singapore NSman, 30, dies in hospital after collapsing outside Maju Camp Asia Thai PM's suspension could spell end of Shinawatra clan's era of political dominance Singapore Judge rejects woman's claim that she owns 99% of Bukit Timah condo mostly paid for by ex-boyfriend Singapore 'He fought till the end': Man who survived acid attack as a baby dies of cancer at 26 Singapore Trial opens for 3 women who allegedly organised procession outside Istana Business Do not overcommit to a single solution in a multi-polar world, says ex-foreign minister George Yeo Singapore 1MDB saga: Standard Chartered Bank disputes $3.4 billion claim by liquidators in Singapore Prof Kennedy said: 'Ageing impacts every aspect of how you function. It's the biggest risk factor for everything that goes wrong. So if we understand that, we can understand why people are getting sick and what to do about it better.' The team pursues a two-pronged approach. One is the effect of lifestyle, which means understanding the role of exercise, mental health, sleep and nutrition in ageing. The other focuses on the small molecules that impact ageing. Prof Kennedy said: 'We test supplements and repurpose drugs that we would target for people while they're still healthy to keep them healthy, rather than waiting until they get a diagnosis of some disease (before) trying to treat them at that stage.' Keeping its population healthy and active as it matures is what will make Singapore economically strong and give its citizens the best quality of life, he added. But while there are many products on the market that claim to keep people healthier for longer, there is also a lack of unbiased science around these products for people to know what truly is useful. 'We're trying to provide that credibility,' said Prof Kennedy. Many of the supplements his team tests are commercially available. 'These are not drugs that need 10 years to be developed. There are things that consumers can already purchase.' The Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme headed by Distinguished Professor Brian Kennedy was launched in 2022. PHOTO: NUS One supplement the team has studied that he is confident of pushing is alpha ketoglutarate (AKG), a compound made by the body that is involved in hundreds of different cell reactions. As people age, their levels of AKG drop. He said AKG acts as a kind of lubricant that allows enzymes to do what they need to do at the right time. 'But when the levels drop, the cell has trouble compensating for changes in its environment. We're trying to restore that, as in a way, that slows ageing and promotes health,' he explained. The team is also looking at the possibility of repurposing several drugs that have shown anti-ageing effects. Studies are still being done on these prescription-only drugs. Prof Kennedy added that there is no one magic bullet, but many different things which, together, can slow the ageing process. 'Small, sustainable changes make differences. Maybe it only gives you two to five years of extra health, but that's still a big effect.' One study involved deep phenotyping – determining and predicting the similarities and differences in how people age biologically and how the impact of the environment affects a person's health – of 400 people across ethnicities here. It measured the participants' biological age, physical function, body composition of fat, muscle and bone, and their grip strength. They were also given cognitive tests. 'We're trying to understand how Singaporeans are ageing, and what's unique in the Singapore population that may need to be addressed,' Prof Kennedy said. The study has been completed and is awaiting publication. Asians lose more bone density with age, compared with Caucasians. Prof Kennedy said that in the West, obesity and diabetes are driving age-related complications. Among Asians, the bigger issue is loss of muscle strength and frailty.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
NUS Medicine's focus on research leads to better patient care, raises school's standing globally
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has come far in 120 years. The Straits Times takes a look at some of its achievements and where it is headed. The school secures more than $100 million in research grants each year to fund impactful research and breakthroughs. SINGAPORE – Research is a very important facet of working at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and almost every member of its faculty is involved in scientific or clinical studies. The school secures more than $100 million in research grants each year to fund impactful research and breakthroughs that shape the future of healthcare, with the money coming from a variety of sources, including the university, the Government, industry partners and private foundations. In 2024, NUS Medicine researchers published 3,865 papers, which were cited 21,829 times, and this intense focus on research has borne fruit, both in discovering better ways to treat patients and raising the school's standing in the world, said Professor Roger Foo, vice-dean of research. There are at least 220 laboratories in NUS Medicine, each of them helmed by a group leader or principal investigator, distributed among 10 translational research programmes and 15 faculty research centres. All these programmes and centres are led by prominent and world leaders in their research area. There is also dedicated research administrative staff who support the school's research mission, through often complex approval processes, sometimes involving collaborations with multiple institutions all at one time. 'Without this contingent of professional research administrators, none of us would be able to do the research smoothly,' said Prof Foo. An example of better patient care is the development in 2019 of the world's first molecular blood test for early gastric cancer detection. The team was led by Professor Jimmy So, a senior gastrointestinal surgeon at National University Hospital (NUH) and the National University Cancer Institute; Associate Professor Too Heng-Phon from the department of biochemistry at NUS Medicine; and Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, a former dean and currently a senior consultant at the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at NUH and chief executive at the National University Health System (NUHS). Gastric, or stomach, cancer is the fifth-most common cancer globally, with Asians being the most prone to it. In Singapore, it is the fourth-most common cause of cancer death in men, and fifth-most in women. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Seniors can claim $800 SG60 vouchers from July 1; adults to get $600 in vouchers from July 22 Singapore NSman, 30, dies in hospital after collapsing outside Maju Camp Asia Thai PM's suspension could spell end of Shinawatra clan's era of political dominance Singapore Judge rejects woman's claim that she owns 99% of Bukit Timah condo mostly paid for by ex-boyfriend Singapore 'He fought till the end': Man who survived acid attack as a baby dies of cancer at 26 Singapore Trial opens for 3 women who allegedly organised procession outside Istana Business Do not overcommit to a single solution in a multi-polar world, says ex-foreign minister George Yeo Singapore 1MDB saga: Standard Chartered Bank disputes $3.4 billion claim by liquidators in Singapore The researchers' discovery led to spin-off company Mirxes, which was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in May. It closed its first day of trade as a new biotech unicorn, with a market capitalisation of HK$8.29 billion (S$1.34 billion). The school also uses artificial intelligence to search available data to see where patient care can be improved. NUS Medicine gained permission in early 2025 to duplicate the National University Health System's (NUHS) Electronic Medical Records. In the CardioSight-Horus platform, records are anonymised so patient identities are not revealed, and researchers from various departments have been able to mine the data to see where the gaps are in patient care. Within three months, the school had found 2,000 patients in the NUHS cluster with high cholesterol levels who were not being treated for it. Given the medical ramifications of uncontrolled cholesterol levels, the researchers received the green light to identify and alert the patients. Hotlines were set up so that these patients could seek advice. There will be follow-ups in the coming months to see if these patients have brought their cholesterol levels to within acceptable limits. If they have, it would prove that by acting on available data, 'we can move the needle' in directly improving patient care, said Prof Foo. With regard to international recognition, Prof Foo said research findings from the school are now frequently cited. He added: 'As demonstrated by robust, quantifiable growth in research performance, NUS Medicine's Field-Weighted Citation Impact has climbed from 1.04 in 2000, to 2.59 in 2024.' A citation impact of 1 reflects the global average. An impact of 2 means the article or research is cited twice as often as similar publications in the field. The school's 2.59 impact puts it near the pinnacle. In 2024, the impact factor among top medical schools was 3.07 at Oxford, 2.81 at Stanford, 2.38 at Johns Hopkins, and 2.4 at Harvard. A major turning point came in 2005 with the National Medical Research Council's Clinician Scientist Award, which offered funding to secure protected research time, thus giving clinicians an incentive to embark on studies. At about the same time, Singapore launched initiatives to train clinician-scientists on how to carry out high-level research, while also bringing in some of the best foreign talent to augment the local pool. Prof Foo said getting research funding is competitive but overall, the most meaningful and innovative research projects do get funded. 'The money is there,' he said. 'But the bar for getting a research project awarded has been going up over the years.' The school decides on the projects to support based on several factors. One factor is the researcher's achievements. Prof Foo said: 'Track record is very important. Like when you see a person has a great idea now, and you can see that he's had a previous great idea that he took to great places, then you kind of think that, wow, this person has the capability to do the same again.' But the school is also conscious that everyone has to start somewhere, so 'we don't want to have so high a bar where people without a track record cannot even get on the escalator'. For those starting on research, the school looks at commitment and 'a certain level of sacrifice and readiness to go through the grind'. Someone who is willing to pursue a PhD, for instance, would be missing out on three or four years of getting a higher salary as a clinician. Another factor is research that is important to the country. 'We pay attention to what's happening at the country level, what the Health Ministry wants to see, what are the important trends going forward, such as an ageing population.' (Clockwise from top left) Professor Dario Campana, Professor Roger Foo, Professor Chong Yap Seng, Professor Jason Lee, Professor Nick Watts, and Professor Zhang Cuilin all contributed significant research efforts to NUS Medicine. PHOTOS: ST FILE, NUS, CHONG JUN LIANG Some significant research efforts from NUS Medicine include: CAR-T Cell therapy: Using a technology developed in Professor Dario Campana's laboratory under the Department of Paediatrics at NUS Medicine, a team comprising Dr Esther Chan, Dr Bernice Oh, and Professor Allen Yeoh at the National University Health System successfully treated both children and adults suffering from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who have exhausted all other forms of treatment. Of the 17 patients treated between 2019 and 2023, 16 had complete remission within a month – with no cancer cells detected, even through ultra-sensitive tests. Eleven of these patients were foreigners who had sought the treatment at NUH. The first patient, who was treated when he was 10 years old, has not needed chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant for five years. Project Reset: The aim of this project led by Prof Roger Foo is to find the best way to prevent heart disease, which is the cause of one in five deaths here. One in three people with underlying heart disease in Singapore does not know it, and hence does not get early treatment, which could lead to better outcomes. The project, launched in 2023, is still recruiting participants, who will have their heart, liver and metabolism assessed. Of the 10,000 people that researchers plan to recruit, 3,000 will have follow-ups over five years to pilot new treatments, including lifestyle changes. Project Reset is one of the initiatives that will be piloted at Health District @ Queenstown, which was launched in 2023. There, the study team will work closely with policymakers, urban planners and community leaders to support the community's physical, social and mental well-being, and reduce environmental factors that contribute to heart disease. Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (Gusto): This comprehensive longitudinal study started in 2009 by Professor Chong Yap Seng, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who is dean of NUS Medicine, is ongoing. It aims to understand how conditions in pregnancy and early childhood influence the health of women and children. Findings from Gusto have led to changes to policy and practice – such as the routine testing now of all pregnant women for gestational diabetes after the study discovered that half of them, especially those who were not overweight, went undiagnosed. Investigators have published 420 articles on various findings over the years since 2012. Heat resilience: Project HeatSafe was set up in 2021 to investigate the impact of rising temperatures on the health and productivity of people in South-east Asia. The combination of high heat and humidity in the region inhibits the body's ability to cool down through sweat evaporation, leading to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Findings from the project, led by thermal physiologist Jason Lee, have demonstrated that thermal distress has detrimental impacts and consequences – from compromised decision-making and productivity, to affecting fertility and pregnancy outcomes. Anchored at the Heat Resilience & Performance Centre, the Global Heat Health Information Network South-east Asia Hub was established in January to advance partnership, collaboration and advocacy in the region to protect and prepare for the impacts of heat on human health and well-being. Sustainable medicine: The practice of healthcare leaves a huge climate footprint, accounting for 5 per cent to 8 per cent of total global emissions. NUS Medicine set up the Centre for Sustainable Medicine in 2023 aiming to accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions healthcare in Singapore and around the world. The centre is the first-of-its-kind institution in Asia and the largest in the world. Its head, Professor Nick Watts, a medical doctor who led the UK National Health Service's response to climate change, is pioneering clinically relevant and solutions-focused research that supports high-quality and low-carbon care. The healthcare system produces as much as 8 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions – more than shipping and aviation combined. The centre has embedded the need for sustainability in a medical school and offers the first-in-the-world master's degree in sustainable medicine. Women's health: Global health research generally focuses on men and non-Asians. The Global Centre for Asian Women's Health (GloW) hopes to address knowledge and practice gaps in women's health especially among Asians, emphasising cardio-metabolic and reproductive health, ageing and longevity, cancer screening and prevention, and mental health and wellness. GloW also aims to shift the paradigm of women's health from conventional sick care to preventive care. In March 2025, the school and Harvard University jointly launched the NUS Medicine-Harvard T.H. Chan Women's Health Initiative to promote women's health and improve global health outcomes for Asian women. The initiative is led by Professor Zhang Cuilin, a clinical epidemiologist who is director of GloW.
