$30.5m for medical research, education
From left: Prof Ivy Ng, Group CEO, SingHealth; Mr Peter Seah, Chairman, SingHealth Board of Directors; Mr Tharman; Mr Kai Nargolwala, Chairman, Duke-NUS Governing Board; Prof Tan Ser Kiat, Member, Duke-NUS Governing Board, Board Member, SingHealth and Chairman, SingHealth Foundation; and Prof Soo Khee Chee, Senior Vice Dean, Clinical, Academic & Faculty Affairs, Duke-NUS and Director, National Cancer Centre Singapore; celebrate 10 years of successful Academic Medicine partnership
At the inaugural SingHealth-Duke-NUS Gala Dinner 2015 held at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore on 30 August, it was announced that more than $30 million was raised for medical research and education initiatives. Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam graced the occasion as Guest-of-Honour.
The funds, raised from private philanthropy over one-and-a-half years beginning from April 2014, would supplement government funding to spark innovation and fuel research that translates promising successes in the laboratory into clinically meaningful improvements for patients as well as sharpen skills to set new benchmarks in improving healthcare delivery.
Speaking of the significance of the funds, Professor Thomas Coffman, Dean, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (Duke-NUS), said, “Many of the very successful activities the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre have achieved so far may fall outside the bounds of typical grant support mechanisms. Therefore, funds raised from private philanthropy for medical research and education will boost this trajectory of accomplishments, and help sustain support that can further strengthen, expand and fast track these programmes.”
At the event, SingHealth and Duke-NUS also marked 10 years of successful partnership in establishing the Academic Medical Centre, which leverages the collective synergies of education and research in providing the best care for patients.
A total of four new Professorships — Tan Cheng Lim-CCF Professorship in Paediatric Oncology and three Professorships in Cardiovascular Medicine, Plastic Surgery and Regenerative Medicine were announced at the Gala Dinner. These endowed Professorships would provide academic leadership of teaching and research in medicine, nurturing future generations of clinicians.
More than 700 clinicians, researchers, educators and donors attended the Gala Dinner, set to be a biennial event.
Read media articles.
