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2025

14 January 2025 – The event began with LKCMedicine Dean Professor Joseph Sung congratulating the respiratory and critical care medicine (RCCM) community across Singapore on the grant. Some highlights included the unveiling of the TARIPH research programme video, reflecting on Singapore’s progress in RCCM and a gift presentation from Theme Principal Investigator (PI) Professor John Abisheganaden to all Theme PIs to commemorate this landmark moment.

Click here for the event programme.

4 October 2025 – The Academic Respiratory Initiative for Pulmonary Health (TARIPH) was delighted to have been part of ASMF 2025, where the team engaged the public at its booth on lung health and research.

Visitors were invited to participate in a simple lung function test to gain insights into their lungs health. During the event, our team also shared about TARIPH’s ongoing research efforts, including recruitment of participants for our early Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) study and introduced the TARIPH Lung Patient Network (TLPN) as a platform for meaningful public involvement in research. We explained how TLPN enables patients and caregivers to contribute beyond study participation by sharing their lived experiences, providing feedback, and partnering researchers to shape patient‑centred respiratory research. We were encouraged by the strong interest and positive engagement at our booth and looked forward to continuing to work with the community to advance respiratory research that matters to patients and the public.

20 November 2025 – The fifth instalment of the TARIPH-STS joint webinar featured expert insights from University of Michigan’s Chief of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Professor MeiLan Han. She discussed advances in COPD alongside LKCMedicine OPEN patient partner Mr Peter Gerard, who offered the perspective of a patient. Participants included clinicians, researchers and patients fostering knowledge exchange.

Click here for the event poster.

28 November 2025 – The TARIPH Lung Patient Network (TLPN) Year End Gathering brought together patient partners and healthcare professionals to celebrate a year of collaboration in advancing respiratory research. The event welcomed new members, recognised key contributors, and featured interactive activities that fostered connection and inclusivity. Highlights included a physiotherapist‑led breath workshop introducing practical airway clearance techniques, updates on key TLPN developments, and reflections on the impactful contributions of patient partners throughout 2025. The gathering also recognised the outgoing TLPN Steering Committee co‑chairs for their pioneering leadership, and concluded with an appreciation dinner underscoring the value of partnership at the heart of TARIPH’s work.

2024

5 February 2024 - For its first event in 2024, the TARIPH Patient Network gathered over a buffet reception, celebratory Lohei and interactive games with members/advisors consisting of patients and healthcare professionals. Updates on research and upcoming events were presented as well as a facilitated discussion on future directions for the Network.

13 April 2024 – Three speakers covering local, regional and international aspects of Severe Asthma were invited to share their expertise with the Singapore respiratory community. For the first time, a patient from the TARIPH Patient Network delivered a speech. Over 70 participants consisting of clinicians, researchers and patients attended the webinar.

Click here for the event poster. 

18 April 2024 – The TARIPH Patient Network members met up with four patient advocates from the European Lung Foundation (ELF). Participants consisted of Bronchiectasis and Asthma patients from Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Singapore. The Global Chat provided an opportunity for patient advocates in Singapore and Europe to learn from each other to advance lung health.

8 May 2024 – As part of TARIPH Lung Patient Network’s aim to develop research partnerships with patients, TARIPH together with the Office of Patient Engagement (OPEN), LKCMedicine, organized the inaugural Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) 101 Workshop to equip researchers and healthcare professionals with the necessary skills to engage patients in their research. The workshop consisted of three core modules, covering topics such as how to involve patients/public in research, the factors for success of patient engagement in research and patient-friendly communication skills for effective patient engagement. More than 20 researchers and healthcare professionals from LKCMedicine, NTU Singapore and the National Healthcare Group participated in this first iteration of the PPIE 101 workshop.

27 November 2024 – The TARIPH Lung Patient Network (TLPN) held a year-end appreciation gathering at Supply and Demand @ LKCMedicine to express heartfelt gratitude to its patient partners and healthcare professionals for their invaluable contributions and continued support.

It was a heartwarming evening of appreciation, reflection and connection, celebrating strong partnerships and a shared commitment to advancing respiratory research and meaningful patient engagement.

2023

The TARIPH Centre for Respiratory Research Excellence kicked off its very first Patient Voices in Lung Disease Research Workshop on 13 May 2023. Held at the LKCMedicine HQ Building, the event was attended by more than 40 participants comprising patients, clinicians and allied healthcare professionals from Singapore’s healthcare clusters. The workshop commenced with a welcome address by Professor Joseph Sung, Dean for LKCMedicine, Senior Vice President (Health and Life Sciences), and Distinguished University Professor. TARIPH Co-chairs and Associate Professors John Abisheganaden and Sanjay Chotirmall introduced TARIPH to the attendees and presented the Centre’s latest research findings on bronchiectasis and COPD. Associate Professor Tang Wern Ee (Senior Consultant, NHG Polyclinics) then offered a glimpse of how people living with asthma in Singapore manage their condition.

This was followed by a session chaired by Dr Matthew Cove (Senior Consultant, NUH) and Dr Jansen Koh (Head & Senior Consultant, CGH), which included presentations, centred around enabling patient voices, advocacy and engagement, by Ms Ai Ling Sim-Devadas, LKCMedicine Deputy Director, Advocacy and Engagement, Dr Xu Huiying (Senior Consultant, TTSH) and Ms Lathy Prabhakaran (Senior Nurse Clinician, TTSH), and a sharing session by one of our patients.

The workshop was rounded off with an esteemed panel of healthcare professionals, patients and leadership from patient advocate organisations across Singapore, who engaged in a robust discussion about bringing patients’ voices into lung disease research. The workshop is a key step in supporting TARIPH’s mission of “Bringing Research to Patients through Partnerships”.

Click here for the event poster.

On 12 August 2023, TARIPH, in collaboration with Singapore Thoracic Society (STS), held the third iteration of its Joint Webinar series. The series was established to promote research, knowledge, and collaborations across the Singapore respiratory community. Three experts from the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), were invited to share the latest guidelines on COPD with the Singapore respiratory community. Professor Àlvar Agustí, Professor of Medicine and Senior Consultant at Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona (Spain), Professor Claus Franz Vogelmeier, Head of the Department of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Philipps-University of Marburg (Germany) as well as Professor Wisia Wedzicha, Head of the Respiratory Division at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College (London) were present to share their insights.

The event began with an Opening Speech by TARIPH Scientific Committee Co-chair, Associate Professor Sanjay Chotirmall, who also introduced the 2 moderators, TARIPH Scientific Committee  Co-chair, Associate Professor John Abisheganaden and STS President, Associate Professor Albert Lim. Professor Àlvar Agustí started with his presentation, titled “Definitions, Causes and Risk Factors” focusing on the recent GOLD 2023 recommendations, which suggested a new view of COPD, clearly separating it from the risk factors and causes of the disease, giving rise to a new taxonomy based on its possible causes (or etiotypes). This was followed by a presentation by Professor Claus Franz Vogelmeier on the topic of “Management of Stable COPD” which included several major changes from the latest GOLD document such as recommendations for newly diagnosed COPD patients and symptomatic patients with patients with a relevant exacerbation history. Subsequently, Professor Wisia Wedzicha gave a lecture on “Exacerbations: Definitions, Diagnosis and Severity Criteria” which covered the management of COPD exacerbations in accordance to its severity grading.

These 3 topics were further discussed in a Roundtable Discussion with the speakers and attendees, moderated by TARIPH Co-chair, Professor John Abisheganaden and STS President, Associate Professor Albert Lim. The webinar concluded with a closing address by Associate Professor Albert Lim.

The event was well-attended by >100 healthcare respiratory professionals and academic researchers across Singapore. With the execution of 3 successful events and positive feedback received, TARIPH and STS have agreed to renew our collaboration to co-organize more educational activities to promote research and knowledge on respiratory medicine in Singapore. 

Click here for the event poster.

5 years on from our first inception, we are pleased to announce that TARIPH officially launched as the TARIPH Centre for Respiratory Research Excellence on 20 September 2023, with Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Mr Heng Swee Keat as the Guest-of Honour. The event began with a video of the new TARIPH Centre, and subsequently, speeches by Professor Joseph Sung, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, Governing Board, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. 

Following this, the Guest-of-Honour, DPM Mr Heng Swee Keat, together with LKCMedicine Dean, Professor Joseph Sung, LKCMedicine Governing Board Chairman, Mr Lim Chuan Poh, TARIPH Patient Network Co-chair, Mr Lim Joo Kwan and TARIPH co-academic leads, Associate Professors Sanjay Chotirmall and John Abisheganaden were invited on stage to launch the Centre. With the activation of the launch pads, the launch mechanism modelled after the lungs lighted up to signify the vast network of partnerships that the new TARIPH Centre would bring, enabling patients to breathe better through research.

Thereafter, the TARIPH Patient Network was introduced by Deputy Director, Advocacy and Engagement, LKCMedicine, Ms Ai Ling Sim-Devadas and TARIPH Patient Network Co-chair, Mr Lim Joo Kwan. To address the lack of patient advocates in the area of respiratory medicine, the TARIPH Patient Network was set up to enable patients to be Research Partners, helping to shape research design, directions and implementation on what matters to patients. This would be going beyond patients as Research Participants.

The programme ended with a closing speech by Vice-Dean, Research, LKCMedicine, Professor Lim Kah Leong who congratulated the TARIPH Scientific Committee members with clinicians from the three healthcare clusters, researchers from NTU and NUS as well as the dedicated Secretariat staff who had worked tirelessly to grow an academic research network to a research centre. In addition, he thanked the two Co-Academic Leads, Associate Professor Sanjay Chotirmall and Associate Professor John Abisheganaden for their leadership and being the driving force for transforming respiratory medicine research in Singapore and Asia.

During intermission, DPM Heng Swee Keat exchanged conversations with Patient Advocates, Healthcare professionals and leadership from the LKCMedicine and National Healthcare Group. Guests enjoyed a sumptuous 3 course sit-down lunch reception. 

Click here to view the news release.

2022

On 6 June, the 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 of LKCMedicine senior leadership, faculty, research staff and clinicians from various healthcare clusters across Singapore. Guest speaker Prof Wisia Wedzicha, LKCMedicine Visiting Professor and Clinical Chair of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College London, is the immediate past editor-in-chief for the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM) (2015-2022) after having served in multiple other editorial roles including as the editor-in-chief of Thorax from 2002 to 2010, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) publications director and Lancer 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 Assoc Prof Sanjay Chotirmall moderated the Q&A session which saw active participation from both the onsite and Zoom audiences. It was an informative session for faculty and researchers as it offered fresh perspectives for prospective authors from editors. Following the fruitful conclusion of the event, both TARIPH and OFA look forward to bringing more such educational sessions to the LKCMedicine community and TARIPH affiliated healthcare institutions.

 Click here for the event poster.

On 16 September 2022, TARIPH hosted a celebratory event for the launch of SSAR, the first multi-center, large-scale registry of severe asthma patients in Singapore. This national registry also joins the International Severe Asthma Registry (ISAR), making it the largest international research collaboration in the history of respiratory medicine in Singapore.

The opening address was given by the Dean of Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), Professor Joseph Sung and Managing Director of Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute, Singapore (OPRI), Professor David Price. Subsequently, a Severe Asthma patient, Orson Lim, gave a presentation on how his condition had affected his life. Further presentations were given by doctors from our partner Public Healthcare Institutions on the topics of Clinical Care, Severe Asthma research, Policy Impact as well as Education and Training. Most notably, speakers from across the island, including key stakeholders from the Agency for Care Effectiveness (ACE), Singapore National Asthma Programme (SNAP) and Ministry of Health (MOH) were on hand to provide their inputs on these topics. The details presented addressed clinical gaps in Asthma and strengthening Primary & Specialist care partnerships. The importance of Real-world Evidence (RWE) and key findings from ISAR were also shared. In the aspect of Community care, it was explained how Asthma is relevant to the Healthier SG Initiative and the critical importance of promoting learning, upskilling, and empowering regional Healthcare Professionals in Asthma management.

Lastly, the session was closed out with a Q&A session and remarks by Vice Dean (Research), LKCMedicine, Professor Lim Kah Leong and Research Director & Senior Consultant, SGH, Professor Julian Thumboo.

Please refer to the link for the joint media release by NTU, SGH, CGH and TTSH for the launch of SSAR. Furthermore, you may read more about SSAR here.

We welcome any interest in participating in ISAR/SSAR. Please contact our TARIPH Secretariat at [email protected] for more information.

2021

TARIPH, in collaboration with Singapore Thoracic Society (STS), held its second TARIPH-STS Joint Seminar Series and Networking Session. The series was established to promote research, knowledge, and collaborations across the Singapore respiratory community. The webinar featured two international experts on Lung Health, Prof Don Sin, Heart Lung Innovation Director and Professor of Medicine, Centre for Health Lung Innovation, University of British Columbia, and Prof Ganesh Raghu, the Director of the Centre for Interstitial Lung Diseases at the University of Washington Medical Center. 

Prof Don Sin started with his lecture titled “COVID-19 and COPD: What have we learned so far?”, which focused on treating COPD patients who were infected with COVID-19. Prof Ganesh Raghu then followed with his lecture titled “Pulmonary fibrosis beyond Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)”. The event was well-attended by more than 80 healthcare respiratory professionals and academic researchers across Singapore.

Click here for the STS-TARIPH Joint Webinar poster.

2020

Date: 8 December 2020

TARIPH is collaborating with Singapore Thoracic Society (STS) for the ‘TARIPH-STS Joint Seminar Series and Networking Session’ which was established to promote research, knowledge, and collaborations across the Singapore respiratory community. This webinar is the first of this series. The invited speaker, Professor Wisia Wedzicha who is Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Editor-in-chief of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Visiting Professor at LKCMedicine delivered a lecture focused on missed opportunities in detecting early COPD, its natural history and treatment options. More than 60 healthcare respiratory professionals and academic researchers across Singapore attended the webinar.

 Click here for the STS-TARIPH Joint Webinar poster.

2019

Date: 10 May 2019

TARIPH held its first joint symposium with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) titled “Lung Health in the Occupational Setting: Prevention, Protection and Promotion”. The event, attended by more than 200 participants, aimed to raise awareness of occupational lung diseases within the medical community as well as to bring together medical and Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) professionals for a common goal of promoting occupational lung health in their respective fields.

Date: 3 December 2019 

With a strong believe that having solid knowledge of publication ethics and the publication process would add value to one’s research career, TARIPH conducted an inaugural workshop on biomedical and clinical publications at the Clinical Sciences Building. Attended by more than 60 people including academics, clinicians and other health professionals from various healthcare institutions, key information about the editorial workflow, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines and tips on how to make the paper stand out were shared.

​Click here​ for TARIPH Publications Workshop programme. 

Date: 4 December 2019 

COPD is a major cause of morbidity and is the third leading cause of death worldwide. It is highly prevalent in older adults and with Singapore’s older population expected to double by 2030, its economic and social burden on healthcare system might increase. With the objective to address these impending issues, the local medical and research communities came together at the recent TARIPH COPD symposium to discuss the latest COPD developments and its effects, and to share experiences gained from COPD care programmes as well as improving care for COPD patients. More than 65 healthcare professionals, researchers and industry partners with an interest in COPD research and clinical care attended the Symposium.

​Click here​​ for TARIPH COPD Symposium programme booklet. 

2018

Date: 19 March 2018

TARIPH was officially launched on 19 March 2018 at the 2nd International Symposium on Respiratory Research by Associate Professor Benjamin Ong (Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health). Speakers from various healthcare and academic institutions shared their work in the field of respiratory medicine during the event.

Date: 19 - 20 March 2018

The 2nd International Symposium on Respiratory Research featured over 20 established, local and international speakers who spoke about the latest scientific breakthroughs in respiratory medicine. At the same event, the six institutions that make up the Singapore-International Research Consortium (SIRC) – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, National University of Singapore, University of Newcastle, University of British Columbia, Karolinska Institutet and Imperial College London signed a Memorandum-of-Understanding to further international research collaborations and postgraduate student exchanges.

Date: 30 August 2018

TARIPH held its inaugural workshop on the unmet clinical and research needs of asthma in Singapore which gathered more than 50 TARIPH members, asthma researchers, senior clinicians, head of respiratory departments, nurses and policymakers from healthcare institutions across Singapore, including the Ministry of Health. The workshop featured both overseas and local speakers who shared about their experiences and research findings about asthma in both clinical and research settings. LKCMedicine Visiting Professor Chung Kian Fan from National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London also shared his expertise in precision medicine in asthma. The group also had a fruitful discussion about the need for innovation in asthma care and strategic academic approaches for this disease in Singapore over the next 10 years.