New Clinician-Scientist Award to Provide Impetus for Bench-to-Bedside Cures in Singapore

31 Aug 2004

A*STAR's Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) and MOH's National Medical Research Council (NMRC) have launched a new award that will provide assistance to leading clinician-scientists hoping to translate basic research into tangible treatment therapies for their patients.

Targeted at outstanding clinician-scientists with a record of research excellence and who show good potential to become research leaders, the BMRC-NMRC Clinician-Scientist Investigator (CSI) Award is designed to support the career development of clinician-scientists, and promote clinical and translational research in Singapore.

The Award provides between three and five years support to clinician-scientists working in public hospitals and disease centres, including part of the recipient's salary commensurate with the amount of time spent on research.

The Award is divided into two categories, to cater to both senior clinician-scientists who demonstrate a consistent, high level of productivity and leadership, as well as younger clinician-scientists who show good potential to become independent researchers and who can develop careers in translational medicine.

Commenting on the Award, the Executive Director of the Biomedical Research Council, Associate Professor KONG Hwai Loong said, "As Singapore pushes forth with the biomedical sciences initiative, it is important that we develop a talent pool of clinician-scientists. This new breed of researchers can bridge basic scientific research and clinical applications and will bring the rigors of scientific investigation into the patient care arena, and at the same time, thrust clinically relevant questions back to the lab for further study. These cross-disciplinary efforts will pave the way for new innovations that will translate into better healthcare."

Professor WOO Keng Thye, Chairman, 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 bridge the gap between basic research and clinical application. Therefore, it is timely and imperative for NMRC and BMRC to launch the inaugural Clinician-Scientist Investigator (CSI) Award to build up a talent pool of clinician-scientists in Singapore."

Criteria for selection of the Award is stringent and applicants are required to demonstrate not just interest and commitment in combining research and clinical practice, but must also possess consistent and excellent track records in this respect. If successful, they must be able to commit at least six out of 11 work sessions per week (which translates into approximately 55% Full Time Equivalent or FTE) of their time to conducting research and developing their research careers.

Applicants must be either Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents, and must conduct the research in Singapore. They will be interviewed and assessed by a Joint Review Panel set up by both BMRC and NMRC and selection will be made on the basis of the quality of the candidate, research plan and commitment from the host institution.

Application forms are available at the research offices of public hospitals and disease centres and can be downloaded from BMRC and NMRC websites at www.a-star.edu.sg and www.nmrc.gov.sg respectively.

The deadline for submission is Thursday, 30 September 2004, 5pm.