Opening Address By Professor Kenneth Mak, Director-General Of Health, At The Brain Bank Singapore 5th Anniversary Event, on 1 November 2024

Professor Joseph Sung, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine

Associate Professor Au Wing Lok, CEO, National Neuroscience Institute

Professor Benjamin Seet, Group Chairman Medical Board (Research) and Co-Chair, Academic Partnership Office, National Healthcare Group

Dr Benjamin Toh, Executive Director, Biomedical Research Council, A*STAR

Distinguished guests and speakers

Ladies and gentlemen

1. Good afternoon. I’m honoured to be here today for the 5th Anniversary Celebration of Brain Bank Singapore (BBS). This milestone is a testament to the collaborative efforts of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, National Neuroscience Institute, National Healthcare Group and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, together with community partners and donors involved in this pioneering initiative.

Continued importance of neuroscience research and BBS’ role

2. We are seeing an increase in the prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as populations around the world continue to age. In Singapore, we estimate that more than 100,000 people will have dementia by 2030. This is due to our ageing population. Together with stroke and other neurological diseases, these account for 6.6% of our national disease burden. Furthermore, those affected would also have to face long-term debilitating symptoms which require additional care.

3. Given this significant health challenge, the Ministry of Health (MOH) had identified Neurological Diseases as one of its seven areas of priority for research in the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 plan. In doing so, we hope to support R&D to better understand these diseases and work towards better interventions for our local population.

4. MOH currently funds two programmes on neurodegenerative diseases through the Open-Fund Large Collaborative Grant (OF-LCG). First, the Singapore Parkinson’s disease Translational Clinical Programme (SPARK II) is a collaborative programme that leverages findings from the SPARK Phase I programme to manage and limit disease progression based on integrated clinical, biochemical and genetic profiles.

5. The second OF-LCG called “Prevention of and Biomarkers for Vascular Cognitive Impairment” focuses on understanding and addressing the pathophysiology of vascular cognitive impairment in dementia. This programme includes the SINgapore GERiatric intervention study, also known as the SINGER study, which aims to reduce cognitive decline and physical frailty. The study has completed recruitment of more than 1,200 participants.

6. As R&D into neurological disease in Singapore continues to grow, the BBS serves as a national resource for post-mortem Asian human brain tissue, and plays a key role in partnering with both research institutions and invaluable donors.

Partnership is key to success

7. In research and capability building, partnership is the cornerstone of success, and I am glad to see that the founding partners of BBS have achieved success in developing this key national resource over the last five years. I am glad that BBS, Duke-NUS and A*STAR have forged new partnerships to further enhance our capacity to advance neuroscience research by growing the local tissue repository, and educating the public on neurological diseases.

8. BBS is ready to release tissue to the local neuroscience research community, enabling researchers to embark on studies utilising cutting-edge techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics to provide deeper insights into neurological conditions.

9. A crucial part of BBS is of course their registered donors and their families. I would like to thank all BBS donors and their families for their support. Their generous contributions are vital for the success of this initiative.

Closing

10. I would like to congratulate BBS for achieving an important milestone and we look forward to an exciting future. The journey of BBS is a story of dedication, innovation, and hope, and one that reminds us of the incredible potential of human endeavour when guided by a common purpose.

11. Let us continue to work together, foster partnerships, and push the boundaries of neuroscience research. Thank you.