2

The National University Health System (NUHS) is one of three public healthcare clusters in

Singapore, and an integrated Academic Health System and Regional Health System that

delivers value-driven, innovative and sustainable healthcare in Singapore.

We leverage our unique position as an Academic Health System to tap on the wealth of

resources residing within the National University of Singapore (NUS). Through collaborations

with NUS faculties, we are able to draw upon their academic, research and creative capabilities

to develop solutions for existing and emerging health and healthcare needs.

As a Regional Health System, we work in close collaboration with community hospitals, general

practitioners, family medicine clinics, nursing homes and other community partners to provide

integrated care to the community.

With member institutions under one Academic Health System, NUHS creates synergies as a

fully integrated cluster to provide seamless care, develop solutions for Singapore's healthcare

challenges and nurture the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Members of the National University Health System

National University Hospital (NUH)

Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH)

Jurong Community Hospital (JCH)

Alexandra Hospital (AH)

National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS)

National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS)

National University Centre for Oral Health, Singapore (NUCOHS)

National University Polyclinics (NUP)

Jurong Medical Centre (JMC)

NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

NUS Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies

NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health

NUS Faculty of Dentistry

ABOUT NUHS

3

CONTENTS

Welcome Message 4

Acknowledgement 5 - 6

Programme / Schedule at a Glance

6 September 2019

7 September 2019

7 - 8

9 - 10

Keynote 11 - 13

Tribute to Dr Sydney Brenner 14 - 17

Value-based Healthcare 18 - 20

Disruptive Technologies 21 - 25

Precision Health 26 - 32

Smart City - Smart Health 33 - 38

Adding Life to Years 39 - 45

Healing from Within 46 - 51

Oral and Poster Presentations 52 - 56

4

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the inaugural NUHS Innovation Summit 2019.

The conference is a research and innovation platform designed to bring together healthcare

professionals, scientists from the NUHS cluster, and key industry partners from the private and

public sector, to discuss collaborations and ways to strengthen the translation of research efforts

into tangible outcomes to enhance our population’s health and well-being.

The theme of this Conference is Redefining Health through Academia. It reflects NUHS as an

integrated Academic Health System which partners the complementary strengths of academia

and medical practice to develop research solutions and innovation for healthcare.

We have put together an exciting programme comprising local and overseas experts with deep

insights, expertise and experience in research. The conference is organised along six themes:

With close to 40 speakers, we hope that you will share your ideas and perspectives candidly on

the topics during the course of the conference.

We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our Planning Committee and Scientific

Committee for working together to design and organise the event. We would also like to thank our

distinguished guests and speakers for taking the time to grace this occasion.

We are confident that you will enjoy your time at this conference.

Prof Chong Yap Seng

Chair of Planning Committee

Prof Chng Wee Joo

Chair of Scientific Committee

Value-based Healthcare

Disruptive Technologies

Precision Health

Smart City - Smart Health

Adding Life to Years

Healing from Within

WELCOME MESSAGE

5

NUHS INNOVATION SUMMIT 2019

PLANNING AND SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

PLANNING COMMITTEE

Prof Chong Yap Seng

(Chair)

Dean, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of

Singapore

Prof Patrick Finbarr Allen Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore

Prof Emily Ang Head, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School

of Medicine, National University of Singapore

A/Prof Cheah Wei Keat Chairman, Medical Board, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital

Prof Chng Wee Joo Group Director, Research, National University Health System

A/Prof Dan Yock Young Head, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,

National University of Singapore

A/Prof Khoo See Meng Chairman, Medical Board, Alexandra Hospital

A/Prof Theodoros Kofidis Head of Department and Senior Consultant, Department of

Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, National University Heart

Centre, Singapore

Prof Lee Chuen Neng Professor, Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of

Medicine, National University of Singapore

Dr Lew Yii Jen Chief Executive Officer, National University Polyclinics

Prof Teo Yik Ying Dean, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National

University of Singapore

Prof Markus Wenk Head, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of

Medicine, National University of Singapore

6

NUHS INNOVATION SUMMIT 2019

PLANNING AND SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Prof Chng Wee Joo

(Chair)

Group Director, Research Office, National University Health

System

Asst Prof Polly Chen Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin

School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

A/Prof Dan Yock Young Head, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,

National University of Singapore

Asst Prof Feng Mengling Assistant Professor, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health,

National University of Singapore

A/Prof Theodoros Kofidis Head of Department and Senior Consultant, Department of

Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, National University

Heart Centre, Singapore

A/Prof Ng Siok Bian Senior Consultant, Department of Pathology, National University

Hospital

Asst Prof Ngiam Kee Yuan Group Chief Technology Officer, National University Health

System

Asst Prof Catherine Ong Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin

School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Asst Prof Su Xinyi Consultant, Department of Ophthalmology, National University

Hospital

Asst Prof Tan Ker Kan Senior Consultant, Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School

of Medicine, National University of Singapore

7

6 September 2019, Friday

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Time Programme

07:45 - 08:45 Registration

09:00 - 09:30

Welcome Remarks by Prof John Wong, Chief Executive, NUHS

NUHS Video Showcase

Address by Guest-of-Honour, Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and Chairman of the National Research Foundation,

Singapore

09:30 - 10:00

Keynote: The Broad Impact of Balanced Public Investment in Medical

Research

Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Scientific Officer, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences

10:00 - 10:10 Tribute to Dr Sydney Brenner

Dr Shawn Hoon

10:10 - 10:40 Tea Break

10:40 - 11:15

Tribute to Dr Sydney Brenner (Con’t)

Clonal Evolution in Cancer to Single Cell Resolution: Decoding Drug Resistance and Metastasis

Prof Samuel Aparicio

11:15 - 12:15

Plenary Session (1) : Value-based Healthcare

Panel discussion: Enhancing the Synergy between Value Driven Outcomes (VDO) and Research

Asst Prof Diarmuid Murphy (Chair), Dr Faheem Khan, Prof Lim Tow Keang and A/Prof James Yip

12:15 - 13:15 Lunch and Poster Presentations

13:15 - 14:45 Plenary Session (2) : Disruptive Technologies

13:15 - 13:35 Achieving More with Less - Minimally Invasive Heart Procedures

A/Prof Theodoros Kofidis

13:35 - 13:55 Educated Guesses, Lofty Aspirations, Hard Realities

Adj A/Prof Ivor Lim

13:55 - 14:15 The Reverse-flow of Disruptive Technologies

Prof Peter Zilla

14:15 - 14:45

Panel Discussion: The Innovator’s Journey

A/Prof Theodoros Kofidis (Chair), Adj A/Prof Ivor Lim, A/Prof Phan Toan Thang and Prof Peter Zilla

8

Time Programme

14:45 - 15:15 Tea Break and Poster Presentations

Plenary Session (3) : Precision Health 15:15 - 17:00

Overview of NUHS Efforts in Precision Medicine

Prof Tai E Shyong 15:15 - 15:25

Screening for Inherited Cancers - Reaching the Population Health Level

A/Prof Lee Soo Chin 15:25 - 15:40

Precision Prevention in Gastric Cancer

A/Prof Yeoh Khay Guan 15:40 - 15:55

Genetics and Genomes to Identify Potential Therapeutic Targets for Heart

Failure

Prof Roger Foo (Co-chair)

15:55 - 16:05

Opportunities for Biobanks to Extend the Discovery Space

Prof Nancy Cox 16:05 - 16:30

Panel Discussion: Achieving the Major Goals for Precision Medicine

Prof Tai E Shyong (Co-chair), A/Prof Louis Chai, Prof Nancy Cox and A/Prof

Yeoh Khay Guan

16:30 - 17:00

17:00 - 18:00 Oral Presentations

18:00 - 18:15 Prize Giving Ceremony for Summit Award Winners

18:15 End of Day 1

6 September 2019, Friday

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

9

7 September 2019, Saturday

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Time Programme

08:00 - 09:30 Plenary Session (4) : Smart City - Smart Health

Bringing AI to Clinical Implementation at NUHS to Transform Care

Asst Prof Ngiam Kee Yuan 08:00 - 08:15

Bot MD: Empowering Doctors around the World

Ms Dorothea Koh 08:15 - 08:30

Harnessing CURATE.AI to Optimise N-of-1 Medicine

Prof Dean Ho 08:30 - 08:45

Machine Vision in Healthcare

Asst Prof Feng Mengling 08:45 - 09:00

Panel Discussion: How does AI Support Clinical Practice?

Asst Prof Ngiam Kee Yuan (Chair), Asst Prof Feng Mengling, Mr Martin Geh,

Prof Dean Ho and Ms Dorothea Koh

09:00 - 09:30

09:30 - 10:00 Tea Break

10:00 - 11:45 Plenary Session (5) : Adding Life to Years

Translational Geroscience: A New Paradigm for 21st Century Medicine

Prof Matt Kaeberlein 10:00 - 10:15

Adding Years to Life with GUSTO

Prof Johan Eriksson 10:15 - 10:30

Delaying or Reversing Ageing

Prof Brian Kennedy 10:30 - 10:45

Innovations in Prevention and Treatment of Ischaemic Stroke

A/Prof Raymond Seet 10:45 - 11:00

Improving Memory

A/Prof Christopher Chen 11:00 - 11:15

Panel Discussion: How to Effectively Implement Our Translational Findings to

Population Health

A/Prof Alex Cook (Co-Chair), Prof Brian Kennedy (Co-chair), A/Prof Christopher

Chen, Prof Johan Eriksson, Prof Matt Kaeberlein and A/Prof Raymond Seet

11:15 - 11:45

10

Time Progamme

11:45 - 12:30 Lunch

12:30 - 14:00 Plenary Session (6) : Healing from Within

12:30 - 12:50 Harnessing Immune Cells to Fight Cancer: From Lab to Patients

Prof Dario Campana

12:50 - 13:10 Translation of Lipidomic Technologies towards Quantification of Blood Lipids

Prof Markus Wenk

13:10 - 13:30 Reprogramming Microbes into Live Biotherapeutics

A/Prof Matthew Chang

13:30 - 14:00

Panel Discussion: Translating Microbiome Research: From Bench to Bedside

A/Prof Matthew Chang (Chair), Asst Prof Hwang In Young, Adj A/Prof Jeremy

Lim, Adj A/Prof Niranjan Nagarajan and A/Prof Kevin Tan

14:00 End of Plenary Session

14:00 - 16:00 Break

16:00 - 21:00 Medical Grand Challenge (MGC) 2019 Grand Finale Night

16:00 - 16:30 Registration and Viewing of Projects at the Booths

17:00 - 17:25

Welcome Remarks by Prof Chong Yap Seng, Dean, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

MGC Outline by Co-Presidents of Student Organising Committee

Opening Address by Guest-of-Honour, Prof Freddy Boey, Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise), National University of Singapore

17:25 - 18:55 Project Presentations by Shortlisted Teams

18:55 - 20:20 Viewing of Projects at Booths

Dinner Reception

20:20 - 20:30 Presentation by International Team “The Mapping Otoscope”, Bench to

Bedside, University of Utah, United States

20:30 - 20:40 Presentation by International Team “Lily Devices”, National University of

Ireland Galway, Republic of Ireland

20:40 - 20:45

Judging Remarks by Chief Judge, A/Prof John Langell, Vice Dean for

Innovation, University of Utah School of Medicine and Executive Director,

Center for Medical Innovation, University of Utah

20:45 - 21:00 Prize Giving Ceremony

21:00 End of Conference

7 September 2019, Saturday

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

11

Keynote

12

Sir Peter Gluckman was trained as a paediatrician and biomedical

scientist and holds a Distinguished University Professorship in

Paediatric and Perinatal Biology at the Liggins Institute. He heads the

Centre for Science for Policy Diplomacy and Society in the Public

Policy Institute in the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Since 2008,

he has been Chief Scientific Officer at the Singapore Institute for

Clinical Sciences. Sir Peter holds honorary chairs at the University

College London, University of Southampton and National University of

Singapore. He has published over 750 scientific papers in perinatal and

developmental physiology, growth and metabolism, neuroscience and

endocrinology, evolutionary biology and medicine. He has also

authored both technical and popular science books.

Sir Peter is Chair of the International Network of Government Science

Advice (INGSA) and President-Elect of the International Science

Council (ISC). From 2009 to 2018 he was first Chief Science Advisor to

the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Sir Peter chaired the World Health

Organization (WHO) Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity from

2014 to 2017. He has written and spoken extensively on science-

policy, science-diplomacy and science-society interactions. Sir Peter

has received the highest scientific and civilian honours in New Zealand

and numerous international scientific awards. In 2016, he received the

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) award

in Science Diplomacy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London

and the Royal Society of New Zealand, a member of the National

Academy of Medicine, United States, and a Fellow of the Academy of

Medical Sciences, United Kingdom. Sir Peter is also conferred the

Order of New Zealand, the highest honour in the Royal Honours

system in New Zealand, and the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Sir Peter Gluckman

Chief Scientific Officer, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences

President-Elect, International Science Council

Chair, International Network for Government Science Advice

Heads the Centre for Science in Policy, Diplomacy and Society, University of Auckland.

Keynote

13

TOPIC:

The Broad Impact of Balanced Public Investment in Medical Research

Medical science encompasses a broad range of modalities ranging from fundamental molecular

sciences to health services research: the impacts of research vary across these increasingly inter

-related dimensions. Particular public policy challenges emerge because much medical research

does not have the linear nature of solution finding that is common in applied engineering and

physical sciences. Further, the very long time between discovery and application makes

attribution difficult.

It is now recognised that a narrow view of impact has not been helpful; impact must be assessed

in more than narrow academic (e.g. citation rates) or direct economic (e.g. spinouts, royalties)

terms. Broader definitions of impact that include public policy, diplomatic, reputational, human

capital, social and environmental are being adopted. Many of these have indirect impacts on

economic measures but no single metric is possible. Recent evidence from the United Kingdom

shows the indirect benefits of health research – patient outcomes including reduced mortality are

far better in hospitals and clinics undertaking research, even if the research is not directly

affecting the patients involved. This is true even in low level settings.

The impact of population research on public policy will grow for multiple reasons. Big data

approaches will allow much more stratification, molecular understandings will assist and the

potential for more effective approaches to intervention will become easier.

14

Tribute to Dr Sydney Brenner

15

Tribute to Dr Sydney Brenner

~ 1927—2019 ~

Dr Sydney Brenner was a renowned pioneer in molecular biology and Nobel laureate. For his

contributions to Singapore’s R&D journey over three and a half decades, Dr Brenner received

many accolades, including the Distinguished Friends of Singapore in 2000, Honorary Citizen in

2003 and the National Science and Technology Medal in 2006.

Born in Germiston, South Africa, Dr Brenner studied medicine at the University of Witwatersrand

in Johannesburg. As he was too young to qualify for the practice of medicine at the conclusion of

the medical course, he spent a year in the medical bachelor’s course in Anatomy and Physiology

where he experienced academic research first hand.

After completing his PhD in physical chemistry at Oxford University, Dr Brenner returned to

South Africa in 1954 as a lecturer in University of Witwatersrand. In 1956, Dr Brenner joined the

Medical Research Council (MRC) where he developed the C. elegans model to understand

human development. In 1961, together with Dr Francis Crick, he established how the triplet

codon of the genetic code functioned. He also became a co-discoverer of the messenger RNA,

leading to his first Lasker Award.

Between 1977 and 1986, Dr Brenner was Director of the MRC Laboratory. Dr Brenner joined

The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California in 1992. In 1995, Dr Brenner founded The

Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley, California. He was appointed Distinguished Professor

in the Salk Institute in 2000 and was conferred the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002

for his work on the C. elegans model.

Contributions to Singapore Research and Development Landscape

Dr Brenner first visited Singapore in 1983 and was inspired by the vision that Singapore’s

founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, had for Singapore. Over the past three and a half decades,

he guided Singapore on its R&D journey.

The establishment of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) in 1987, in which Dr

Brenner played a pivotal role, is a critical starting point for Singapore’s efforts to develop

biomedical sciences. He served as Chairman on the IMCB’s Scientific Advisory Board from 1987

to 1997. Dr Brenner’s team at IMCB was a key party in the international consortium that

sequenced the pufferfish genomic map in 2002, putting Singapore on the world stage of science.

In 1988, Dr Brenner was a key member of the National Biotechnology Committee to spearhead

the development of biotechnology in Singapore. In 2000, he was appointed co-chair of the newly

formed Biomedical Sciences International Advisory Council and member on the Biomedical

Sciences Executive Committee. In 2001, Dr Brenner was appointed to the A*STAR Board, as

well as the Boards of Biomedical Research Council and Science and Engineering Research

Council. Dr Brenner also played an advisory role in the biomedical sciences investment funds of

the Economic Development Board.

Dr Brenner is a pioneer in starting Singapore along the path to becoming a leading centre of

excellence in biomedical science. We thank Dr Brenner for his contributions to Singapore.

Photo Credit: Molecular Engineering Laboratory, A*STAR

16

Dr Shawn Hoon

Deputy Director, Molecular Engineering Lab, Agency for Science, Technology and Research

Dr Shawn Hoon studied electrical and computer engineering at the

University of Virginia. After his national service, he was introduced to

genomics research when he joined the Institute of Molecular and Cell

Biology. He was a part of the Fugu Genome Project that was initiated

by Dr Sydney Brenner and led by Dr Samuel Aparicio and Dr Byrappa

Venkatesh. Thereafter, he received a scholarship from the Agency for

Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and entered a PhD

programme in Genetics with Dr Ronald W. Davis at Stanford University

where he developed high throughput techniques for studying chemical

genetic interactions and drug mechanism of action using yeast as a

model organism.

Following his PhD, he returned to Singapore where he reconnected

with Dr Brenner and helped establish the Molecular Engineering

Laboratory (MEL). He is presently Deputy Director of MEL and

continues to strive to create a conducive environment where young

scientists with diverse backgrounds spanning immunology,

microbiology, chemistry, computation, molecular biology and

engineering come together to work on multi-disciplinary projects. His

own research interests include single cell biology, gene editing and

genomics.

17

Prof Samuel Aparicio

Nan and Lorraine Robertson Chair in Breast Cancer Research, University of British Columbia

Chair, Department of Breast and Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver

Professor Samuel Aparicio is the Nan and Lorraine Robertson Chair in

Breast Cancer Research at University of British Columbia (UBC), Chair

of the Department of Breast and Molecular Oncology, British Columbia

Cancer Agency (BC Cancer), which is part of the Provincial Health

Services Authority in Vancouver, Canada and Fellow of the Royal

Society of Canada. He has most recently conducted foundational work

on methods for studying the evolution of human cancers using next-

generation sequencing approaches and single cell sequencing

methods. Prof Aparicio is also working to develop quantitative

measures of clonal fitness in patients, including methods for single cell

genome sequencing and patient derived xenograft models of human

cancer.

Topic: Clonal Evolution in Cancer to Single Cell Resolution: Decoding Drug Resistance

and Metastasis

Genome instability and clonal evolution are hallmarks of cancer that underpin the dynamical

behaviour of tumour cell populations over time and space.

Professor Aparicio will describe how genomic methods, including recently single cell genome and

transcriptome sequencing, are helping to define the behaviour of patient tumours and patient

tumour derived model systems.

18

Value-based Healthcare

19

Assistant Professor Diarmuid Murphy graduated from the Royal

College of Surgeons in Ireland. He completed his specialist surgical

training in orthopaedic surgery prior to completing his Fellowship

training in trauma and pelvic surgery. Dr Murphy joined the

Musculoskeletal Trauma Division, National University Hospital (NUH) in

2008. He has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and is

actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

Currently, Dr Murphy is the Director of Clinical Services for the

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Head of the

Musculoskeletal Trauma Division, NUH.

Dr Murphy has been involved with NUH Value Driven Care projects

since 2016. He was appointed Chief Value Officer for NUH in 2018 and

Group Chief Value Officer for National University Health System

(NUHS) in May 2019. He heads a dedicated team that oversees the

collection and analysis of data on the quality and cost of care for

medical and surgical conditions to help drive change through targeted

quality improvement projects.

After completing undergraduate training in India, Dr Faheem Khan

completed his postgraduate training in United Kingdom. He is dual

qualified in emergency medicine and intensive care medicine from

United Kingdom.

Dr Khan is currently working as a Senior Consultant in the Intensive

Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine at Ng Teng Fong General

Hospital. He is the Chair for Hospital Cardiac Life Support Committee.

Additionally, he is the research and audit lead for intensive care

medicine and a clinical lecturer at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,

National University of Singapore.

Asst Prof Diarmuid Murphy (Chair)

Group Chief Value Officer, National University Health System

Head and Senior Consultant, Hand and Musculoskeletal Trauma, Department of Orthopaedics, Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery Cluster, National University Hospital

Director, Clinical Services, Department of Orthopaedics, Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery Cluster, National University Hospital

Dr Faheem Ahmed Khan

Senior Consultant, Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital

20

Associate Professor Keith Lim

Group Chief Value Officer, NUHS

Senior Consultant, Department of Radiation Cardiology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore

Prof Lim Tow Keang

Professor, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Senior Consultant, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, University Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital

Senior Consultant, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore

A/Prof James Yip

Group Chief Medical Informatics Officer, National University Health System

Senior Consultant, Department of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre, Singapore

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor James Yip graduated from National University of

Singapore in 1991 and trained in cardiology at the National University

Hospital (NUH), Singapore. A/Prof Yip was a clinical fellow in Toronto

Congenital Cardiac Centre for Adults in 2001.

A/Prof Yip developed the Cardiology Information System which is in

use in 3 public hospitals in Singapore. For this work and in Closed Loop

Medication Management Systems (CLMMS), he has won for NUH the

National Infocomm awards for best use for infocomm technology in the

public sector in 2004 and 2010. In 2012 and 2018, he was part of the

team award for the National Medical Excellence Award (NMEA) for

CLMMS and Value Driven Outcomes (VDO). He is also the individual

recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Clinical Quality Activist for NMEA.

A/Prof Yip currently serves as the Group Chief Medical Informatics

Officer of NUHS and is the Chief Data Advisor of the Ministry of Health.

He has special interests in the area of telemedicine and population

analytics.

Professor Lim Tow Keang was Head of Respiratory Critical Care

Medicine, National University Health System from 1999 to 2012 when

he implemented the Severe Community Acquired Pneumonia and Non-

Invasive Ventilation for life-threatening Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary

Disease (COPD) Programmes for which he received National Medical

Excellence Awards in 2010 and 2014. Prof Lim received the Master

Clinician Award from the National University Hospital in 2011. As

Director of the Singapore National Asthma Programme, he won

recognition from the World Health Organization's Global Initiatives for

Asthma in 2015. In 2018, Prof Lim also chaired the Ministry of Health,

Singapore, workgroups on COPD integrated care, appropriate care

guides and clinical practice guidelines.

Prof Lim holds MBBS (Distinction) and MMed (Internal Medicine)

degrees from National University of Singapore, is a Fellow of the Royal

College of Physicians of Edinburgh and London, as well as the

Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

21

Disruptive Technologies

22

A/Prof Theodoros Kofidis (Chair)

Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, National University Heart Centre, Singapore

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor Theodoros Kofidis is the Head of Department of

Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery and Senior Consultant

Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the National University Heart Centre,

Singapore. He is also a faculty of the Department of Surgery, Yong Loo

Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. His vision is

to help thousands of patients in Singapore and around the globe

through less traumatic heart surgery.

A/Prof Kofidis has a profound contribution to heart-related research.

His innovations, discoveries and his patents in heart surgery, published

in more than 120 articles in international journals, including Nature,

have earned him international awards, and the honour of invited

lecturer at Bill Gates Research Centre, the American Medical

Association, as well as the National Institutes of Health and Food and

Drug Administration in the United States. He has founded a new

initiative to promote research and innovative technology in surgery

(I.R.I.S.), which helped more than 150 students and postgraduates

start their academic career. He has invented new surgical tools and is

currently developing the “SingValve”. A/Prof Kofidis has founded a

company, Kardia Pte Ltd, to produce such technologies in Singapore.

Topic: Achieving More with Less - Minimally Invasive Heart Procedures

Technological evolution is part of human nature, and it has certainly made its entry into heart

surgery long ago. Minimally invasive heart surgery is not a new kid on the block. It has evolved to

a powerful set of tools and methodologies which can help millions of patients around the world.

Moreover, it is developing into a staple in heart surgery and paves the way for heart surgeries of

the future. The department and institution of Associate Professor Kofidis has closely followed the

trends and started a minimally invasive heart surgery programme in the region, not only by

employing existing modern technology and offering it to patients, but also by contributing new

tools and procedures, hence helping to revolutionise the field and co-shape the future.

In this presentation, Associate Professor Kofidis will survey the heart surgery novelties which has

reached Singapore, the contributions of NUHS to this growing field, as well as discuss what

needs to follow and future prospects.

23

Adj A/Prof Ivor Lim

Founding Director, CellResearch Corporation

Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Adjunct Associate Professor Ivor Lim received his undergraduate

medical training at Cambridge University and St. Thomas' Hospital,

London, and qualified MBBChir, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of both the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and the Royal College of

Surgeons of Glasgow. He also holds the Master of Medicine (Surgery)

from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is double exit

certified in both Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery from the Academy of

Medicine, Singapore and from the Intercollegiate Specialty Boards in

the United Kingdom, with Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons

(Plastic Surgery) qualifications.

Academically, A/Prof Lim has been a faculty of the Department of

Surgery, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine since 1992. It was here

that he started his research on scar biology and umbilical cord lining

stem cell biology with his close friend and colleague A/Prof Phan Toan

Thang. He remains to this day an Adjunct Associate Professor in

Surgery and continues to teach and conduct research at NUS. His

private practice clinic is at the Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital,

Singapore.

A/Prof Lim is one of the Founding Directors of Singaporean

biotechnology company, CellResearch Corporation, which focuses on

umbilical cord lining stem cell research and development. Its cord lining

stem cell technology has been awarded 44 patents in 40 territories

around the world and currently encompasses cell banking techniques,

cellular therapeutics, as well as stem cell protein cosmeceuticals. The

United States Food and Drug Administration has approved a Phase I

clinical trial using its cGMP-grade umbilical cord lining mesenchymal

stem cells (CorLiCyte®) for the closure of chronic diabetic foot ulcers.

Topic: Educated Guesses, Lofty Aspirations, Hard Realities

Ideas are free, and to be able to catch one by its wings and bring it back to ground is a wonderful

feeling indeed. For doctors, the next step is to bring this good idea into the wards for the patient’s

benefit.

The transition from bench research to bedside application seems very straightforward at first

glance, but it is not until the first steps are taken that one realises the numerous hurdles that have

to be surmounted in order to achieve this.

In the best interests of the patient, this translational sequence is prescriptive and tedious, but it

pays no heed to other essentials crucial for the translational effort to be truly successful.

This presentation shares the journey of CellResearch Corporation from the time of its founding in

2002.

24

Prof Peter Zilla

Head, Chris Barnard Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Cape Town

Chief Executive Officer, Strait Access Technologies

The academic qualifications of Professor Peter Zilla includes a MD

degree from the University of Vienna, DrMed degree from the

University of Zurich, PD (PhD equivalent) degree from University of

Vienna and PhD degree from the University of Cape Town. He is a

registered general, vascular and cardiothoracic surgeon. After 3 years

in basic science at the University Zurich from 1981 to 1983, Prof Zilla

did his surgical residency at the University Hospital Vienna from 1983

to 1989. This was followed by a senior residency at the University

Hospital Zurich from 1989 to 1990. Prof Zilla held staff-surgeon

positions in Austria and Cape Town and has been Head of the Chris

Barnard Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery for the past two decades.

Prof Zilla has published more than 200 full papers. He holds over 40

United States/Patent Cooperation Treaty patents and has a h-index of

47. Prof Zilla is Chief Executive Officer of Strait Access Technologies, a

medical device company focusing on transcatheter heart valves that

are durable and designed for young patients, low priced and easy to

place without the need to stop the heart. After an overall investment of

US$25 million, first-in-man implants have successfully commenced.

Topic: The Reverse-flow of Disruptive Technologies

Due to the unacknowledged prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in low- to middle-income

countries (LMICs), many more patients are in need of cardiac surgery in these regions than in

high-income countries (HICs). Together with limited access to cardiac surgery, resource and

skills constraints and largely young patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds LMICs are

the ideal site for the development of truly innovative transcatheter heart valve technologies.

Although HICs lack the urgency for developing such products, they are likely to eventually adopt

them in a reverse flow of innovation once these concepts were proven in the young patients and

under the adverse circumstances of LMICs. Polymeric transcatheter heart valves, placeable

without sophisticated imaging equipment, long-lasting, and delivered through simple and non-

occlusive deployment systems are a prime example for such an anticipated reverse-flow of

disruptive technologies.

25

A/Prof Phan Toan Thang

Founding Director and Group Chief Scientific Officer, CellResearch Corp

Research Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Research Associate Professor Phan Toan Thang had a strong interest

in wound healing since the earliest days of his medical and scientific

career in Vietnam. Prior to being a faculty at the Department of

Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of

Singapore, A/Prof Phan completed his post-doctoral research at the

Stanford University Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative

Medicine and spent 2 years at the Wound Healing Institute and

Department of Dermatology in Oxford, England. He arrived in

Singapore in 1997 to join the Department of Plastic Surgery at the

Singapore General Hospital.

In 1998, he met A/Prof Ivor Lim, and together they established the

Wound Healing and Stem Cell Research Group focusing on skin and

keloid scar biology. The Group was the first in the world to explore the

role of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in keloid pathogenesis, and

is now one of the world leaders in keloid and scar biology research.

A/Prof Phan has authored over 80 publications in international journals

and 2 book chapters. He holds more than 40 patents and founded

multiple biotechnology and healthcare companies in Singapore and

Vietnam. His recent innovative research work is the discovery of a

novel source of stem cells from the umbilical cord lining membrane

with translational potential for regenerative medicine, tissue

engineering and cell-based therapy.

26

Precision Health

27

Prof Tai E Shyong (Co-Chair)

Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore

Senior Consultant, Division of Endocrinology, National University Hospital

Professor Tai E Shyong is an endocrinologist with a special interest in

obesity, type 2 diabetes and dyslipidaemia. He works actively to

identify genetic variants associated with these disorders and

understanding how they lead to disease, with a view to using this

information for target identification and the development of novel

therapies.

Prof Tai is the Programme Director of the Centre for Precision Health

(CPH), which is set up to form the core for translational research and

clinical implementation for precision health in the National University

Health System (NUHS). CPH aims to gel the many aspects behind

precision medicine by bringing together local efforts on -omics analysis,

bioinformatics, health service research and ethics, patient data

analytics, data sharing, patient engagement, clinical trials and

implementation of clinical pathways to develop new methods of disease

management and evaluation of effectiveness. Strategic disease areas

identified include acute myeloid leukaemia, diabetic kidney disease,

familial hypercholesterolemia, and pharmacogenomics.

Prof Tai is also the Co-Chair of the Precision Medicine Steering

Committee and works with them to develop a national strategy for

precision medicine in Singapore.

Topic: Overview of NUHS Efforts in Precision Medicine

Large amounts of data are becoming available within the healthcare system. When combined

with novel genomic technologies for interrogating biological processes, these data provide

powerful tools for predicting disease, developing novel treatments, and delivering the right

treatment to the right patient at the right time. The Centre for Precision Health (CPH) has begun

a series of initiatives over the past 4 years, which are closely aligned with a national precision

medicine strategy. In particular, CPH has been focused on building capacity in data analytics,

building bio-repositories, and implementation of genomics in clinical practice in the most cost-

effective way possible.

28

Associate Professor Lee Soo Chin obtained her medical degrees from

the National University of Singapore and the Royal College of

Physicians, United Kingdom. She completed a Fellowship in cancer

genetics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, United States. A/Prof

Lee specialises in breast cancer is currently Head and Senior

Consultant in the Department of Haematology-Oncology and Associate

Director of Research at the National University Cancer Institute,

Singapore (NCIS), as well as Senior Principal Investigator at the

Cancer Science Institute, Singapore. A/Prof Lee is a member of the

Singapore Ministry of Health Specialist Accreditation Board for Medical

Oncology and ex-Chairperson of the Chapter of Medical Oncologists,

Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

A/Prof Lee’s research focus is on breast cancer, pharmacogenetics and

cancer genetics. She directs the Cancer Genetics programme at NCIS.

She also directs the Haematology-Oncology Research Group, which

supports over 150 Phase I to III therapeutics clinical trials in solid

tumours and haematological malignancies at NCIS. She has more than

160 peer-reviewed publications, including articles in Nature Medicine

and New England Journal of Medicine.

A/Prof Lee Soo Chin

Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore

Associate Director (Research), National University Cancer Institute, Singapore

Associate Professor and Senior Principal Investigator, Cancer Science

Topic: Screening for Inherited Cancers - Reaching the Population Health Level

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in Singapore and in most developed countries.

Approximately 5 to 10% of all cancers are attributable to a major hereditary cause. The United

States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has identified genetic testing for BRCA1/2 for

hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome, and the mismatch repair genes for Lynch

syndrome as Tier 1 genetic tests, because of the public health burden associated with these

diseases and clear steps can be taken to improve health and prevent disease.

Traditionally, genetic testing for these conditions starts with an index patient who fulfils personal

cancer or family history criteria. Identification of a causative mutation in index patients can then

lead to cascade testing in cancer-free family members to identify additional at-risk individuals

who will benefit from early screening and preventive strategies. The ultimate goal is to reduce

cancer incidence and mortality along with reduction in health spending.

Current challenges to scale up genetic testing include insufficient knowledge among healthcare

providers, limited access to genetic counselling services, reluctance of index patients to share

results, and unwillingness of cancer-free family members to undergo cascade testing in part due

to fear of insurance discrimination. In order to identify more cancer gene mutation carriers for

early screening and prevention so as to have an impact on population health, efforts should be

made to improve genetic knowledge among healthcare providers, enable access to genetic

counselling services, as well as establish structured programmes to manage the medical and

non-medical concerns of cancer-free mutation carriers.

29

Associate Professor Yeoh Khay Guan is Deputy Chief Executive,

National University Health System and faculty member of the National

University of Singapore. He practices as a Senior Consultant at the

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, National University

Hospital (NUH). As Deputy Chief Executive, he oversees clinical care

planning and health system transformation for the National University

Health System. He served as Dean of the NUS School of Medicine

from 2011 to 2018.

A/Prof Yeoh‘s research interest is in enhancing the early detection of

gastric and colorectal cancers. He is the Lead Principal Investigator of

the Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium, a national flagship

research group, and chairs the National Colorectal Cancer Screening

Committee of the Health Promotion Board, Ministry of Health. He has

published over 170 peer-reviewed papers in international journals, 9

book chapters and has a h-index of 50 with over 7,700 citations. He

was awarded the National Medical Excellence Award as Outstanding

Clinician Scientist by the Ministry of Health, Singapore in 2013.

Topic: Precision Prevention in Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Our aim should be to

detect GC at an early stage which enables cure. A/Prof Yeoh’s team have identified novel risk

stratification approaches to assist early detection.

Blood-based biomarker to detect GC

Using a proprietary qPCR platform, A/Prof Yeoh’s team identified a panel of serum miRNAs that

differentiates GC from normal controls with a predictive accuracy of over 90%. This novel

screening test can be applied in high-risk populations to reduce the need for endoscopies.

Molecular test to identify high-risk intestinal metaplasia (IM)

IM is a premalignant condition that increases risk of GC by up to 6-fold. A/Prof Yeoh’s team

performed comprehensive genomic profiling of IM which identified 3 main genomic alterations

associated with disease progression from IM to GC.

In conclusion, early detection is a principal strategy to improve survival but hitherto hampered by

a huge population at risk, inadequate compliance and compounded by the acceptance of

invasive endoscopy. A screening strategy utilizing these novel tools will enable precision

prevention of GC by focusing efforts on individuals at the highest risk.

A/Prof Yeoh Khay Guan

Deputy Chief Executive, National University Health System

Senior Consultant, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital

Lead Principal Investigator, Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

30

Prof Roger Foo (Co-Chair)

Professor, Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Senior Consultant, Department of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre, Singapore

Senior Investigator, Genome Institute of Singapore

Dr Roger Foo is a Professor at the Department of Medicine, National

University of Singapore (NUS), and Senior Consultant lead for the

Cardiac Genetics Clinic, National University Heart Centre, Singapore.

He is a graduate of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and

spent 20 years abroad before returning to Singapore in 2013. Prof Foo

undertook specialist training at Kings College Hospital, London, and

Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. He was awarded the United

Kingdom Wellcome Trust Fellowship to pursue post-doctoral research

at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and proceeded to

Cambridge as a British Heart Foundation Fellow and Consultant

Physician.

Prof Foo’s laboratory was the first to publish an epigenomic map of the

failing human heart in 2012. More recently, his laboratory had

published an in-depth analysis of the cardiac chromatin 3D

organisation, and discovered a long noncoding RNA which regulates

key cardiac gene programmes. Prof Foo is also a keen advocate for

the application of genomics in the clinic. He leads the Rare Disease

research programme, SUREkids, at the Agency for Science,

Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. SUREkids has

developed a clinical whole exome sequencing pipeline which is ready

for clinical use in Singapore and regionally.

Topic: Genetics and Genomes to Identify Potential Therapeutic Targets for Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) is a global cause of serious mortality and morbidity, and a particularly worrying

and exploding healthcare burden in Asia. In Singapore, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the

single largest cause of deaths (30%), equating to 16 CVD deaths per day. Over 30% of hospital

admissions are attributed to HF. Upon HF diagnosis, 5-year mortality is over 50%. New and

game-changing therapeutic approaches are urgently needed.

The low mitosis rate of cardiac myocytes and paucity of endogenous cardiac progenitors in adult

hearts mean that the heart does not have any innate capacity for “self-healing”. Yet, medicines

today do not reverse the root cause of HF, which is cardiac insufficiency. Thus the “holy grail” for

next-generation game-changing HF therapy is cardiac regeneration.

Using single cell genomics and gene network analysis (See et al, Nat Commun 2017; Ackers-

Johnson et al, Nat Commun 2018), Professor Foo’s laboratory identified singular non-coding

RNA targets that are central to cardiac myocyte gene expression control. One of these targets,

named Singheart, is activated in a sub-population of cardiac myocytes during heart disease

stress. Suppressing Singheart rescues HF, triggers cardiac cell dedifferentiation, resetting the

contractile capacity of the heart. Professor Foo’s study reveals an unexpected endogenous

potential for cardiac regeneration in adult cardiac myocytes. Targeted inhibition of Singheart

holds the potential for therapeutic approaches in cardiac regeneration.

31

Prof Nancy Cox

Mary Phillips Edmonds Gray Professor of Genetic and Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Centre

Director, Vanderbilt Genetics Institute and the Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Centre

Professor Nancy J Cox is the Mary Phillips Edmonds Gray Professor of

Genetics and Medicine, and Director of the Vanderbilt Genetics

Institute and the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University

Medical Center. She earned a BS degree in Biology at the University of

Notre Dame in 1978, a PhD degree in Human Genetics at Yale

University in 1982, and did post-doctoral research at Washington

University and the University of Pennsylvania before joining the

University of Chicago in 1987, where she spent 28 years.

Prof Cox is a computational scientist with a long-standing research

programme in identifying and characterising the genetic component to

common human diseases and complex traits, and her most recent

research focuses on integrating genome variation with genome

function and electronic health records in BioVU, the biobank at

Vanderbilt University, with over 250,000 DNA samples, to further these

long-term goals.

Topic: Opportunities for Biobanks to Extend the Discovery Space

Biobanks provide the opportunity to both detect and exploit pleiotropy. While it has long been

appreciated that Mendelian diseases driven by mutations at a single gene can comprise a

number of subphenotypes affecting multiple organs, the same kind of broad pleiotropy is now

being observed for common regulatory variants acting through one or more genes or other

functional units (e.g. long non-coding RNAs).

In BioVU, the biobank at Vanderbilt University, over 250,000 DNA samples are linked to a high

quality electronic health record going back an average of 10 to 15 years, and up to 30 years in

some individuals. PrediXcan (Gamazon et al 2015, Nat Genet) was used, with SNP-based

predictors of gene expression built from 44 tissues in GTEx, to create a gene x medical phenome

catalogue in which the genetically predicted expression of each gene in each tissue is associated

with more than 1,100 medical phenome codes. This is a gene-based phenome-wide association

study, to discover for each gene, “What does the natural variation in the expression of this gene

associate with across the medical phenome?” The Phenome Risk Score (PheRS) was also used

to create scores for Mendelian diseases and for pleiotropic phenome to identify additional genes

associated to that phenome set.

Professor Cox will describe how BioVU uses PrediXcan and PheRS to explore using pleiotropy to

enhance the targets for discovery.

32

A/Prof Louis Chai

Associate Professor , Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Senior Consultant, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital

Dr Louis Chai is Senior Consultant in the Division of Infectious

Diseases, University Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital

(NUH) and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Yong

Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. He is a

Principal Investigator in the Opportunistic Infections Group, Division of

Infectious Diseases, NUH. A/Prof Chai’s interests lie in opportunistic

and atypical infections in immunocompromised hosts, patients with

altered immunity and host-pathogen interaction. These are also the

themes of his research group. He remains deeply entrenched at the

bedside in providing clinical service for general infectious diseases and

internal medicine. A/Prof Chai is funded by the National Medical

Research Council of Singapore and National University Health System

(NUHS).

33

Smart City - Smart Health

34

Assistant Professor Ngiam Kee Yuan is the Group Chief Technology

Officer of the National University Health System (NUHS). He also

serves as the Chief Advisor to the Centre for Innovation in Healthcare in

NUHS. Dr Ngiam is concurrently the Deputy Chief Medical Informatics

Officer at the National University Hospital (NUH) with a special focus on

artificial intelligence (AI) research and implementation in healthcare. He

has certification training by the American Medical Informatics

Association and has published in computing and medical journals on

topics related to healthcare AI applications and technology.

Dr Ngiam is a Senior Consultant Thyroid and Endocrine Surgeon at the

Department of Surgery, NUH, specialising in thyroid oncology and

minimally invasive endoscopic and robotic thyroid surgery.

In his capacity as Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Yong

Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS), Dr

Ngiam engages in research into endocrine and metabolic surgery, as

well as AI applications in healthcare. He promotes interdisciplinary

collaboration throughout the NUS campus, particularly between the

schools of medicine, engineering and computer science for various

healthcare applications. He was awarded the ExxonMobil-NUS

Research Fellowship for Clinicians and numerous teaching awards for

his work in research and education.

Topic: Bringing AI to Clinical Implementation at NUHS to Transform Care

Analysis of big data by machine learning offers considerable advantages for assimilation and

evaluation of large amounts of complex healthcare data. However, to effectively use machine

learning tools in healthcare, several limitations must be addressed and key issues considered,

such as its clinical implementation and ethics in healthcare delivery. Advantages of machine

learning include flexibility and scalability compared with traditional biostatistical methods, which

makes it deployable for many tasks, such as risk stratification, diagnosis and classification, and

survival predictions. Another advantage of machine learning algorithms is the ability to analyse

diverse data types (e.g. demographic data, laboratory findings, imaging data, and doctors’ free-

text notes) and incorporate them into predictions for disease risk, diagnosis, prognosis, and

appropriate treatments. Despite these advantages, the application of machine learning in health-

care delivery also presents unique challenges that require data preprocessing, model training,

and refinement of the system with respect to the actual clinical problem. Also crucial are ethical

considerations, which include medico-legal implications, doctors’ understanding of machine

learning tools, and data privacy and security. In this talk, we discuss some of the benefits and

challenges of big data and machine learning in healthcare.

Asst Prof Ngiam Kee Yuan (Chair)

Group Chief Technology Officer, National University Health System

Deputy Chief Medical Informatics Officer, National University Hospital

Senior Consultant, Division of General Surgery (Thyroid and Endocrine Surgery), Department of Surgery, University Surgical Cluster, National University Hospital

Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

35

Ms Dorothea Koh

Founder and CEO, Bot MD

Ms Dorothea Koh is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bot

MD, a Y Combinator-backed start-up that is building a smartphone-

based artificial intelligence (AI) assistant for doctors.

Prior to this, Ms Koh was the General Manager of Baxter Indonesia,

Singapore and Philippines where she was responsible for country-wide

operations in these markets. She joined Baxter in 2012 and held a

number of roles across several geographies including Baxter China

where she led an innovation team to create new business models for

the Chinese market. She began her career in the Singapore Economic

Development Board before joining Medtronic as Senior Manager,

Business Development and Strategy.

Ms Koh graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University

with a BS degree in Biomedical Engineering and Economics, and

received her MS degree in Bioengineering from Stanford

University. She is also an alumni of the Stanford Biodesign Innovation

programme and currently has 8 patents published and pending.

Topic: Bot MD: Empowering Doctors around the world

Bot MD is a Y Combinator-backed start-up building a smartphone AI assistant for doctors.

The AI provides instant answers to clinical queries including questions on drugs, clinical

guidelines, medical calculators and more.

Currently, Bot MD is used by doctors in over 60 countries globally including some of the largest

emerging markets like Indonesia, India, Philippines and Brazil.

36

Professor Dean Ho is currently Provost’s Chair Professor and Director

of the N.1 Institute for Health, a translational research institute that is

clinically validating novel technology platforms to optimise N-of-1

medicine. Prof Ho has served as the President of

the Board of Directors of the Society for Laboratory Automation and

Screening (SLAS), a global drug development organisation with over

22,000 members and comprised senior executives from the

pharmaceutical and medical device sectors, as well as academic

visionaries. Prof Ho was recently elected to the United States National

Academy of Inventors (NAI). He was also named a Fulbright Scholar.

He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological

Engineering (AIMBE) and Society for Laboratory Automation and

Screening. He is also a recipient of the National Science Foundation

CAREER Award, Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational

Research Award, V Foundation for Cancer Research V Scholar Award,

International Association for Dental Research (IADR) William J. Gies

Award, IADR Young Investigator Award, and Distinguished Young

Alumnus award of the University of California, Los Angeles, School of

Engineering. His work has been widely featured in international news

outlets including The Economist, CNN, Washington Post, National

Geographic Channel, and Forbes, among others.

Topic: Harnessing CURATE.AI to Optimise N-of-1 Medicine

Combination therapy has served as a foundational treatment strategy for indications ranging from

solid and haematologic oncology to infectious diseases, among many others. Conventional

approaches to combination therapy design include drug selection followed by dose finding,

relying on population-based approaches in order to achieve drug synergy. Once these

combinations are designed, the drugs are often administered at fixed doses. In addition, once

patients undergo treatment, their response to that treatment may vary over time, possibly

necessitating the dynamic variation of drug doses in order to sustain treatment optimisation.

To address these challenges, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a suitable strategy in that

it is capable of simultaneously optimising drug selection and dosing for combination design, as

well as systematically identifying drug doses to realise optimal efficacy and safety for the entire

duration of care. To highlight the important role that AI can have on clinical trial and therapeutic

innovation, this talk will discuss Prof Ho’s recent prospective clinical oncology,

immunosuppression, and digital therapeutics studies using CURATE.AI, a powerful interventional

AI platform that uses only a patient’s own data to manage the patient’s own regimen.

Prof Dean Ho

Provost’s Chair Professor, National University of Singapore

Director, The N.1 Institute for Health

Head, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore

37

Asst Prof Feng Mengling

Assistant Professor, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore

Senior Assistant Director, Academic Informatics Office, National University Health System

Assistant Professor Feng Mengling’s research is to develop effective

data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to extract

actionable knowledge to improve the quality of care. His research

brings together concepts and tools across machine learning,

optimisation, signal processing, statistical causal inference and big

data management. In particular, he has been publishing on

physiological signal forecasting, modelling of disease progress

trajectory, dynamic patient phenotyping, statistical understanding of

treatment effects and management of heterogeneous medical big data.

Dr Feng works closely with clinicians around the world, and he also

collaborates with major healthcare and IT companies, such as MSD,

Philips and SAP. Dr Feng’s work was recognised by both well-

established journals, such as Science Translational Medicine, Journal

of the American Medical Association, Intensive Care Medicine and top

international conferences, such as Knowledge Discovery in Databases

(KDD), Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)

and American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).

Topic: Machine Vision in Healthcare

Medical imaging seeks to unveil the internal structures hidden by the skin and bones to assist

disease diagnosis and also treatment optimisation. In the past, processing medical images used

to be a laborious task. However, the development of artificial intelligence has allowed the

machine to gain a high level of understanding to perceive and extract information from biomedical

images. Deep learning models, in particular, the convolutional neural networks (CNNs), were

developed and implemented successfully for various biomedical applications. Therefore, it is of

paramount importance for healthcare practitioners to understand the mechanisms behind the

implemented CNNs to accurately interpret their outcomes. This talk will explain the fundamentals

of CNNs with several case studies.

38

Mr Martin Geh

Managing Director, Devices and Services Partnerships, Google Asia Pacific

Mr Martin Geh is a senior executive with 30 years of experience in the

technology and telecoms sectors, spanning the United States and Asia

with global leaders.

He is currently Managing Director of Google’s Hardware Business in

Asia Pacific, responsible for the success of products, such as Pixel

phones and Chromecast devices. Prior to Google, he was Managing

Director of Logitech’s Asia Pacific and Japan Region Business Unit,

President for Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel Lucent) Asia Pacific, as

well as Vice President and Managing Director at Apple Computer (Asia

Pacific). He started his career at Intel, where he was responsible for

strategic original equipment manufacturer accounts like Dell, Hewlett

Packard and IBM in Asia Pacific.

Mr Geh has served on the Board of Advisors of Malaysia’s Multimedia

Super Corridor, a strategic government project. He was also a member

of the boards of Zetex Semiconductors and Volex PLC, which are listed

in the United Kingdom. He currently serves on the digital advisory

board of the National Gallery of Singapore.

39

Adding Life to Years

40

Prof Matt Kaeberlein

Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Washington

Founding Director, Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute, University of Washington

Dr Matt Kaeberlein is a Professor of Pathology, Adjunct Professor of

Genome Sciences, and Adjunct Professor of Oral Health Sciences at

the University of Washington. His research interests are focused on

basic mechanisms of ageing to facilitate translational interventions that

promote healthspan and improve quality of life. He has published

nearly 200 papers in top scientific journals and recognised by several

prestigious awards. He was also featured in major media outlets

including appearing on the front page of the New York Times, the

Today Show, CNN, Popular Science, Time Magazine, Scientific

American, USA Today, National Geographic, and many others. In

addition to his primary appointments, Prof Kaeberlein is the co-Director

of the University of Washington Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in

the Basic Biology of Aging, the founding Director of the Healthy Aging

and Longevity Research Institute at the University of Washington, and

founder and co-Director of the Dog Aging Project.

Topic: Translational Geroscience: A New Paradigm for 21st Century Medicine

Advances in geroscience are allowing scientists and clinicians, for the first time, to consider

interventions aimed at directly targeting the hallmarks of ageing. Unlike disease-specific

approaches, such interventions have the potential to prevent multiple diseases of ageing

simultaneously, thereby greatly enhancing health span for most individuals. Initial clinical data

indicates that geroprotective compounds such as rapamycin, senolytics, and metformin may be

effective at delaying or reversing age-related disease in otherwise healthy elderly people and

companion animals. Here, Prof Kaeberlein will discuss current opportunities and challenges for

translational geroscience, which he believes will become the paradigm for the practice of

medicine in the 21st century.

41

Professor Johan G Eriksson specialised in internal medicine and general practice at the University of Helsinki, Finland. In 1995, he initiated Helsinki Birth Cohort Study which is globally unique thanks to its long follow-up from preconception to 80 years of age. Besides life-course epidemiology, he is interested in prevention of type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes mellitus and related metabolic outcomes. Prof Eriksson has over 700 peer-reviewed publications and his h-index is 107. He was listed by Clairwater Analytics as one highly cited researcher in 2018. This list recognises world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance, demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in Web of Science. From 2019, Prof Eriksson is working full time in Singapore focusing on Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) and Singapore PREconception Study of long-Term maternal and child Outcomes (S-PRESTO) cohorts.

Topic: Adding Years to Life with GUSTO

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis proposes that several non-communicable diseases have their origins in prenatal life and in early childhood. This is believed to work through early life programming taking place at sensitive and plastic periods of development. This may have lifelong consequences, increasing and programming disease risk later in life as well as influencing overall health span.

The Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study comprises one of the most carefully and deeply phenotyped birth cohorts including over 1000 mother-child dyads followed up from pregnancy until 9 years. The GUSTO study enables examination of the roles of foetal and childhood developmental and epigenetic factors in pathways to disease and overall health.

Within the GUSTO study, certain distinct early growth patterns associated with risk factors for non-communicable diseases have been identified. These will be discussed as well as potential underlying mechanisms explaining these growth trajectories and preventive measures.

Early life programming during sensitive periods of development may permanently program future health. Optimising the health and lifestyle of women of reproductive age and their offspring will have long term positive health effects adding life to years.

Prof Johan Eriksson

Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Professor, Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki

42

Prof Brian Kennedy (Co-Chair)

Distinguished Professor, Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Director, Centre for Healthy Ageing, National University Health System

Professor Brian Kennedy is internationally recognised for his research

in the basic biology of ageing and as a visionary committed to

translating research discoveries into new ways of delaying, detecting,

and preventing human ageing and associated diseases. He is a

Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology at

National University Singapore and Director of the Centre for Healthy

Ageing in the National University Health System. From 2010 to 2016 he

was the President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on

Ageing. Currently he remains as a Professor at the Institute. Prof

Kennedy also has an adjunct appointment at the University of Southern

California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. In addition, Prof

Kennedy is also actively involved Biotechnology companies, serving in

consulting and Board capacities, as well as Scientific Director of

Affirmativ Health. Prof Kennedy also serves as a Co-Editor-In-Chief at

Aging Cell.

Topic: Delaying or Reversing Ageing

There is a growing sense that a holistic understanding of ageing biology may be achievable. This

would represent a tremendous advance in our collective biological understanding and afford

opportunities for novel interventions to enhance human health span. Ageing is the biggest risk

factor for the major chronic diseases growing in prominence throughout the globe, which include

cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer. If ageing can be slowed,

the effect would be simultaneous protection from many of these chronic diseases, leading to

lower healthcare costs and an extension of health span, the disease-free and functional period of

life. One strategy is to use animal model organisms to find common pathways that modulate

ageing and then to seek methods for their manipulation in humans. The target of rapamycin

(TOR) pathway is one point of convergence and a clinically approved drug targeting the TOR

kinase, rapamycin, extends murine lifespan and health span. Interestingly, mTOR inhibition has

strong anti-inflammatory properties during ageing and part of its protective effects may be

through preserved immune function and inhibition of the secreted inflammatory factors produced

by senescent cells. Many more small molecules are being added to the list of anti-ageing

compounds.

Professor Kennedy will summarise the ageing field and use examples to conceptualise how agents extending health span might be developed to improve human health. We are now entering a stage in ageing research where it is imperative to test ageing interventions in humans. The potential to directly impact human health span is emerging from ageing research and this approach, if successful, will have global impact.

43

A/Prof Raymond Seet

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Senior Consultant, Division of Neurology, University Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital

Associate Professor Raymond Seet is a Senior Consultant at the

Division of Neurology, National University Hospital and Senior Clinician

Scientist with the National Medical Research Council, Singapore. After

completing his undergraduate and postgraduate training in Singapore,

he completed his advanced Fellowship in stroke and neurocritical care

at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, before being conferred Fellowship in the

College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and Academy of Medicine,

Singapore. A/Prof Seet presently chairs the Chapter of Neurologists

and is President-elect of the Clinical Neuroscience Society, Singapore.

A/Prof Seet’s research aims to prevent stroke within the community,

improve outcomes of patients undergoing reperfusion treatment and

prevent the development of further vascular recurrence. A/Prof Seet

has published over 150 international peer-reviewed articles and has

been recognised through research awards for his contributions. He is

presently in the editorial board of Stroke and Associate Editor of the

Annals, Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

Topic: Innovations in Prevention and Treatment of Ischaemic Stroke

The rising prevalence of ischaemic stroke, propelled by a rapidly ageing population, is a cause

for concern in Singapore. This talk aims to describe novel discoveries by Associate Professor

Seet’s group in the pursuit of (1) identifying individuals at high-risk for ischaemic stroke, (2)

improving the delivery of care and outcomes of stroke patients undergoing reperfusion treatment,

and (3) identifying high-risk patients for recurrent vascular events. This talk highlights the need to

leverage on advances in molecular biology and technology to deliver a solution to inform stroke

risks and to tailor a personalised treatment strategy.

44

Dr Christopher Chen is a Senior Clinician Scientist, Associate Professor at the Departments of Pharmacology and Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, and Director of the Memory Ageing and Cognition Centre, National University Health System.

His pre-clinical studies were at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, and his clinical training was at New College, University of Oxford. A/Prof Chen was elected the Janssen Junior Research Fellow at Worcester College, University of Oxford and was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Neurology, London.

Since returning to Singapore, A/Prof Chen has developed multi-disciplinary research programmes with extensive international collaborations. His major research and clinical interests are in neuroimaging, blood biomarkers and treatment of stroke and dementia. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, serves on journal editorial boards and has been a member of trial steering committees and advisory panels.

Topic: Improving Memory

Our memories are crucial to who we are as human beings. Declining thinking and memory rank among the top fears people have as they age. Dementia is a rapidly growing public health problem affecting around 50 million people globally and will affect nearly 75 million in 2030 and over 131 million in 2050 unless interventions are identified to prevent, slow progression, or cure Alzheimer's disease and other disorders such as stroke that cause dementia.

Genes play a role in dementia and memory loss, but so do lifestyle choices. New guidelines issued by the World Health Organization suggest that people can reduce their risk of dementia by exercising regularly, not smoking, avoiding harmful use of alcohol and eating a healthy diet. Living a mentally and socially active life is also important.

The 2-year Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) was the first large, long-term randomised controlled trial demonstrating that a multidomain lifestyle-based intervention can improve cognitive function in older adults at elevated risk of developing dementia. Novel culturally appropriate approaches are required to address the challenge of preventing cognitive impairment in ageing populations globally. The SINgapore GERiatric intervention study to reduce physical frailty and cognitive decline (SINGER) pilot study aims to evaluate both novel culturally appropriate interventions and the feasibility of implementing an adapted FINGER protocol in Singaporeans. The eventual goal is to undertake a large trial in community-dwelling elderly at risk for cognitive impairment and dementia.

A/Prof Christopher Chen

Director, Memory Ageing and Cognition Centre, National University Health System

Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Visiting Senior Consultant, Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

45

A/Prof Alex Cook (Co-Chair)

Vice Dean (Research) and Domain Leader (Biostatistics and Modelling), Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor, Department of Statistics and Applied Probability, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor, Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore

Dr Alex Cook is an Associate Professor in the Saw Swee Hock

School of Public Health (SSHSPH) at the National University of

Singapore (NUS), where he is also the Vice Dean of Research and

the Domain Leader of the Biostatistics and Modelling Domain. He

also holds joint appointments at the Duke-NUS Medical School

Singapore, at the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability,

NUS. He works on infectious disease modelling and statistics,

including dengue, influenza and other respiratory pathogens, and on

population modelling to assess the effect of evolving demographics

on non-communicable diseases such as diabetes.

46

Healing from Within

47

Prof Dario Campana Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Professor Dario Campana obtained his MD and PhD degrees in Italy,

where he received his clinical training in haematology. He trained as a

scientist at the Royal Free Hospital, University of London, England,

before moving to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis,

where he was Full Member in the Departments of Oncology and

Pathology, and Professor of Paediatrics at the University of

Tennessee.

He is currently Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, Yong Loo

Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, and the Mrs

Lee Kong Chian Chair in Advanced Cellular Therapy. He is a recipient

of consecutive Singapore Translational Research Investigator awards,

holds several patents, and is the scientific founder of 3 biotechnology

companies. Prof Campana’s main interest is translational research in

oncology, focusing on immunotherapy of leukaemia, lymphoma and

solid tumours.

Topic: Harnessing Immune Cells to Fight Cancer: From Lab to Patients

Immune cells can be engineered to recognise and kill tumour cells while sparing healthy tissues.

Recent clinical trials with T-cells redirected against leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma through

the expression of chimeric antigen receptors (“CAR”) have validated the potential of immune cells

as living drugs to treat cancer. Infusion of CAR-T cells in children and young adults with drug-

resistant leukaemia and lymphoma at National University Health System has produced dramatic

and durable remissions. The clinical efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy has stimulated great interest

in this area of translational research, encouraged efforts to further improve efficacy and curb

toxicity, and renewed the enthusiasm for exploring the potential of other immune cells.

The laboratory of Prof Campana developed one of the early CARs, which became the key

component of the first FDA-approved CAR-T cell product. Recent research has brought

significant improvements to this technology, and expanded it to target T-cell malignancies. Prof

Campana’s team has also developed a receptor (antibody-coupled T-cell receptor, ACTR) which

endows T-cells with antibody-dependent cell cytotoxic capacity, markedly enhancing the effect of

therapeutic antibodies. ACTR is currently being tested in clinical trials enrolling patients with

lymphoma, myeloma and breast cancer.

Finally, methods to expand and genetically engineer natural killer cells have been established,

leading to several first-in-human clinical trials for patients with leukaemia and solid tumours. The

vision underlying these efforts is that much of the current standard therapy of cancer will be

ultimately replaced by an array of highly effective and specific immunotherapeutic options.

48

Prof Markus Wenk

Provost’s Chair and Head of Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Director and Principal Investigator, “Singapore Lipidomics Incubator (SLING)”, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore

Privatdozent, University of Basel, Switzerland

Executive Editor, Progress in Lipid Research

Prof Markus Wenk has been interested in membrane lipids, their structure and function since his undergraduate years at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. At Yale, he introduced and established novel techniques for analysis of phospholipid metabolism at the neurological nerve terminal. His work resulted in scientific publications which have major impact on conceptual advancements in the field of lipid metabolism. He is now spearheading novel approaches in systems scale analysis of lipids and their interactors (lipidomics) and is recognised as one of the thought leading investigators worldwide in this emerging field. He established SLING, the Singapore Lipidomics Incubator, an interdisciplinary programme at NUS dedicated to innovation, education and partnership in lipidomics research. Prof Wenk is Provost’s Chair, Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the National University of Singapore (NUS), founding director of SLING and Privatdozent at the University of Basel. He is also founder and organiser of the biennial International Singapore Lipid Symposium and Executive Editor of Progress in Lipid Research (Elsevier).

Topic: Translation of Lipidomics Technologies towards Quantification of Blood Lipids

The main elements of lipidomics technologies are now available and ready for adoption in larger scale studies. However, the translation of laboratory-style methods for lipid measurements – based on mass spectrometry – towards robust, quantitative tests that deliver comparable results across different analytical sites and with appropriate turn-around times will require considerable extra efforts.

Professor Wenk will introduce the model for engagement which his team has been pursuing with the Singapore Lipidomics Incubator (SLING) at NUS. Examples, in the context of natural variation of blood lipids, will be given for translation (i) of such technologies towards individualised lipidomics tracking and (ii) for better mechanistic understanding of lipid function.

49

Dr Matthew Chang is Associate Professor in the Department of

Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National

University of Singapore (NUS), as well as Director of the Singapore

Consortium for Synthetic Biology (SINERGY), Wilmar-NUS Corporate

Laboratory (Wil@NUS) and NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and

Technological Innovation (SynCTI). His research interests lie in the

development of biological systems that perform programmable

functions. His scientific contributions have been recognised with

international honours and awards, including the Scientific and

Technological Achievement Award from the United States

Environmental Protection Agency. A/Prof Chang serves as an editor

and an editorial board member for a number of journals including Cell

Systems, American Chemical Society (ASC) Synthetic Biology and

Metabolic Engineering. He also serves on the advisory committee of

key international research programmes such as the Synthetic Biology

Open Language (SBOL) and the Commonwealth Scientific and

Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Future Science Platform.

Topic: Reprogramming Microbes into Live Biotherapeutics

The wealth of knowledge on the human microbiota composition and its roles in health and

disease has recently spurred the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Moreover, with an

array of genetic tools that are readily available, programmable genetic circuits can be designed,

genomes can be edited and rewritten, and cells can be reprogrammed to foster novel microbiota-

based interventions.

In this talk, Associate Professor Chang will present his recent work on engineering gut-resident

microbes as versatile platforms equipped with clinically relevant functionalities. A particular

emphasis will be placed on efforts by his team to transform gut microbes into live biotherapeutics

with prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy against pathogenic infections and chronic metabolic

diseases. This work provides a strong foundation for engineering microbes to modulate host-

microbiome interactions and supports the use of live biotherapeutics as a viable strategy for

clinical intervention.

A/Prof Matthew Chang (Chair)

Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Director, Singapore Consortium for Synthetic Biology

Director, Wilmar-NUS Corporate Laboratory

Director, NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation

50

Adjunct Associate Professor Jeremy Lim is a Partner in Oliver

Wyman’s Singapore office. He advises senior officials at public sector

agencies and has extensive experience consulting and advising

multinational private and non-profit organisation (NGO) clients on

national and regional strategies for go-to-market plans and

implementation, government engagement and public-private

partnerships. He teaches at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public

Health, National University of Singapore (NUS), and the Duke-NUS

Medical School. In 2013, A/Prof Lim authored Myth or Magic: The

Singapore Healthcare System, a book that draws lessons from the

Singapore health system for health reform efforts in other countries.

Prior to Oliver Wyman, A/Prof Lim trained in surgery and public health.

He has worked in senior executive roles in public and private sectors,

including the Ministry of Health, Singapore.

A/Prof Lim chairs the steering committee of NUS Initiative to Improve

Health in Asia (NIHA). He sits on the advisory boards of the

Behavioural Sciences Institute (Singapore Management University),

Centre for Health Informatics (NUS) and Next Age Institute (NUS).

Amongst his volunteer work, A/Prof Lim is a physician with

HealthServe, a Singapore NGO catering to the health needs of migrant

workers.

Adj A/Prof Jeremy Lim

Partner, Health and Life Sciences Practice (Asia Pacific Region), Oliver Wyman

Adjunct Associate Professor, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore

Dr Hwang in Young is a Research Assistant Professor at the

Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,

National University of Singapore (NUS). She also leads the therapeutic

cell and mammalian synthetic biology research clusters at the Synthetic

Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI). Prior to

joining NUS, she received her PhD from the University of Auckland,

New Zealand, in the field of cancer biology and therapeutics. She has

expanded her research interest to Synthetic Biology by joining the

laboratory of Associate Professor Matthew Chang in 2012. Her latest

publications in American Chemical Society (ASC) Synthetic Biology in

2014 and Nature Communications in 2017, involved engineering

various programmable microbial behaviours to execute pathogen

detection-mediated pathogen killing activity. Her work was notably

mentioned in various media including Nature news and The Economist.

Her research currently focuses on in-depth study and modulation of gut

microbiome and its various physiological axes for human health.

Asst Prof Hwang In Young

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

51

Dr Niranjan Nagarajan is Associate Director and Senior Group Leader

in the Genome Institute of Singapore, and Associate Professor in the

Department of Medicine and Department of Computer Science at the

National University of Singapore. His research focuses on developing

cutting edge genome analytic tools and using them to study the role of

microbial communities in human health. His team conducts research at

the interface of genetics, computer science and microbiology, in

particular using a systems biology approach to understand host-

microbiome-pathogen interactions in various disease conditions. A/Prof

Nagarajan received a BA degree in Computer Science and

Mathematics from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2000, and a PhD

degree in Computer Science from Cornell University in 2006, where his

advisor was Professor Uri Keich. He did his postdoctoral work in the

Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of

Maryland working on problems in genome assembly and

metagenomics, with Professor Mihai Pop as his advisor.

Dr Kevin SW Tan is Associate Professor at the Department of

Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,

National University of Singapore (NUS). He is also Vice Dean,

Graduate Studies, at the NUS School of Medicine and Head,

Innovation in Graduate Studies, at the National University Health

System.

A/Prof Tan has authored over 100 publications in international journals,

8 book chapters and 125 conference papers. His curiosity for parasites

originated from his graduate student days at NUS and blossomed

during his postdoctoral stint at The Rockefeller University, New York.

A/Prof Tan’s research focuses on exploiting how parasites commit

suicide for anti-parasite strategies. His team has also developed new

ways to identify compounds to overcome drug resistance and is

working on understanding the role of single cell eukaryotes in host

microbiome to accelerate the finding of new cures for parasitic

diseases. He is keen on addressing social issues, such as public

science education.

Adj A/Prof Niranjan Nagarajan

Associate Director and Senior Group Leader, Genome Institute of Singapore

Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, National University of Singapore

A/Prof Kevin SW Tan

Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Vice Dean, Graduate Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Head, Innovation in Graduate Studies, National University Health System

52

Oral and Poster Presentations

53

Oral Presentations

Dr Andrew Sng

Associate Consultant, Division of Paediatric Endocrinology, Department of

Paediatrics, Khoo Teck Puat - National University Children’s Medical Institute,

National University Hospital

Theme: Value-based Healthcare

Topic: Reducing the Cost and Practice Variability in the Inpatient

Management of Bronchiolitis

Dr Dawn Nin

Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of

Medicine, National University of Singapore

Theme: Precision Health

Topic: Cancer/Testis G Antigen as a Prognostic Marker and

Therapeutic Target for Radio-Resistant Cervical Cancers

Dr Su Xinyi

Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of

Medicine, National University of Singapore

Consultant, Department of Ophthalmology, National University Hospital

Theme: Disruptive Technologies

Topic: Vitreogel: The Hunt for Functional Vitreous Replacement

54

Poster Presentations

Creating a Tool to Identify Proton Pump Inhibitor Use Without

Compelling Indications among Non-critically Ill Adult Inpatients in

NUH

Mr Lim Ken Juin / Pharmacy, National University Hospital

Optimising Outcomes for Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) Babies

- A Value Driven Outcome (VDO) Initiative

Ms Shikha Kumari / Academic Informatics Office, National University

Health System

Cost-effectiveness of the Surgical Value Driven Outcomes in

JurongHealth Campus

Mr Tai Kai Pik / Quality, Innovation and Improvement, Ng Teng Fong

General Hospital

Using a Novel Portable Smartphone Slit Lamp Prototype to Identify

Individuals at Risk of Acute Angle Closure Glaucoma

Dr David Chen / Department of Ophthalmology, National University

Hospital

Ultra-rapid Point-of-care Device for Identification of Pathogens and

Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Bloodstream Infections

Dr Hong Jia Mei / Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of

Medicine, National University of Singapore

First-in-man Trial of a Novel Ingestible Magnetically Inflated

Balloon Capsule for the Treatment of Obesity

Dr Kaan Hung Leng / Department of General Surgery, National

University Hospital

Disruptive

Technologies

Value-based

Healthcare

55

Poster Presentations

Evaluation of a Chronic Disease Self-management Programme

(CDSMP) in Singapore

Mr Hoong Jian Ming / Dietetics and Nutrition, Ng Teng Fong General

Hospital

Evaluation of a Community-based Lifestyle Education

Programme in Improving the Health Literacy and Lifestyle

Practices of Older Adults in Singapore

Ms Jesslyn Chong Hwei Sing / Dietetics and Nutrition, Ng Teng Fong

General Hospital

Medication Therapy Management (MTM) in Elderly Cancer

Patients: A Pilot Study

Ms Loh Ker Yun / Oncology Pharmacy, National University Cancer

Institute, Singapore

Chondroitin Sulfate as a Novel Therapeutic Target for

Cardiovascular Protection and Functional Recovery

Dr Zhao Rongrong / Cardiovascular Research Institute, Yong Loo Lin

School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Adding Life to Years

Harnessing CURATE.AI to Mediate N-of-1 Combination Therapy for

Multiple Myeloma

Dr Agata Blasiak / The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of

Singapore

Text Mining of Clinical Progress Notes to Predict Future Onset of

Sepsis in Hospitalized Patients

Ms Hermione Poh / Academic Informatics Office, National University

Health System

Novel Design of a Modified Laryngeal Mask Airway using Artificial

Intelligence in a Multi-ethnic Southeast Asian Cohort

Ms Julia Ng Yu Xin / Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National

University of Singapore

Smart City –

Smart Health

56

Poster Presentations

Validating a Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Diagnostic

Paradigm for Major Depressive Disorder

Dr Cyrus Ho Su Hui / Psychological Medicine, National University

Hospital

Genomic Instability in Double Oncogenic Hits of 17p13(del) and

1q21(amp) Multiple Myeloma

Dr Teoh Phaik Ju / Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National

University of Singapore

Simultaneous Single Cell Protein and RNA Analysis for

Personalising Cancer Treatment and Cell Therapy

Dr Wang Yingting / Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of

Medicine, National University of Singapore

Artificial Circular miRNA Sponges as a Novel miRNA Interference

Technology

Ms Annadoray Lavenniah / Cardiovascular Research Institute, National

University of Singapore

Post-surgery Changes in the Oral and Gut Microbiome of

Colorectal Cancer Patients

Dr Charmaine Ng / Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of

Medicine, National University of Singapore Healing from Within

Precision Health

57

NOTES

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

58

NOTES

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

59

NOTES

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

60