News In Brief: December 2021

NTU CLIMBS TO 33RD PLACE IN US NEWS & WORLD REPORT’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

In the recent US News & World Report’s global university rankings, NTU climbed five spots to 33rd place and was ranked among the global top 10 for 11 subject areas, including four subjects at No.1. NTU is ranked first globally for four subjects: Materials Science, Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, Condensed Matter Physics and Physical Chemistry. The University debuted at No.1 for Condensed Matter Physics and Physical Chemistry that were newly introduced this year. NTU’s Materials Science and Nanoscience & Nanotechnology retained the top spot for the fifth and second consecutive year respectively.


PHD GRADUATE EMERGES AS WINNER OF ALAN HALL AWARD

LKCMedicine’s recent PhD graduate Darshini Jeyasimman was selected to receive the prestigious Alan Hall Award. She is the first author of a recent Nature Communications paper titled “PDZD-8 and TEX-2 regulate endosomal PI(4,5)P2 homeostasis via lipid transport to promote embryogenesis in C. elegans”. This award is named after the late Alan Hall, who discovered Rho GTPases and served as Chair of the Cell Biology programme at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The award was established by the Journal of Cell Biology to support the next generation of researchers. Currently a research fellow in Nanyang Assistant Professor Yasunori Saheki’s laboratory, Darshini is the only awardee from Asia, with the other recipients from Yale University, University of Oxford, Stanford University and Weizmann Institute of Science.


LKCMEDICINE ALUMNI CLINCH TEACHING AWARD

In November, six young doctors from the LKCMedicine Class of 2020 received the Young Doctor Teaching Award for the Academic Year 2020/2021 from NUS Medicine. This award recognises and rewards young doctors for their excellent teaching to NUS medical undergraduates at teaching sites. This year, the awards were presented online at the annual NUSMedACE (NUS Medicine Appreciation for Clinical Educators) event organised by the NUS Medicine Dean’s Office to thank clinical educators from each of the healthcare clusters, including the National Healthcare Group. The six doctors are: Dr Reudi Chan Jun Wen, Dr Cheong Hui Shyuan, Dr Emma Chow Shu Min, Dr Ong Kim Yao, Dr Rin Hong Yu and Dr Steven Su Zheng Zhe.


LKCMEDICINE FACULTY WIN MEDICAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

On 5 November, the COVID-19 Research Workgroup in the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) won the National Clinical Excellence Team Award at the National Medical Excellence Awards 2021. The team comprises LKCMedicine Associate Professor David Lye, who is also the Co-Director of the School’s Infectious Disease research programme, and Dr Barnaby Young, a NHG-LKCMedicine Clinician-Scientist fellow, as well as Professor Lisa Ng and Dr Chia Wan Ni. The workgroup is chaired by Professor Leo Yee Sin with A/Prof Lye as Deputy Chairman and aimed to conduct studies to better understand COVID-19 and its transmission in Singapore. The award was presented by Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung.


NTU PROFESSOR INSTALLATION CEREMONY 2021

On 13 October, NTU held its annual Professor Installation ceremony to recognise and celebrate the appointment and achievements of the esteemed professors within the University community. LKCMedicine Dean Professor Joseph Sung was inaugurated as Distinguished University Professor, a title bestowed on a small number of highly accomplished faculty members who have distinguished themselves nationally and internationally, beyond the normal measures of excellence. LKCMedicine Professors Laurent Renia and Josip Car were also inaugurated at the ceremony. NTU President Professor Subra Suresh presented the professorships.