29 May 2008

Booster shot for translational research

RECOGNITION: Prof Michael Chee of Duke-NUS received $5m for sleep study.

PUSHING the frontiers of translational research has brought recognition to nine researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and NUS. Profs Michael Chee and David M Virshup from Duke-NUS; Prof Daniel G Tenen, Director of the newly established Cancer Research Centre of Excellence at NUS; NUS Prof Wong Tien Yin, Singapore Eye Research Institute  received the Singapore Translational Research Investigator Award (STaR).

The Clinician Scientist Award went to NUS Assoc Prof Aung Tin, Singapore National Eye Centre; NUS Assoc Prof Ong Sin Tiong, Duke-NUS; NUS Assoc Prof Allen Yeoh Eng Juh, NUH; NUS Assoc Prof Tan Eng King, National Neuroscience Institute; and NUS Assoc Prof Chng Wee Joo, NUH.

The award programmes were initiated by the Ministry of Health and The Agency for Science, Technology and Research to build up a talent pool to bridge the gap between basic research and clinical applications. The first is a five-year programme which includes funding for salary, an annual budget for research support and a one-time start up grant while the latter funds full salary support along with a research grant.

Neuroscience
One of Prof Chee’s research foci is the effects of sleep deprivation. Besides following a cohort of 55-86 year old volunteers to characterise cognitive ageing in healthy Singaporeans, he will also examine schizophrenia in collaboration with the Neuroscience Translational and Clinical Research Flagship Programme.

Essential Tremor (ET), a common neurodegenerative disease is Assoc Prof Tan’s area. He and his team will try to identify genetic risk factors and other aspects related to neurodegenerative diseases.

Cancer
Prof Tenen aims to establish an effective and safe in-vivo gene delivery system targeting progenitor cells that would have wide applicability in treating leukaemias and lymphomas; while Assoc Prof Yeoh, whose area is childhood leukaemia, looks into customising optimal therapy, taking into account the different genetic makeup of each child.

Blast crisis chronic myelogenous leukaemia (BC CML) is a cancer of white blood cells that is highly incurable. Assoc Prof Ong and his team currently lead an international clinical study that is testing a novel two-drug combination in CML patients.

Assoc Prof Chng works on another form of blood cancer -- multiple myeloma which claims some 80 new patients a year in Singapore. He will focus on the understanding of the genetics and molecular abnormalities in the disease using novel and high throughput methods that study the genes of the myeloma cancer cell.

In another area of cancer research, Prof Virshup has contributed to a detailed molecular understanding of Wnt signalling which when blocked, may prevent cancer stem cell survival.

Vascular diseases and glaucoma
Damage to blood vessels in the retina mirrors similar damage in the heart, brain and other organs in the body.  Prof Wong and his team have shown that an assessment of retinal vascular damage using new imaging technology will allow the prediction of diabetes, stroke, heart disease, hypertension and other vascular diseases independent of conventional risk factors and diagnostic modalities. Prof Wong aims to gain greater understanding on the genetics and patho-physiology of different retinal vascular changes and study the difference in population cohorts.  His research will concentrate on four major vascular diseases – diabetes, stroke, heart disease and hypertension.

The eye itself is vulnerable to its optic nerve being damaged, especially in the elderly. The condition, known as glaucoma is classified according to the configuration of the angle (the part of the eye mainly responsible for outflow of aqueous humour) into primary open angle and closed angle glaucoma. Assoc Prof Aung hopes to shed more light on the various mechanisms contributing to the disease.