NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

🧬Can gene editing help prevent heart disease?

👩‍🔬🧑‍🔬 Asst Prof Jiong-Wei Wang from the Department of Surgery led a team comprising Ms Shilin Wang, Ms Jin Ying Ashlyn Ng, Ms Wenhui Cui, and Mr Xiao Hou from NUS Medicine, in collaboration with researchers from Tianjin Medical University General Hospital to develop a bioinspired nanoparticle designed to deliver gene-editing machinery to target a gene that regulates LDL cholesterol, offering a promising strategy to lower "bad" cholesterol levels and reduce cardiovascular risk.

📖 This pioneering study showcases how cutting-edge nanotechnology and biomedical science can come together to address one of the world's leading health challenges.

Read the full story and discover how this research could reshape cholesterol management via the link in comments below 👇

Our NUS Medicine students joined peers from across the region at the Asian Medical Deans' Summit 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where future healthcare leaders came together to exchange ideas, showcase research, and explore the future of medical education.

🤖 From meaningful discussions on innovation and AI in healthcare to cross-cultural collaboration and networking, the experience broadened perspectives and strengthened connections across Asia.

Read more about their learning journey and summit experience via the link in comments below 👇

🩺 Can I be a doctor?

In this third podcast episode of First Year To First Call, our speakers share their personal journeys into medicine, from gaining early exposure through observerships, MedEngage and internships to discovering what it means to become a doctor.

Hear from Adj Assoc Prof Nicola Ngiam, Deputy Director of the Centre for Healthcare Simulation at , and our alumni as they share insights into the qualities nurtured in a good doctor and the realities of medical school and clinical life.

🎥 Watch now in the link below 👇

🌟 Prof Andrea Maier named one of TIME's 2026 Longevity Leaders

Congratulations to Prof Maier, Co-Founder and Director of the NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity, NUS Medicine, on being named one of TIME’s 12 Longevity Leaders for 2026. The inaugural list recognises scientists and innovators advancing how we understand and practise healthy longevity.

TIME’s profile, “Andrea Maier Wants to Solve Longevity’s Evidence Problem”, highlights Prof Maier’s work to move longevity medicine from broad claims towards rigorous clinical evidence. At the NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity, this includes investigating whether interventions shown to extend healthy life in laboratory models translate into measurable benefits for people, while exploring approaches tailored to an individual’s biology.

Prof Maier’s recognition places Singapore’s work in precision geromedicine alongside an outstanding international group advancing research across cellular reprogramming, biological-age measurement, muscle health, genetics, women’s health and the social foundations of longevity.

This achievement reflects the collective efforts of the clinical teams, researchers, students, partners and, most importantly, trial participants contributing to the evidence base for longer, healthier lives.

👇 Read the TIME profile in the link below.

🏆 Celebrating three Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards for NUS Medicine!

The Communications team has earned three honours at the 2026 Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards and IN2 SABRE Awards, a recognition of the School’s creative and strategic communications work for its 120th anniversary celebrations and Yearbook, How to Live to 120.

NUS Medicine received:
🏆 SABRE Award – Educational and Cultural Institutions for : 120 years of NUS Medicine
🏆 SABRE Award – Institutional Image for How to Live to 120
🏆 IN2 SABRE Award – Corporate Reporting for How to Live to 120

Sally Toh, Head of Communications, NUS Medicine, shared, “These awards are especially significant because they reflect not only the creativity and commitment of the Communications team, but also the support of our leadership, colleagues and collaborators across the NUS Medicine community who helped bring these stories to life.”

👇 Read more in the link below

🌟 Engineering Pneumococcus at NUS Medicine 🌟

Join us for the next session of the Rising Star Research Series by the NUSMedSci Alliance, featuring Assoc Prof Chris Sham Lok To from the Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme (IDTRP) and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at .

In his talk, Assoc Prof Sham will explore how Streptococcus pneumoniae builds its protective capsule, which is targeted by all licensed pneumococcal vaccines. His laboratory is engineering this pathway to better understand how these complex sugars are made, with the aim of developing new approaches for vaccines, therapeutics and antimicrobial discovery.

🔗 Register now: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Xu-lWwkxd06Fvc_rDTR-gsX34DVN0n5MmHkqcRZr9-VUNUxENlFIRFFBV09UUFdSTFdVTEIxS01LSC4u
🗓 9 Sep 2026, 12pm to 1pm
📍 MD11 Auditorium
🍽 Lunch will be provided

🚗 Road injuries cost Singapore nearly 9,700 healthy years in 2023

A new global study led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), in collaboration with , estimates that road injuries resulted in 9,680 years of healthy life lost in Singapore in 2023 through premature death and disability. While road-injury rates have fallen significantly since 1990, they remained the second-leading cause of death among those aged 15 to 29 in Singapore.

Published in The Lancet Public Health, the study provides the latest global assessment of road injuries across 204 countries and territories. Assoc Prof Marie Ng, co-author and Director of the NUS-IHME Global Burden of Disease Research Centre at NUS Medicine, highlights the need for road safety measures that go beyond individual behaviour, including safer infrastructure, effective enforcement, emergency care and rehabilitation.

👇 Read more in the link below.

🌏 Two students gain new perspectives on medicine in Chengdu

From 5 to 17 July, Year 2 students Phua Jun Hao and Prabakaran Sahana took part in the HUAXI MedElite Global Summer Programme in Chengdu, hosted by West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University. Bringing together medical students from around the world, the programme featured expert-led sessions, hands-on clinical skills training and the Model International Conference for Medical Students.

From surgical techniques and robotic-assisted surgery to research presentations and discussions with international peers, the programme offered the students diverse learning experiences beyond the classroom. Sahana was awarded first runner-up in the Oral Presentation category for her research presentation, while Jun Hao presented on student life at NUS Medicine in the Poster Presentation category. The experience reinforced the importance of curiosity, technical mastery and cultural understanding, shaping how both students see their growth as future doctors.

👇 Read more about their experience and reflections from Chengdu in the link below.

🔬 New “master switch” linked to aggressive breast cancer, with drug shown to slow tumour growth

Researchers at have identified a previously unknown “master switch”, DP103, that helps aggressive triple-negative breast cancer grow and spread. Blocking this switch with the investigational drug RX-5902 (Supinoxin) slowed tumour growth in laboratory models.

Published in Cell Death and Disease, the treatment reduced tumour size by around 90 per cent in laboratory models while largely sparing healthy cells. DP103 could also potentially help identify patients who may benefit most from targeted treatment.

The study was led by Research Asst Prof Alan Prem Kumar, with first author Dr Cai Wanpei and co-author Assoc Prof Celestial T. Yap, all from the NUS Centre for Cancer Research (NC2R).

👇 Read more at the link below.

💡 From AI-powered rehabilitation to accessibility solutions that empower people with disabilities, this year's Medical Grand Challenge (MGC) 2026 brought together some of the brightest young minds in healthcare innovation from across the globe.

🌏 With student participants from 13 countries and a record number of teams, MGC 2026 highlights the growing potential of AI and digital technologies to reshape patient care, support caregivers, and address real-world healthcare challenges.

👇 Read the full story in the link below to find out about the inspiring innovations behind this year's winners.