SINGAPORE: Researchers in Singapore hope to shed more light on areas such as cancer, childhood leukaemia and sleep deprivation.

That is why the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have set aside about S$180 million for research into these areas.

Under a newly introduced Singapore Translational Research Investigator Award (STaR), four researchers can apply for up to a million dollars a year for a period of five years to conduct studies into their areas of interest.

STaR aims to recruit and nurture world-class clinician scientists to undertake cutting-edge translational and clinical research in Singapore. Some will also lead or contribute to the development of national flagship research programmes such as those that involve strategic disease areas.

Professor Michael Chee from the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Recipient of STaR, said: "I think in the modern society, especially in the age of the Internet, more and more people are spending their nights awake either at work or at play, and they don't realise that depriving yourself of sleep with the goal of improving life may actually bring more harm than good - so my focus is not on disease but in making the lives of people better.

"We are not only talking about brain effects - sleep deprivation also affects the immune system. It increases your risk of developing diabetes so it's got significant health effects and I think just like high blood pressure is labelled a silent killer. Sleep deprivation will be the silent killer, so to speak in health terms, of the 21st century."

Prof Chee said he has been studying sleep deprivation for five years, with a view to identify potential targets for intervention and to look at the basis for inter-individual differences and tolerance to sleep deprivation.

Another programme that researchers can tap on is the Clinician Scientist Award. Under this four-year-old programme, the chosen clinician scientists are awarded between S$225,000 and S$350,000 to conduct internationally competitive research.

From this year, the award will also fund 100 percent of the clinician scientist's salary to the host institution.

One of the recipients for this award is Associate Professor Allen Yeoh. Besides working with hospitals here, he is also collaborating with two hospitals in Malaysia to raise the survival rates of children with leukaemia.

When Prof Yeoh started on this area of work 20 years ago, only 20 percent of his patients became cancer-free. But now, more than eight in ten cancer patients can be cured.

In Singapore, about 120 children are stricken with cancer every year.

"What's unique about this study is how to personalise the medicine so that we can maximise the cure by minimising the side effects and costs of treatment. Probably more than 80 percent of our children with this form of cancer are curable, using the current technology," he said.

Prof Yeoh said without the grant, some tests conducted may take up to 10-15 years to produce results.

Other research topics that have received funding include retinal vascular imaging that will allow the prediction of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

It is hoped that research excellence will translate into better healthcare delivery for all patients in Singapore.


- CNA/so