Duke-NUS Medical School

What's your hobby? How many pets do you have?

For most, these are small talk. For infectious diseases specialist Asst Prof Shirin Kalimuddin, they're diagnostic clues.

Her method isn't the stuff of TV drama — it's quieter, and more rigorous. Ask carefully. Listen deeply. Follow the thread from the ward to the research lab.

Read her story in the latest issue of Medicus 👇
https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/medicus/2026-issue-2/shirin-kalimuddin

📸: Asst Prof Shirin Kalimuddin

Duke-NUS Medical School has been awarded funding from the European Commission's EU4Health programme to advance wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) as an early warning system for infectious disease threats across Asia.

Building on momentum from the COVID-19 pandemic, WES offers a cost-effective, non-intrusive approach to monitoring community health and strengthening regional preparedness.

Led by the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness, this collaborative effort will work with regional and international partners — including the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) and the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) — to support low- and middle-income countries in developing sustainable, genomics-based WES systems for public health impact.

Following the successful project kick-off meeting on 8 June in Kuala Lumpur, we look forward to driving innovation in early detection and response, and to enhancing public health readiness throughout the region.

Read the full press release here: https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/newshub/media-releases/adwance-asia

🌏 Day 1 of the inaugural Durham and Singapore Horizon (DASH) Summit is underway at Duke-NUS!

We're proud to be part of this landmark gathering, bringing together about 100 participants from around the world to address some of today's most pressing challenges in medicine and science — challenges that matter deeply to Singapore, Durham, and the global community.

DASH is more than a summit. It's a platform where academic science, clinical practice, and translational innovation converge — giving bold ideas the space to grow into scalable solutions and real impact for patients and communities.

This year's inaugural programme centres on three critical areas:
🔬 Nucleic acid therapeutics
📊 Integrated data tools for precision medicine
🎓 Precision education

Over the next three days, 100 minds will engage, question, and collaborate. We're excited to see what emerges.

Duke University SingHealth

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. 🎓

To the Duke-NUS Class of 2026 — everything you sacrificed, every challenge you faced head-on, every patient you cared for along the way has brought you here.

We're also grateful to our Guest of Honour, Mdm Rahayu Mahzam, Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information & Ministry of Health, for gracing this special occasion, and a heartfelt thank you as well to Prof Robert Califf for his inspiring keynote address to the Class of 2026.

Congratulations from all of us at Duke-NUS!

SingHealth Duke University Duke University School of Medicine National University of Singapore

Ready to turn your nutrition innovation ideas into reality? 🚀

We're calling on early-career clinicians and researchers across Asia-Pacific working in maternal and child nutrition: if you've got solutions brewing but no time to develop them, this may be your chance.

The Asia-Pacific Global Health Innovation Hackathon is happening this September in Singapore - a 48-hour intensive where regional teams collaborate, build, and pitch under expert guidance.

What's at stake? The top 3 teams don't just win - they gain access to a 6-month incubation programme (valued up to SGD 25,000) complete with seed funding and mentorship to bring their innovations to life.

This is for the problem-solvers who see gaps in maternal and child nutrition care and are ready to do something about it.

Key dates:
📌 Application deadline: 15 June 2026
📌 Hackathon event: 18–19 September 2026, Singapore

Click to learn more 👉️ nus.edu/4wprJxA

Know someone who this may be of interest? Please tag them below.

SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute

Congratulations to Dr Lionel Chen and Dr Benny Loo, PhD students from our Clinical & Translational Sciences (CTS) programme, on receiving the prestigious INEX-OSCAR (OutStanding CS-in-TrAining Research) awards at the 2026 College of Clinician-Scientists Annual General Meeting.

The award recognises outstanding registered medical doctors who demonstrate innovation and strong progress during their formal research training. Securing two of the three awards this year reflects Duke-NUS’ commitment to strengthening Singapore’s pipeline of clinician-scientists through rigorous and translationally focused training programmes such as CTS.

Their award-winning research spans precision medicine and digital health innovation. Lionel’s work focuses on the genomic and transcriptomic profiling of microsatellite stable early-onset colorectal cancer in a multi-ethnic cohort, while Benny is evaluating a telemedicine-based exercise programme to improve cardiorespiratory fitness in an Asian paediatric population through a randomised controlled trial.

We are proud to see our clinician-scientists from the CTS programme advancing research that bridges scientific discovery and patient care. Congratulations once again to Lionel and Benny! We look forward to seeing the continued impact of their work on the future of medicine in Singapore and beyond.