News In Brief: August 2022

COLLABORATION ON RESEARCH PROJECT FOR A MULTI-CANCER SCREENING TEST

On 7 July, biotechnology company MiRXES signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nanyang Technological University, National Cancer Centre Singapore, National University Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. LKCMedicine Dean and NTU Senior Vice-President (Health & Life Sciences) Professor Joseph Sung represented the university as a signatory at the MOU signing witnessed by Minister for Health Mr Ong Ye Kung. It launches Project CADENCE (CAncer Detected Early caN be CurEd), the world’s first large-scale clinical research project for the discovery and validation of novel combinations of blood-borne circulating microRNA and DNA methylation biomarkers for developing a multi-cancer early detection test for up to nine high incidence and high mortality cancers: lung, breast, colorectal, liver, stomach, esophageal, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate.

JOINT SYMPOSIUM ON NEURODEGENERATION

The Neuroscience & Mental Health Programme of LKCMedicine hosted a joint symposium with Imperial College London on “Neurodegeneration: From molecules to patients” on 7 July. The symposium featured speakers from both LKCMedicine and Imperial and attracted 114 attendees from institutions all over Singapore. Assistant Professor Anna Barron, Assistant Professor Christine Cheung, Associate Professor Nagaendran Kandiah, Assistant Professor Sarah Langley and Assistant Professor Hiroshi Makino discussed neurodegenerative research being done at LKCMedicine, while Imperial was represented by Dr Chris Butler, Professor Amin Hajitou, Professor Paul Matthews, Dr Raffaella Nativio and Dr Yu Ye. The event began with introductory remarks by LKCMedicine Professor of Neuroscience & Mental Health George Augustine, while Vice-Dean (Research) Professor Lim Kah Leong offered his thoughts at the close of the symposium. Assistant Professors Ch’ng Toh Hean and Tsukasa Kamigaki served as symposium moderators. After the symposium, 25 research posters were presented by LKCMedicine graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The event closed with a festive dinner for the symposium speakers. The visit also offered a great opportunity to formulate collaborative research projects. 

LKCMEDICINE FACULTY ELECTED TO THE NTU SENATE

LKCMedicine Associate Professors Kevin Pethe and Luo Dahai have been newly elected to the NTU Senate. The results of the election were announced by NTU President and Chairman of the Academic Council Professor Subra Suresh on 21 June. The 8th Senate will begin its term of service in AY2022. Prof Suresh said, “Along with the senior leadership team, I look forward to working with the newly elected Senators as we strive together to achieve NTU’s ascent as a leading global university serving Singapore and the world.”

LKCMEDICINE STAFF CONFERRED NATIONAL DAY AWARD

The Singapore National Day Awards recognise various forms of merit and service to Singapore. This year, 6,258 individuals are recognised for their contributions to Singapore. Among the 68 recipients from NTU is Ms Ruth Choe, Director of Education Management at LKCMedicine, who received the Commendation Medal.

PUBLICATIONS ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION BY LKCMEDICINE VISITING PROFESSOR 

On 6 June, The Academic Respiratory Initiative for Pulmonary Health (TARIPH) Centre for Respiratory Research Excellence and Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) jointly hosted a Roundtable discussion titled “What do editors look for in high impact journals?”. The hybrid lunchtime session saw an attendance of 100 people with 40 onsite attendees comprising LKCMedicine senior leadership, faculty, research staff and clinicians from various healthcare clusters across Singapore. The event hosted guest speaker Professor Wisia Wedzicha, LKCMedicine Visiting Professor and Clinical Chair of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College London, also the immediate past editor-in-chief for the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2015-2022), after having served in multiple other editorial roles including the editor-in-chief of Thorax from 2002 to 2010, the European Respiratory Society publications director and Lancet Ombudsman. During the session, Prof Wedzicha discussed journal metrics and shared various tips on creating and publishing high impact papers. She also exchanged views on current issues in publication submissions, publication ethics and peer reviews. Event host Associate Professor Sanjay Chotirmall moderated the Q&A session which saw active participation from both the onsite and online audience.