Eight Doctors Receive Inaugural BMRC-NMRC Clinician-Scientist Investigator Award

6 April 2005

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06 Apr 2005

Eight medical doctors who are trying to bridge the gap between basic science and clinical work in Singapore have been selected as the first recipients of the prestigious BMRC-NMRC Clinician-Scientist Investigator (CSI) Award. The Award, which aims to support the career development of clinician-scientists and promote translational research in Singapore, is sponsored by the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) under the Ministry of Health.

The CSI Award is divided into two categories. Category A caters to senior clinician-scientists who are already actively involved in basic scientific research and hold at least one active grant that has been peer-reviewed and awarded at the national level. Category B caters to younger clinician-scientists who wish to develop a career in translational research.

The recipients of the inaugural CSI awards are:

Category A: Senior Clinician-Scientists

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S/N	Name	Host Institution	Clinical Specialisation	Research Area
1	Assoc Prof Michael Chee Wei Liang	Singapore Health Services	Neurology	Brain imaging to study cognitive capabilities; memory and language processing; and aging of the brain.
2	Dr Goh Boon Cher	National University Hospital	Oncology	Cancer chemotherapy in Asians, specifically, interethnic response to different toxicities.
3	Prof Yong Eu Leong	National University of Singapore	Obstetrics and Gynaecology	The link between molecular genetics and human infertility, prostate cancer and sexual ambiguity.

Category B: Junior Clinician-Scientists

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S/N	Name	Host Institution	Clinical Specialisation	Research Area
4	Dr Aung Tin	Singapore National Eye Centre	Ophthalmology / Glaucoma	Angle closure glaucoma and ophthalmic genetics.
5	Dr Lynette Shek	National University of Singapore	Paediatrics	Childhood allergic disease such as asthma, eczema and food allergy, specifically in the early influences on and prevention of these conditions.
6	Dr Tai E Shyong	Singapore Health Services	Endocrinology	Study of genetic and lifestyle factors (food, exercise, smoking, alcohol etc) that jointly contribute to diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.
7	Dr Tan Eng King	Singapore Health Services	Neurology	Movement disorders such as Parkinson's Disease (PD), specifically to identify genetic risk factors and gene-environment interaction in PD.
8	Dr Allen Yeoh	National University of Singapore	Paediatrics	Prognostics to predict childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a form of childhood cancer.

"This national Award aims to recognise the research accomplishments and potential of our outstanding clinician-scientists, and support these doctors as they pursue their dual-tracked careers in Medicine and in Science. We hope that the Clinician-Scientist Investigator Award will pave the way for more doctors to pursue translational research, which seeks to bring the positive results from research laboratories to patients. This pioneer batch of clinician-scientists will be the role models for future generations of doctors who aspire to be as comfortable in the clinic as they are in the laboratory." said Associate Professor Lam Kong Peng, Acting Executive Director of the Biomedical Research Council.

Prof Woo Keng Thye, Chairman of the National Medical Research Council, commented on the rationale for the development of translational science: "Singapore is committed to developing the Biomedical Sciences. We already have strong basic science and good clinical services, so the next logical step is to bridge the two and develop translational science, which is a potential area for growth and will close the gap between basic research and clinical application. The launch of the inaugural Clinician-Scientist Investigator (CSI) Award by NMRC and BMRC will build up a talent pool of clinician-scientists in Singapore, who will bring the rigours of scientific investigation into the patient care arena and at the same time, thrust clinically relevant questions back to the lab for further study, which will give rise to new innovations and better healthcare."

The selection of the CSI awardees was based not only on the quality of the candidates, but the scientific merits of their research plans and commitment from their host institutions. The eight successful clinician-scientists will have to commit at least 60% of their time to conducting research and developing their research careers. Each respective host institution has also agreed to provide a conducive environment to encourage scientific investigation, training and collaboration with other scientists.

The CSI Award will fund a portion of the clinician-scientist's salary commensurate with his/her time spent on research. Funding is up to three years for junior clinician-scientists, and up to five years for senior clinician-scientists. In addition, junior clinician-scientists will receive up to $200,000 support for their respective research projects. The awardees will remain employees of their host institutions after receipt of the CSI Award.

To ensure only qualified and committed candidates were selected, applications were subject to a stringent selection process by a Joint Review Panel comprising representatives from both BMRC and NMRC. All awardees must comply with all the rules and regulations pertaining to research ethics in animal and human subjects, including the Singapore Good Clinical Practice guidelines, and in the absence of such local guidelines, be in accordance with internationally established guidelines. All necessary licenses and approvals must also be obtained for research conducted.

About the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC)

The Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), supports and oversees biomedical research at five national research institutes, with core competencies in bioinformatics; genomics; molecular biology; bioprocessing technology; bioengineering and nanotechnology. BMRC also encourages extramural research work and multi-disciplinary research collaborations in the wider scientific community. As part of its human capital development efforts, the Council offers research scholarships and fellowships. The Council also initiates and promotes societal awareness of biomedical research through outreach programmes. For more information, please visit: www.a-star.edu.sg

About the National Medical Research Council (NMRC)

The National Medical Research Council (NMRC) under the Ministry of Health (MOH) was established with the mandate to engender the growth of research talent, to support high quality scientific and clinical research, and to improve medical care and human health in Singapore. The NMRC supports the development of core manpower and research capabilities and fund research programmes and projects carried out by restructured hospitals, national disease centres and public tertiary educational institutions. The NMRC also awards medical research fellowships for the development of medical research manpower. For more information, please visit: www.nmrc.gov.sg