Prof Koh Woon Puay from Duke-NUS and Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, shared the results of her research on the influence of midlife weight change on cognitive impairment in old age at the global conference organised by Duke-NUS and the International Alliance of Research Universities on 17 October 2018.

Researchers from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the University of Glasgow have found a new way named lateral transduction, in which bacteria can evolve, one they believe is at least 1,000 times more efficient than any currently known mechanism. The insights will help researchers to better understand how dangerous bacteria can rapidly evolve and become increasingly virulent and antibiotic resistant. The study was co-led by Asst Prof Chen Yu-Shen from the Dept of Microbiology and Immunology at NUS Medicine.

NUS Business School students Fauzi Bajuri, Chiang Han Sheng, Estee Guan Xiang Ting and Joy Wong Pui Yin wrote that Mr Jesher Loi, grandson of  Ya Kun’s late founder Loi Ah Koon, believes having employees at all levels working together plays a crucial role in steering the firm towards achieving its goals. 

NUS students hoping to become entrepreneurs can apply for a new scholarship, thanks to a gift from Dr Stephen Riady, Executive Chairman of OUE Limited. The bond-free scholarship, which is open to first-year students from all disciplines, covers tuition fees and living allowances for four years of undergraduate studies. Scholarship recipients will receive guidance from NUS Enterprise and can also join the NUS Overseas Colleges Programme. Upon graduation, recipients who want to start a business venture can apply for seed funding. Six students have received the Stephen Riady Young Entrepreneur Scholarship in August 2018.

The findings of an NUS study on the wild boar population in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve in 2016, which were published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology in September 2018, has prompted the National Parks Board to consider embarking on an island-wide study of wild boars to guide population management of the animal in the future.

Students from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine have taken the lead in providing free health screening for seniors for the past 13 years. The School partnered with the Health Promotion Board and Agency for Integrated Care for the first time this year, where about 650 student volunteers conducted free health screening for seniors in Jurong East recently.

An extensive plan to protect Singapore's marine landscape, from mangroves and seagrass meadows to coastal forests and coral reefs, has been presented to the government. The ground-up initiative is led by NUS marine biologists including Biological Sciences lecturer Dr Zeehan Jaafar and PhD candidate Samantha Lai from the Experimental Marine Ecology Lab.

Dr Qi Dongtao, Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute at NUS, commented on how politicisation, bureaucratisation, professionalisation and commercialisation are impacting higher education in China.

Asst Prof Yong Nan from the Depts of Strategy and Policy, and Marketing at NUS Business School had shared findings from a recent study which found that even if incentives to encourage off-peak travel by rail commuters were to be removed, most commuters would continue to travel at off-peak hours out of habit.

Dr Chen Gang, Senior Research Fellow and Asst Director of the East Asian Institute at NUS, examined the possible impact of a China-US trade war on China’s opening up and opined that trade, investments or cross-border would not be significantly affected by the trade spat.