Singapore Joins Global Translational Medicine Network as Asia-Pacific Hub

SINGAPORE, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- SingHealth and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, which form Singapore’s largest academic healthcare cluster, are joining a new global research network to accelerate the discovery of treatments and cures. They will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine on Thursday. As part of the Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine, SingHealth and Duke-NUS join an elite group of academic medical institutes from Europe and North America. SingHealth and Duke-NUS will add to the network with their strengths in biomedical research, and as the network’s Asia-Pacific hub with their insights into diseases common in Asia, said Professor Salvatore Albani, president of Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine. "Translational Medicine is like a bridge which joins patients to research. It is a two-way bridge as unmet medical needs inspire research, and research provides new solutions to fight disease," the professor said. "There is no formal training in this area and no efficient network to catalyse creativity on an international scale. Eureka aims to address these problems innovatively and comprehensively." Professor Soo Khee Chee, deputy group chief executive officer, Research & Education, SingHealth said: “This collaboration has come at the right time as SingHealth and Duke-NUS build up our translational and clinical research capabilities in tandem with the current phase of Singapore’s biomedical sciences initiative. "Working with a powerhouse like Eureka and its contributing institutes will spur us on to better translate research into practical solutions that benefit patients,” the professor added. -- BERNAMA