Singapore-UWO One-day Biomedical Imaging Workshop

A one-day Scientific Workshop on Biomedical Imaging Research between various groups in Singapore and the University of Western Ontario’s Biomedical Imaging Research team will be held on Thursday, 5 July 2007 at the Clinical Research Centre Seminar Rooms 1 & 2, of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

The various local groups taking part in this workshop are Singapore General Hospital, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and National University of Singapore. One of the objectives is to explore potential for future collaboration.

There is no charge or restriction on registrants for the workshop.

Editorial Team

Lim Chwee Teck
Ellice Lim
Siti Haryanti

RUNX International Conference 2007

The Oncology Research Institute/Cancer Programme will be organizing the RUNX International Conference at the Biopolis, from 20-22 August 2007. It will be attended by 80 to 100 scientists worldwide, who have an interest in the RUNX Genes. Dr Yoshiaki Ito is one of the founders of the RUNX family of genes.

The original founding members, together with a group of scientists that have grown rapidly over the years, have held annual meetings in the US, Japan, UK and Korea. This is the first time that the conference will be held in Singapore.

The annual RUNX meeting serves as an excellent platform for the exchange of experience and findings among researchers, in the hope of making greater scientific discoveries. This international conference serves to place Singapore in the forefront of cutting edge science and discovery.

Cancer Seminar

“Interrogating the Biology of CaaX Protein Prenylation: Implications for Design of Novel Anti-Cancer Therapeutics”

Professor Patrick J. Casey
Senior Vice Dean of Research, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore
Member, Singapore Biosciences Review Committee

Day/Date: Thursday, 19 July 2007
Time: 4 pm
Venue: CeLS Auditorium

Seminar by Ageing/Neurobiology Programme

“Mitochondrial diseases: An update on diagnostic strategies”

Professor Salvatore DiMauro
Neurology, Columbia University, USA

Day/Date: Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Time: 12 pm
Venue: CeLs Auditorium

“Drug discovery for cognitive disorders: An in vitro biologists perspective”

Dr. Richard Rutter
GlaxoSmithKline, Singapore

Day/Date: Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Time: 12 pm
Venue: CeLs Auditorium

Safety, Health and Environmental Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials Workshop 2007

A 2-day workshop on “Safety, Health, and Environmental Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials” was held at NUS from 7 to 8 June 2007. This workshop provided scientists, researchers, industrials, government agencies the most up-to-date progress and issues concerning the potential effects of engineered nanomaterials.

Eight invited speakers from UK, Finland, Germany, and the US gave informative lectures on topics ranging from overview of engineered nanomaterials and their application, potential health and environmental effects, to regulatory issues.

It attracted about 150 participants from research institutes (e.g., IBN & A*STAR), governmental agencies (e.g., NEA & MOM), industrial company (e.g., NanoScience Innovation Pte Ltd.), and students. About ten poster presentations and three company exhibitions (ITS, Lee Hung, & Perkin Elmer) were given. Two dialogue sessions encouraged discussion and interaction between audiences and invited speakers on various issues, including safety practice of handling nanomaterial related tests, research directions and public awareness.

This workshop resulted from a multi-disciplinary study entitled “Health and Environmental Impacts of Nanomaterials”, supported by OLS since January 2006.

NUSNNI, NERI, and OSHE at NUS also provided administration assistance and cosponsored the workshop.

International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) 2007 Annual Meeting

Tissue Repository Programme Leader Dr Robert Hewitt and his team (Dr Eng Chon Boon, Dr Huang Hong Hong, Mr Tan Kee Peck and Dr Rajeev Singh) recently organised a biobank networking evening at the exclusive Tower Club Singapore. The networking evening was a prelude to the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) 2007 Annual Meeting. The four-day international meeting on biobanking was held at the Furama Riverfront Hotel from 30 May to 2 June 2007.

Guests of Honor at ISBER 2007

The event was co-hosted by NUH and the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) with strong support from the Office of Life Sciences. It was ISBER’s first meeting in the Asia-Pacific and the theme was “International Biobanking Standards”, highlighting the need for harmonisation of biobanking practices to support international research collaboration. The ISBER meeting was attended by 263 delegates from 26 countries, who shared experiences and discussed issues related to developing a standardised and harmonised biobanking network in Asia and other parts of the world.

At the ISBER meeting, Dr Robert Hewitt was also announced as the President of ISBER for 2008. This will be the first time this office has been held by a person based outside the USA and will provide an opportunity to strengthen ISBER’s presence in the region, as well as to encourage international harmonisation of biobanking practices.

OLS Distinguished Lecture Series 

A Distinguished Lecture Series was held on 28 June 2007. The speaker was Prof Daniel Müller, from the University of Technology Dresden, Germany. He delivered a lecture titled “The first NanoRobot taking life to the line: Watching and directing cellular machines”.

Prof Daniel Muller

Submission of Applications 

The closing date for the submission of the application for the NRF Fellowship to the Office of Research is 17 July 2007.

If you are aware of suitable applicants in the life science field, please encourage them to submit their applications to the Office of Life Sciences for immediate consideration.

OLS has shortlisted about 8 candidates. Some of the candidates will be visiting the University for interaction with the internal review committee and relevant departments for assessment.

OLS hosted a visit on 13 June 2007 by a Saudi delegation from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Relocation to CeLS 

The IACUC Office has moved to the basement of the Centre for Life Sciences building with effect from 28 June 2007. The office tel and fax numbers remain unchanged. The official address is :

Centre for Life Sciences
28 Medical Drive
Singapore 117456

Access to MD1

A temporary link way which provides access from CeLS to MD1 is now open. Staff who require to transport research animals from MD 1 can use this link way. Access to the link way is via the CeLS Basement 1 car park.

Users can also proceed to other MD and Science Blocks and the Science Canteen.

Safety Committee 

The OLS EXCO is committed to ensuring work place safety in the CeLS building. A Safety Committee has been formed with four subcommittees for chemical, biological, radiation and fire safety. Each subcommittee is led by a chairperson who has extensive knowledge and experience about the specific safety issues and comprises representative members from the four programmes in CeLS.

The Chairs and members of the four subcommittees have been hard at work to come up with CeLS-wide standard operating procedures (SOP). Once the SOPs are finalized, they will be made available to all occupants of CeLS.

Ad-Hoc Specialists

Dr Patrick Sharp, Director and Dr Leslie Retnam, Deputy Director with Laboratory Animals Centre have been appointed as Ad-hoc Specialists with effect from 1 Sep 07 to 31 Aug 2010 with the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care(AAALAC). AAALAC International is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programmes.

More than 700 companies, universities, hospitals, government agencies and other research institutions in 29 countries have earned AAALAC accreditation, demonstrating their commitment to responsible animal care and use. These institutions volunteer to participate in AAALAC’s programme, in addition to complying with the local, state and federal laws that regulate animal research.

Some of the institutions that have earned AAALAC accreditation include the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The American Red Cross, and the National Institutes of Health. AAALAC has more than 180 ad hoc Consultants who accompany Council members on site visits and make recommendations to the Council. Many these consultants have expertise beyond the realm of traditional laboratory animal species. Others have unique discipline competencies, such as applied neuroscience, behavioral science, toxicology, pharmacology or physiology. These specialists add depth to the site visit team, and understand the intricacies of combining research missions with animal well-being.

Singapore Youth Award 2007

Dr Yu Hao

Our heartiest congratulations to Dr Yu Hao, Assistant Professor in the Dept of Biological Sciences and member of the structural Biology and Proteomics Programme. He is the recipient of the Singapore Youth Award 2007 which will be conferred by President SR Nathan on 1 July 2007.

He has previously received the A*STAR Young Scientist Award 2006 and the NUS Young Researcher Award 2007. His research focuses on the flowering mechanisms and systems biology in plants.