An LSI Investigator Seminar Series was held on 19 November 2009 at the CeLS Seminar Room 2. The two speakers were A/Prof Gan Yunn Hwen, an NUS Young Investigator Award Recipient in 2003 and Associate Professor from the Department of Biochemistry and Dr Cynthia He Yingxin, Assistant Professor from the LSI Biophysical Sciences Programme and Department of Biological Sciences, NUS. A/Prof Gan spoke on “Bacterial strategies on virulence regulation and interference with host immune response” while Dr He spoke on “Cell cycle regulation in Trypanosoma brucei”. The seminar was chaired by A/Prof Vincent Chow, Programme Leader of LSI Infectious Diseases.

“Adriamycin (Doxorubicin)-Induced, TNF-a-Mediated Oxidative Stress and Neurodegeneration in Brain: Insights into Chemotherapy-Induced CNS Injury (Chemobrain)”

Dr Allan Butterfield, Ph.D
The Alumni Association Endowed Professor of Biological Chemistry;
Director, Center of Membrane Sciences;
Faculty Associate,Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center;
Faculty Associate, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
University of Kentucky

Date  :    Wednesday, 2 Dec 2009
Time  :    11am – 12nn
Venue:    CeLS Auditorium

“Vascular Risk Factors in the Pathophysiology underlying Alzheimer’s Disease”

Dr Ken Nagata
Director of Neurology
Research Institute for Brain and Blood Vessels
Japan

Date  :    Monday, 7 Dec 2009
Time  :    to be advised
Venue:    CeLS Seminar Room 2

“Th17 Cells and Inflammation”

Professor DONG Chen
Professor in the Department of Immunology
University of Texas (UT)
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX

Date  : Tuesday, 1 Dec 2009
Time  : 12nn – 1pm
Venue: CeLS Auditorium

Scientists from Harvard University, Stanford University, Duke University, University of Tokyo, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) will be gathered here.

There will be three keynote speakers: Professor Irving Weissman, Director, Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Professor Mariano Barbacid, Director, Spanish National Cancer Research Center and Professor Tadatsugu Taniguchi, Chairman, Dept of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo.

Dr Tony Tan, Chairman of the National Research Foundation will be the Guest-of-Honour at the official opening ceremony. For more details and registration, please refer to the link: http://www.csi.nus.edu.sg/events.html

The coming Mechanobiology workshop is the third of a series of annual workshops first held in 2007 and have brought together leading scientists in the field in our effort to establish a Centre of Excellence in Singapore. This workshop is held not only in the annual tradition of the series of meetings, it also marks the inauguration of the newly established Research Centre of Excellence for Mechanobiology (RCE Mechanobiology).

On 20 February 2009, a press conference announced a commitment of SGD$150 million by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) over 10 years to support the Mechanobiology Research Centre of Excellence (RCE), to be hosted at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The establishment of this centre was the result of 3 years of regular meetings, scientific discussions and careful strategic planning in establishing such a research consortium in Singapore in this field.

The Centre recognizes the importance of the mechanisms of cell and tissue mechanics in the development of therapies and have brought together over 25 PIs under one roof in Singapore from the various fields of mechanobiology, cell biology, biomechanics, modeling and bioimaging to break new ground in Mechanobiology. Critical applications of mechanobiology include the biologies of cancer (cancer cells respond inappropriately to their mechanical environment), cardiovascular, bone, cartilage, ligaments, immune system, and neuronal organization.

The themes that will be covered at the Workshop include:

1. Biomechanics
2. Bioimaging
3. Cytoskeleton
4. Modelling
5. Mechanosensing
6. Cell Migration
7. Cell Signalling

The international workshop will field some 31 internationally renowned speakers and 9 local speakers from NUS, NTU and research institutes from A*STAR.

A workshop jointly organized by the Life Sciences Institute, the Division of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Dept of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, NUS.

Date : 3 -5 November 2009
Time : 9am – 5pm
Venue: CeLS Auditorium, NUS

For more information and registration, please click here.

Editorial Team

Ellice Lim
Siti Haryanti
Aziz Salim

Our heartiest congratulations to Dr Gavin Dawe who was promoted to Associate Professorship with effect from 1 July 2009.

A joint drill on chemical spill was recently organized by the Safety Committees from both Brenner Centre and CeLS on 1 October 2009. It was carried out with the assistance of SCDF from Alexandra Branch, NUS-OSHE and NUS Campus Security.

The simulated drill scenario revolved around a chemical spill by a delivery man who delivered chemicals to CeLS level 5. Two staff who were receiving the chemicals were hurt. In total, 3 victims were reported to the Fire Safety Committee Commander, who in turn contacted the SCDF, Campus Security and OSHE for assistance. Upon hearing the Public Announcement System, the occupants from both Brenner Centre and CeLS were safely evacuated to the designated assembly point without much hassle by their respective office Fire Wardens.

Each year, different drills are planned and organized by the Fire Safety Committee to familiarize occupants working in both buildings, on different scenarios in times of emergency. This has been a great exercise and effort by the team, as safety is never a single person’s responsibility. It involves everyone’s concern working together in the same environment and should never be taken for granted. Let us continue to make our workplace a safe environment.

Two to three joint grants will be made available. Each NUS grant awarded to the NUS PI will provide funding up to S$100,000 per project per year for 2 years. Baden Württemberg will provide the German PI a grant of 50,000 € per project per year for 2 years.

Priority will be given to cross disciplinary projects that address issues relevant to life sciences. For more information on the grant call, please click here. Deadline for submission is 8 December 2009.

The CeLS-BCMM Safety Day 2009, jointly organized by Life Sciences Institute (LSI) and A*STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), was held on 22 October 2009 at the Centre for Life Sciences.

Dr Sini Mathew, Safety and Health Manager and Miss Cheryl Chan, Safety Officer, jointly spear-headed the organizing committee which planned a power-packed day of activities, attended by over 200 staff and students from Centre for Life Sciences (CeLS) and Brenner Centre.

Prof Peter Little, Director, LSI, started off with an inspiring speech on being careful and safe but not following safety rules blindly, using the analogy that one must still look before crossing the road, even when the traffic lights are in one’s favour. This was followed by remarks by Ms Chia Hsin Ee, Head, SICS and Mr Saravanan s/o Gunaratnam, Head, Office of Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE), NUS.

Ms Heidi Tan, from Tan Tock Seng Hospital, shared tips on Ergonomics for Working Adults. Other interesting talks on safety, health and wellness issues in a working environment also took place on that day. The talks were conducted by the sponsors, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), as well as OSHE.

There was overwhelming response to the CPR and AED Familiarization Program which was introduced for the first time as an activity. The lucky first 50 participants were taught, through theory and practical sessions, the correct ways to carry out CPR and use a defibrillator on a victim. Sessions were conducted by instructors from the Emergency Management Division of OSHE.

Another highlight of the event was the safety poster competition. 49 entries were received from various departments at CeLS and Brenner Centre. 9 were shortlisted for voting on Safety Day. The most votes went to Ms Mashidah Soo Pa Mad, who received the first prize (worth $600) on behalf of her LSI colleagues. The event ended with a lucky draw where the top prize went to Miss Low Siew Chin from SMART. She walked away with a Sony Home Theatre System.

The event was well received by all who attended.