Four NUS innovators awarded NRF Fellowships

Assistant Professor Gloryn Chia from NUS Pharmacy is working to develop novel vaccines and stem cell therapies which could treat cancer and other human diseases.

“My research focuses on personalised ‘neoantigen’ vaccines, which are emerging as a highly promising immunotherapy technique,” she said.

Neoantigens are antigens that arise from mutations in cancer cells not present in normal cells. As such, they represent excellent targets for immunotherapy, due to their specific expression in tumour cells, and potential lack of side effects. By harnessing the power of new genomic technologies, Asst Prof Chia and her team are exploring the cancer neoantigen landscape, and in a patient-specific manner. 

“Specifically, we aim to generate a highly versatile and scalable ‘off-the-shelf’ source of artificial antigen-presenting cells starting from genetically engineered induced pluripotent stem cells,” she added.

The overarching goal for Asst Prof Chia is to improve the efficacy of neoantigen vaccines, with the ultimate aim of translating the research findings into clinical practices and personal cancer treatments.

Assistant Professor Jun Nishiyama from the Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders programme at Duke-NUS Medical School conducts research on the molecular connections in the brain, and how their disruption can lead to neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease. 

“Our brain functions depend on proper connections between billions of neurons. The goal of our laboratory is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders at the level of synapses,” Asst Prof Nishiyama explained.

Asst Prof Nishiyama and his team develop novel imaging tools to probe the functionality of synapses – the junction between two nerve cells – based on cutting-edge molecular, genome-editing, and optical techniques.

“I combine innovative microscopy and genetic approaches to explore the mechanisms behind these molecular brain connections,” he said.

Assistant Professor Yvonne Gao from NUS Physics and the NUS Centre for Quantum Technologies constructs cutting-edge ‘quantum hardware’ for scalable quantum computing.

“We build modular quantum devices to enable robust quantum computing and explore novel phenomena in quantum physics,” Asst Prof Gao explained.

By exploring the individual building blocks that can eventually go into a quantum computer, Asst Prof Gao has more control over their operation. This approach means that devices could be easily removed from the chain and fixed independently if they become damaged.

“Our modular quantum hardware has built-in programmability and quantum error correction to pave the way for a large-scale quantum computer,” she said.

Using this pioneering modular quantum hardware, Asst Prof Gao and her team can probe quantum effects at incredibly low temperatures, from quantum interference to multipartite interactions. They are also able to design specialised operations and circuit configurations to test new quantum algorithms.

Assistant Professor Pieremanuele Canepa from NUS Materials Science and Engineering applies computational methods to advance the understanding of materials for energy storage and conversion. 

“Our research leverages the synergy between materials science, thermodynamics, electrochemistry and the power of supercomputers for the discovery of novel materials and molecules,” Asst Prof Canepa explained. 

The models derived from his research contribute to the design of new materials for clean energy technologies, such as electrode materials for solid-state batteries.

The main challenges for practical solid-state devices include the utilisation of metal anodes, stabilisation of interfaces and the maintenance of physical contact.

“Utilising modelling, our research attempts to identify the root-cause of these problems, providing viable solutions,” he said.