Innovations for Tomorrow's Medicine: Singapore First Translational and Clinical Research Flagship Symposium

06 Oct 2010

1. More than three hundred participants comprising of clinicians, scientists and industry experts will be at the Marina Mandarin, Singapore on 6 October 2010 to kick off the inaugural Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship symposium. Leading clinician scientists behind Singapore’s five TCR Flagship programmes will be sharing their latest research findings in the areas of gastric cancer, eye, neuroscience, metabolic disease and dengue. The symposium has also attracted notable interest from the industry, making up about one-fifth of the participants.

2. The symposium will feature plenary presentations from all five TCR Flagship programmes followed by thematic discussions in the areas of Biomarkers and Diagnostics and Therapeutics and Clinical Trials. Highlights from these sessions include the following:

a. Eye TCR Programme: New methods and devices for ocular (eye) surgery and drug delivery platforms for treatment of corneal diseases, myopia and glaucoma

b. Gastric Cancer TCR Programme: Genomic profiling for individualized gastric cancer treatment

c. Infectious Diseases TCR Programme: Molecular diagnostics for early detection of dengue and development of monoclonal antibodies as therapeutics options for dengue

d. Metabolic Diseases TCR Programme: Updates on birth cohort study GUSTO and the Singapore Adult Metabolism study

e. Neuroscience TCR Programme: Studying cognition in schizophrenia and updates on the Longitudinal Study for Youth-at-Risk (LYRIKS)

3. Commenting on the significance of the event, Professor Edward Holmes, Chairman of the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) said, “This event is a milestone for the TCR research initiatives started during Phase Two of the Biomedical Sciences Initiative. Over the years, Singapore has laid down essential foundations for conducting world class translational and clinical research - Developing human capital, setting up essential TCR infrastructure and implementing effective research grant programmes. The synergy found between the public and private sectors is astounding, as seen through the level of interest and participation by our industry colleagues. I have no doubt that the symposium will create many opportunities for scientific exchange which will pave the way for future partnerships.”

4. Added Professor Donald Tan, Scientific Programme Chairperson of the TCR Flagship Symposium, Director of the Singapore National Eye Centre and lead PI of the Eye TCR Flagship, “I am encouraged by this strong showing of industry support for our TCR Flagship programmes. We have representatives joining us from companies such as Abbott, Bayer, Carl Zeiss, Danone, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Takeda. This sends a strong signal on the high quality of TCR work which the clinical research community is producing.”

5. The TCR Flagship Symposium will create a new platform for mutual scientific exchange between the clinical and scientific community and industry. Commenting on the value derived from working with the TCR Flagship programmes, Mr Sujay Debnath, Director, Regional Business Development, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG said, “Carl Zeiss Meditec has partnered the Singapore National Eye Centre and the Singapore Eye Research Institute in several major projects through the Eye TCR Flagship programme focusing on femtosecond laser-assisted transplants. This includes a project called ReLEx, which has the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in the field of Cornea Refractive surgery. ReLEx, which uses our femtosecond laser VisuMax, will bring about a new alternative to LASIK technology. Taking our fruitful research collaboration further, we are also exploring the possibility of Singapore becoming a regional Asia Pacific teaching and training centre for refractive surgery."

6. This symposium is organized by MOH’s National Medical Research Council (NMRC), with its roots starting from its Plexus series of symposiums featuring individual TCR Flagships held since 2007.

Background

7. Singapore’s TCR flagship programmes provide significant levels of funding to build up a critical mass of experienced high-level researchers, facilitate a broader research platform and increase collaboration both locally and internationally. The programme aims to establish Singapore as a global leader in the study of key strategic medical research fields.

8. Each TCR recipient is awarded $25 million over five years, with the funding provided by the National Research Foundation and administered by the NMRC. The five key areas targeted by the TCR programme have been selected for their relevance to Singapore and the existence of strong local expertise. The five key areas are cancer, eye diseases, neurosciences, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular/metabolic disorders.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH