1. technology and computing

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL 4 NOVEMBER 2014, 2030H
PRESIDENT’S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AWARDS 2014 HONOURS
OUTSTANDING SCIENTIFIC TALENT FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO
SINGAPORE’S R&D LANDSCAPE
Singapore – Eight of Singapore’s top research scientists and engineers have
been conferred the 2014 President’s Science and Technology Awards (PSTA) by
President Tony Tan Keng Yam at a ceremony held at the Istana on 4 November
2014.
The PSTA are the highest scientific honours in Singapore and serve to recognise
exceptional individuals and teams for their achievements in science and
technology, and acknowledge their outstanding contributions to the research and
development (R&D) landscape.
The PSTA consists of the following awards:
• President’s Science and Technology Medal (PSTM)
• President’s Science Award (PSA)
• President’s Technology Award (PTA)
The Young Scientist Awards (YSA), organised by the Singapore National
Academy of Science and supported by A*STAR, were also presented to three
promising young researchers at the awards ceremony.
Advancing Singapore’s healthcare and biomedical sciences
This year, the President’s Science and Technology Medal was presented to
Professor John Wong Eu-Li, currently Chief Executive of the National University
Health System (NUHS), Isabel Chan Professor in Medical Sciences and Senior
Vice President (Health Affairs) for the National University of Singapore (NUS), for
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his distinguished and sustained contributions to Singapore’s healthcare and
biomedical sciences research.
Professor Wong, one of the pioneers in Singapore’s push for the biomedical
sciences, was instrumental in shaping policies, recruiting top scientists and
working with Singapore’s economic agencies to attract pharmaceutical
companies to Singapore.
Professor Wong has also championed translational clinical research and
established the Cancer Therapeutics Research Group to bring together
academic cancer centres from Singapore, Australia and across Asia to develop
better treatments for cancers which predominantly affect Asian populations. The
group has demonstrated major differences in the expression and treatment of
common cancers between Asian and Caucasian populations, with implications
for screening, drug efficacy and toxicity. This concept of an “Asian Phenotype”
has since been identified as one of Singapore’s niches in translational research.
By helping to establish and lead the NUHS, Professor Wong also brought
together research, clinical care and education to advance health and the quality
of healthcare in Singapore. His emphasis on the importance of multi-disciplinary
collaboration and human capital development for Singapore’s healthcare and
research landscape has resulted in the development of academic programmes
that encourage interaction across disciplines at NUS.
These collective efforts have led to international recognition for Singapore in the
development of academic health systems. Besides hosting the first regional
meeting of the World Health Summit in 2013, Singapore was also invited to be
the first non-G8 member of the M8 Alliance of Academic Health System.
Said Professor Wong, “I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award on
behalf of the whole academic medical community in Singapore who have built on
what our predecessors have bequeathed us. Harnessing research to develop
solutions for our healthcare challenges and equipping the next generation of
professionals with the skills to address them will make this a better Singapore
and enhance the biomedical sciences as a key pillar of our economy.”
Breaking new ground in graphene chemistry research
The President’s Science Award was presented to Professor Loh Kian Ping from
NUS for his breakthrough research in graphene chemistry. Graphene, termed a
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‘wonder material’ for its unique properties of strength, flexibility and electrical and
thermal conductivity, holds huge potential for application in fields such as
computing, energy and medicine.
Focusing on the growth, processing and applications of diamond and graphene,
Professor Loh has led his team to breakthroughs in controlling the electronic
properties of graphene by applying varying degrees of strain and even in the use
of graphene as a platform for growth of stem cells. He has led his team to solve a
major challenge of graphene commercialisation - the large scale production of
graphene, Such discoveries hold great promise for the applications of graphene,
resulting in several patents and start-ups that have secured more than US$3
million in venture funding. These advances have also led to recognition of
Professor Loh as a world leader in graphene chemistry research, putting
Singapore on the world map in this emerging field.
Envisioning the future for detection and treatment of eye diseases
The President’s Technology Award was conferred on two teams for their
outstanding contributions to R&D which led to the innovative use of technology to
meet economic and social needs.
The President’s Technology Award was presented to a team comprising
Professor Wong Tien Yin from the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), and
Professor Wynne Hsu and Professor Lee Mong Li from NUS, in collaboration
with the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), and A*STAR’s Institute for
Infocomm Research (I2R), for the development of a suite of novel eye image
analysis technologies. This platform allows the doctors to detect and track the
progression of three major eye diseases which cause blindness as well as to
study the onset of systemic vascular diseases such as stroke, heart disease and
diabetes.
The platform uses advanced algorithms to enable automatic screening of retinal
images and generation of medical reports at higher speeds and lower costs.
These algorithms were validated through close collaboration with eye specialists
and tested using an extensive retinal image database. The platform has since
been adopted by six polyclinics, increasing productivity by replacing manual
examination of retinal images for anomalies indicating disease. The technology
has also been licensed and used by various universities, research institutes,
hospitals and even in ophthalmic products.
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The other winning PTA team comprises Professor Subbu Venkatraman and
Professor Freddy Boey of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and
Associate Professor Tina Wong from SERI. They are receiving this award for the
development of a platform for sustained release of glaucoma medication.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness globally, with Asians
accounting for almost half of the world’s patient population. The platform utilises
a single injection of nanomedicine for the delivery of medication for up to six
months, effectively preventing blindness caused by patient non-compliance to the
regimen of daily eye-drop treatment.
The use of their innovative technology has been successfully tested through first
phase in-man clinical trials. In addition, the team has also attracted interest from
major pharmaceutical companies. The team has enriched Singapore’s innovation
ecosystem by establishing a start-up to commercialise the technology.
Congratulating the winners, Mrs Ow Foong Pheng, Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Trade and Industry and Chairman of the PSTA Main Selection
Committee said, “This year’s winners demonstrate the high standard of research
and talent that has enabled Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy. They
have distinguished themselves in their ability to conduct excellent science and to
translate their research into benefits for society and the economy.”
Recognising the next generation of scientific leadership
The Young Scientist Awards were given to three promising young research
scientists and engineers. They are: Dr Zhang Baile from NTU, Dr Wang Qijie
from NTU, and Dr Melissa Fullwood from the Cancer Science Institute of
Singapore, A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and YaleNUS College. The Young Scientist Awards was presented to the winners by Mr S.
Iswaran, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, and Second Minister for Home Affairs
and Trade & Industry.
More information on the PSTA and YSA winners may be found in Annex B and
Annex E respectively.
_______________________________________________________________
Enclosed:
ANNEX A – List of PSTA winners
ANNEX B – Citations of PSTA winners
ANNEX C – Fact sheet on PSTA selection committees
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ANNEX D – Information sheet on YSA and list of YSA winners
ANNEX E – Citations of YSA winners
For media queries and clarifications, please contact:
Vanessa Loh
Senior Officer, Corporate Communications
Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Tel: +65 6826 6395
Email: vanessa_loh@a-star.edu.sg
________________________________________________________________
About the President’s Science and Technology Awards (PSTA)
The President’s Science and Technology Awards (PSTA) are the highest
honours bestowed on exceptional research scientists and engineers in Singapore
for their excellent achievements in science and technology, and outstanding
contributions to the development of the research and development landscape in
Singapore.
The PSTA were formerly known as the National Science and Technology Awards
(NSTA), which was started in 1987. The elevation of the award to Presidential
status in 2009 underpins Singapore’s efforts to raise the level of excellence in
R&D and strengthen the growing community of scientific talent in Singapore.
The PSTA consists of the following awards:
• President’s Science and Technology Medal (PSTM)
• President’s Science Award (PSA)
• President’s Technology Award (PTA)
President’s Science and Technology Medal (PSTM)
The President’s Science and Technology Medal is awarded to outstanding
individuals who have made distinguished, sustained and exceptional
contributions and played a strategic role in the development of Singapore
through the promotion and management of R&D. Recipients receive a specially
designed gold medal and a citation.
President’s Science Award (PSA)
The President’s Science Award is presented to research scientists and
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engineers in Singapore who have made outstanding contributions in basic
research leading to the discovery of new knowledge or the pioneering
development of scientific or engineering techniques and methods. Recipients
will receive a crystal trophy, a citation and a prize of $50,000.
President’s Technology Award (PTA)
The President’s Technology Award gives recognition to research scientists and
engineers in Singapore who have made outstanding contributions to research
and development resulting in the invention or discovery of significant technology
with industrial applications. Recipients will receive a crystal trophy, a citation
and a prize of $50,000.
________________________________________________________________
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's
lead public sector agency that fosters world-class scientific research and talent to
drive economic growth and transform Singapore into a vibrant knowledge-based
and innovation driven economy.
In line with its mission-oriented mandate, A*STAR spearheads research and
development in fields that are essential to growing Singapore’s manufacturing
sector and catalysing new growth industries. A*STAR supports these economic
clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in
industry.
A*STAR oversees 18 biomedical sciences and physical sciences and
engineering research entities, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, as well as
their vicinity. These two R&D hubs house a bustling and diverse community of
local and international research scientists and engineers from A*STAR’s
research entities as well as a growing number of corporate laboratories.
For more information on A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg.
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ANNEX A
LIST OF PSTA WINNERS
I)
•
II)
•
III)
•
President’s Science and Technology Medal (PSTM)
Prof John Wong Eu-Li
Isabel Chan Professor in Medical Sciences
Chief Executive, National University Health System
Senior Vice President (Health Affairs), National University of Singapore
President’s Science Award (PSA)
Prof Loh Kian Ping
Department of Chemistry
National University of Singapore
President’s Technology Award (PTA)
Team comprising:
Prof Subbu Venkatraman
School of Materials Science and Engineering
Nanyang Technological University
Associate Prof Tina Wong
School of Materials Science and Engineering
Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore Eye Research Institute
Prof Freddy Boey
School of Materials Science and Engineering
Nanyang Technological University
•
Team comprising:
Prof Wong Tien Yin
Singapore Eye Research Institute,
Singapore National Eye Centre,
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, and
National University of Singapore
Prof Wynne Hsu
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School of Computing,
National University of Singapore
Prof Lee Mong Li
School of Computing,
National University of Singapore
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ANNEX B
CITATIONS OF PSTA WINNERS
PRESIDENT’S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MEDAL 2014
Professor John Eu-Li Wong
Isabel Chan Professor in Medical Sciences
Chief Executive, National University Health System
Senior Vice President (Health Affairs), National University of Singapore
“For his outstanding contributions to the scientific research
and biomedical science communities, and his visionary leadership
in healthcare and medical sciences in Singapore.”
Professor John Eu-Li Wong is widely regarded as a visionary leader in healthcare, a key
contributor to the development of biomedical sciences and a champion of
multidisciplinary and translational research.
His stellar career is distinguished by his deep passion as a physician, and his ability as a
leader to inspire teams dedicated to developing multidisciplinary and translational
solutions for improved patient care. Prof Wong is a renowned medical oncologisthaematologist, a master strategist and a respected administrator who has a strong focus
on talent and the nurturing of young doctors, researchers and clinician-scientists.
In the area of biomedical sciences and research, Prof Wong made distinguished
contributions as a key member of the team to establish Singapore’s Biomedical
Sciences Initiative in 2000 led by then A*STAR Chairman Mr Philip Yeo. He has served
on the Biomedical Sciences Executive Committee from its inception, including chairing
the Human Capital Working Group, and also served on the Translational Clinical
Research Committee and the Industry Partnership Oversight Committee. He also
contributed to mentoring bright young local clinicians and clinician-scientists, as well as
recruiting top talent to Singapore from overseas.
A keen champion of translational clinical research, Prof Wong drew on his extensive
clinical experience to establish the Cancer Therapeutics Research Group in 1997. The
group brought together academic cancer centres in Singapore, Australia and across
Asia to develop better treatments for cancers which predominantly affected Asian
populations. Prof Wong currently serves on the National Medical Research Council and
was the Founding Chair of the Board of the Singapore Clinical Research Institute.
Prof Wong’s keen insights as a master physician and academic and research leader
have contributed greatly to the development of Academic Medicine in Singapore. He
played a key role in establishing the National University Health System (NUHS), and
currently serves as its Chief Executive. He was also the Founding Director of the
National University Cancer Institute Singapore (NCIS). Under his leadership, NCIS has
grown into a highly respected institution which provides outstanding clinical care and
high quality training for cancer care specialists, professionals and researchers, as well
as conducting high-impact and relevant research.
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Prof Wong, who was Dean of Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at NUS from 2003 to
2011, led the revamp of the curriculum into integrated tracks, emphasising the clinical
relevance of basic science and early exposure of medical students to patients. He also
pushed for improved patient care through multidisciplinary teams of healthcare
professionals and scientists.
He was instrumental in the formation of the first undergraduate nursing degree
programme at the medical school, and raised the global profile of Singapore medicine
through institutional partnerships with some of the world's leading medical institutions,
including Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Prof Wong helped to steer developments in key multidisciplinary programmes that
involved Medicine, Science, Computer Science, Dentistry, Engineering, Business, Arts
and Social Sciences, and Public Policy. These programmes stretched across areas that
include bioethics, health service research, epidemiology, genomics, proteomics,
metabolomics, imaging, immunology, experimental therapeutics, tissue and
bioengineering, molecular pathology, as well as medical and bioinformatics.
As the Founding Chair of the Board of the NUS Graduate School of Integrative Sciences
and Engineering (NGS), Prof Wong led efforts to enable top graduate students to work
with some of NUS' best faculty in the physical, engineering, and biomedical sciences.
Integrative approaches were introduced at NGS to address challenges in medicine,
engineering and the life, physical, and computer sciences.
Prof Wong obtained his MBBS from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and
served his residency and fellowship at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center,
where he was the Chief Resident in Medicine, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center. Among many notable achievements, he represents Singapore in the M8
Alliance of Academic Health Centers and the Association of Academic Health Centers –
International. He is a member of the Global Genomic Medicine Collaboration (G2MC)
Steering Committee, the Nature Index Panel of Senior Medical Advisors, the
International Editorial Board of the American Journal of Medicine, and the Editorial
Board of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Prof Wong was also a
member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Personalized and
Precision Medicine.
For his outstanding contributions to the scientific research and biomedical science
communities, and his visionary leadership in healthcare and medical sciences in
Singapore, Professor John Eu-Li Wong has been awarded the 2014 President’s Science
and Technology Medal.
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PRESIDENT’S SCIENCE AWARD 2014
Professor Loh Kian Ping
Department of Chemistry
National University of Singapore
“For his outstanding research on graphene chemistry”
Professor Loh Kian Ping is a pioneer and a world leader in the area of graphene
chemistry research. In the last decade, Professor Loh spearheaded an
internationally acclaimed research effort on advanced carbon materials. He is one of the
key driving forces behind carbon research efforts at the National University of Singapore
(NUS) and in Singapore generally. His research focuses on the growth, processing and
application of diamond and graphene with a view towards technological applications.
Graphene is a one atom thick carbon sheet with huge technological potential. In 2010,
the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for graphene research and since then,
worldwide research efforts to study the properties and applications of this wonder
material have intensified. Professor Loh’s outstanding work in this field has contributed
significantly to Singapore’s position as a world leader in this hot research area.
Over the past seven years, Professor Loh and his team have made fundamental
breakthroughs in graphene research. These discoveries include controlling the electronic
properties of graphene by applying varying degrees of strain; using graphene as an
optical material to generate high energy laser pulses; using nano-graphene oxide to
seed the growth of ice at room temperature; and using graphene as a platform for the
growth of stem cells. Prof Loh’s work on graphene photonics was even highlighted by
Prof Kostya S. Novoselov, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, in his Nobel
Lecture.
Beyond fundamental studies, Professor Loh’s work addresses engineering challenges
such as the large scale synthesis of graphene. His team recently pioneered the growth
and transfer of high quality graphene on silicon wafer in a single step, solving a major
challenge critical for graphene commercialisation. This breakthrough was published in
the highly prestigious scientific journal Nature in January 2014, winning recognition in
the scientific community worldwide. Most importantly, the direct growth and spontaneous
attachment of graphene on the silicon substrate is amenable to batch processing in a
semiconductor production line, thus speeding up the technological application of
graphene.
A prolific scientist, Professor Loh also invented a method to electrochemically exfoliate
graphene flakes from graphite mineral. Unlike conventional methods, his novel method
does not use oxidising agents or concentrated acids, thus bypassing the tedious and
dangerous steps used in conventional methods. To commercialise this invention,
Professor Loh founded a spin-off company in 2012 for bulk synthesis of high quality
graphene for applications in batteries and composites.
Trained as a physical scientist, Professor Loh’s work has a strong focus on applications.
Out of the 10 patents that he has filed, five have been licensed and spawned three startups that secured more than USD 3 million in overseas venture funds.
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In 2008, Professor Loh was awarded a National Research Foundation Competitive
Research Programme (CRP) for research on graphene and related materials. This
highly successful programme led by him has contributed to the establishment of the
Graphene Research Centre at NUS Faculty of Science. By 2013, research arising
largely from this CRP had propelled NUS to be one of the top universities in the world for
graphene research.
Over the last three years, Professor Loh had published more than 10 papers in Nature
and its sister journals, among many other high impact papers. These achievements have
contributed towards strengthening NUS’ international reputation and research rankings.
Professor Loh has won many accolades for his outstanding research achievements. In
2008, he received the NUS Young Research award and in 2012, he was conferred the
NUS Outstanding Researcher Award. Professor Loh was also presented with the highly
prestigious American Chemical Society Nano Lectureship award in 2013. He is currently
the associate editor of the American Chemical Society Journal, Chemistry of Materials.
For his outstanding research on graphene chemistry, Professor Loh Kian Ping has been
awarded the 2014 President’s Science Award.
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PRESIDENT’S TECHNOLOGY AWARD 2014
Professor Subbu Venkatraman1, Associate Professor Tina Wong1, 2 and Professor
Freddy Boey1
1
School of Materials Science and Engineering
Nanyang Technological University
2
Singapore Eye Research Institute
“For their innovative application of nanostructures and novel drug delivery approach to
combat blindness from glaucoma”
Professor Subbu Venkatraman, Associate Professor Tina Wong and Professor Freddy
Boey have developed a simple and painless injection of anti-glaucoma nanomedicine
that can effectively control the disease for several months. This sustained release
nanomedicine treatment administered by doctors would overcome sub-optimal
management of glaucoma due to patients’ non-compliance to daily topical application of
eye drops and poor drug penetration from eye drops, leading to progression of blindness.
This novel approach could change the paradigm of clinical management of glaucoma
and could also potentially be applied to treatment of other diseases.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and is estimated to
affect 80 million people by 2020, with Asians accounting for almost half the world’s
glaucoma afflicted population. For the last 150 years, doctors have been reliant on
prescribing daily eye drops to early glaucoma patients to manage increase in ocular
pressure – a treatment regime that is heavily reliant on patients remembering to use
their eye drops correctly and regularly.
The interdisciplinary team comprising Venkatraman, a biomaterials scientist, Wong, a
senior consultant ophthalmologist and Boey, an experienced entrepreneur and
bioengineer, worked together to address this challenge. The team developed a deep
understanding of complex drug-nanostructure interactions and the loading principles of
drugs into self-assembling nanocarriers such as liposomes. With this understanding, the
team was able to load a sufficient amount of commonly used glaucoma medication into
each nanoparticle, administer it through a sub-conjuctival injection and to control its
release for 90 days in vivo. This is the first known injectable nanomedicine for glaucoma
treatment. This avoids the risks and discomfort associated with sustained-release solid
implants, whose drug efficacy may last up to 2 months in clinical trials. By administering
anti-glaucoma treatment once three months via a single injection, the need for daily eye
drop application with its associated risk of blindness from non-compliance and poor drug
bioavailability was minimized.
The team managed to advance their ocular nanocarrier research, application
development and preclinical animal studies from concept through to successful first-inman clinical trials in just 4.5 years, which is about half the time of a typical drug
commercialization cycle. This novel glaucoma nanomedicine treatment is expected to
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be commercially available after larger scale clinical trials through a spin-off company in
about two years and could significantly change the clinical management of glaucoma.
In addition, the understanding of nanostructure-drug interactions and the nanocarrier
drug delivery platform for glaucoma has opened the possibilities of this as a translatable
platform technology to benefit other eye diseases as well as other applications requiring
localized and systemic sustained delivery of drugs.
For their innovative application of nanostructures and development of novel drug
delivery approach to combat blindness from glaucoma, Professor Subbu Venkatraman,
Associate Professor Tina Wong and Professor Freddy Boey are awarded the 2014
President’s Technology Award.
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PRESIDENT’S TECHNOLOGY AWARD 2014
Professor Wong Tien Yin1, Professor Wynne Hsu2,
Professor Lee Mong Li2
1
Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Center, Duke-NUS
Graduate Medical School, National University of Singapore
2
School of Computing, National University of Singapore
“For their outstanding contributions to the development of novel ocular image
analysis technology for the screening and evaluation of significant clinical
problems in eye and vascular diseases”
Professor Wong Tien Yin, Professor Wynne Hsu, and Professor Lee Mong Li, assisted
by their collaborators from NUS, Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), and the
Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), developed a suite of novel ocular image analysis
technologies and designed the architectural platform for the innovative application of
these technologies to detect and track the progression of three major eye diseases
which cause blindness. The technologies can also be used to study systemic vascular
diseases.
The core technology is the Platform for Ocular Image Screening and Evaluation (POISE)
that encompasses a suite of advanced image analysis algorithms and innovative
integration of these methods. These include programmes that have been developed for
large-scale clinical use for eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and
age-related macular degeneration as well as systemic vascular diseases such as stroke,
heart disease, dementia, diabetes and hypertension.
The technology has enabled monitoring and documentation of subtle alterations in the
retina over time. This makes early recognition of such diseases possible before the
onset of clinical symptoms, thus allowing physicians to detect disease early, monitor
disease progression and track treatment outcomes.
Through automation of ocular image analysis, previously labor-intensive eye disease
screening programs can now be scaled up with reduced cost and less resource. The
technology has been successfully adopted by public primary healthcare clusters and has
significantly improved productivity, reduced waiting time and over-referrals to specialists.
The team has benefitted from close collaboration with NUS, SERI and I2R colleagues.
Their research and achievements have placed Singapore on the world map as a leader
in ocular image analysis technology and development. The technology has been
licensed to and used by several academic and medical centres and research institutions,
including University College London, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of
Melbourne, University of Sydney, the Centre for Eye Research Australia, the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Moorfields Eye Hospital
and Topcon Inc. Several joint research labs such as SAILOR - the SERI-I2R-NUS Joint
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Lab, and the ATLANTIA Topcon-I2R Joint Lab have been established to drive the next
generation of advanced ocular imaging technologies.
This work has resulted in more than 30 patents, and 20 end-user licenses with
companies, institutions and hospitals globally full commercial licenses with multinational
companies) ;more than 300 publications and multiple international prizes and awards.
These systems have been extensively applied to different populations and cohorts in
Singapore, USA, Europe, Australia and other Asian countries, in more than 100,000
adults and children ranging from healthy, community-based populations to high risk
patient groups.
For their outstanding contributions to the development of novel ocular image analysis
technology for the screening and evaluation of significant clinical problems in eye and
vascular diseases, Professor Wong Tien Yin, Professor Wynne Hsu, and Professor Lee
Mong Li, are awarded the 2014 President’s Technology Award.
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ANNEX C
FACT SHEET ON PSTA SELECTION COMMITTEES
Judging Process
Nominations for the awards start from January every year, and ends with judging
and endorsement of the awards in August. The nominations undergo a rigorous
process of selection before being short listed for judging.
Award Selection Committees
The award selection panels comprised key representatives from the industry,
academia, defence and research institutes. The main selection committee was
chaired by Mrs Ow Foong Pheng, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and
Industry.
Professor Lee Eng Hin, Professor and Emeritus Consultant, National University
Health System, and Professor Quek Tong Boon, Chief Defence Scientist,
Ministry of Defence, chaired the selection committees for the President’s
Science Award and President’s Technology Award respectively.
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ANNEX D
INFORMATION SHEET ON YOUNG SCIENTIST AWARD (YSA)
List of YSA Winners
Assistant Professor Wang Qijie
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
& School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Nanyang Technological University
Assistant Professor Zhang Baile
Division of Physics and Applied Physics
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Nanyang Technological University
Assistant Professor Melissa Jane Fullwood
Cancer Science Institute of Singapore
National University of Singapore,
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and
Sciences Division
Yale-NUS College
About the Young Scientist Awards
The Young Scientist Awards recognise young researchers, aged 35 years and
below, who are actively engaged in R&D in Singapore, and who have
shown great potential to be world-class researchers in their fields of
expertise. This award is organised by the Singapore National Academy
of Science and supported by A*STAR. Recipients will receive a trophy, a
certificate of commendation and a prize of $10,000.
Young Scientist Award Selection Committee
The judging committee for the Young Scientist Awards is chaired by Professor
Andrew Wee, President, Singapore National Academy of Science.
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ANNEX E
CITATIONS OF YSA WINNERS
YOUNG SCIENTIST AWARDS 2014
Assistant Professor Wang Qijie
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
& School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Nanyang Technological University
“For his research on fundamental studies and applications in mid-infrared
and far-infrared photonics and optoelectronics”
Dr Wang’s main research interests are the filling of the mid-infrared and farinfrared spectrum gap through theoretical and experimental investigations of
fundamental light-matter interactions in new materials and new designs, and the
development of novel photonic and optoelectronic devices and systems (as well
as solutions) for a wide range of applications from sensing and spectroscopy,
free space communication, environmental monitoring and industry process
control, imaging and security screening, to defence. He and his co-workers have
made several major contributions, including an innovative approach through
band structure and defect engineering of graphene to achieve broadband high
photo response photo detectors, which open up possibilities for achieving high
performance graphene optoelectronic devices, a spectral class of electrically
pumped lasers in the mid-infrared regime without relying on a laser cavity, and a
planar plasmonic integration for achieving ‘arbitrary’ beam characteristics of
lasers.
Dr Wang’s research has resulted in more than 90 papers in top international
journals such as Nature Photonics, Nature Materials, Nature Communications,
etc, as well as multiple US patents, some of which have been licensed to US
companies. His achievements have been extensively featured in leading journals
and the mass media: Nature, Nature Photonics, Laser Focus World, IEEE
Spectrum, Physics World, New Scientist, Asian Scientist, Science Daily, Straight
Times, Lianhe Zaobao, etc. Over the past five years, he has secured about S$8
million worth of competitive external research grants, for most of which he is the
principal investigator. He won the international World Culture Council Special
Recognition Award 2013, Nanyang Assistant Professorship 2009, IES
Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2005, Singapore Millennium
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Foundation Fellowship 2005, Gold Award in the 5th Young Inventor Awards 2004
(by Hewlett Packard), and the Young Inventor Award in Photonics Innovation
Village Competition 2004 (France).
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Assistant Professor Zhang Baile
Division of Physics and Applied Physics
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
“For his research on fundamental as well as practical invisibility cloaking
from light and heat”
Dr Zhang’s research focuses on analysing and controlling electromagnetic
waves, from radio to light. In the development of invisibility cloaking technology
that originally seemed indistinguishable from magic, he established a solid
electromagnetic foundation that solved major controversies in mathematics and
physics, demonstrated macroscopic visible-light cloaks which had been widely
believed to be impossible, and extended the cloaking technology from optics to
thermal physics with the first successful three-dimensional thermal cloak that can
hide an air bubble from external heat flux. With these results, his students won
the £10,000 prize in the business plan competition called “CleanTech Challenge”
in London in 2014 - the first winner from Asia. He also started a spin-off company
in Singapore recently.
Dr Zhang is a recipient of the MIT Technology Review TR35 Young Innovators
Award 2012, which “recognizes the world’s most outstanding 35 innovators under
the age of 35.” He was invited to give a TED Talk in Long Beach, California, in
2013, as the first Chinese TED Fellow. He serves on the Editorial Board of
Scientific Reports, a new journal from Nature Publishing Group. He is an
engaging educator and skilfully uses demonstrations in his lectures at NTU to
effectively teach and engage even those uninterested in physics.
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Assistant Professor Melissa Jane Fullwood
Junior Principal Investigator
Cancer Science Institute of Singapore
National University of Singapore (NUS),
Joint Principal Investigator
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR),
Assistant Professor
Sciences Division
Yale-NUS
“For her research on chromatin interactions in cancer”
Dr Fullwood’s research focuses on the study of 3-Dimensional genomic
organization, or chromatin interactions, in cancer. Cancer genome sequencing
has revealed that many factors associated with epigenetic processes are
mutated in cancers, and epigenetic processes have been targeted by specific
drugs. One of the mechanisms by which the non-coding "dark matter" of the
human genome could function is through long-range chromatin interactions with
target genes.
Chromatin interactions are regions of the genome that are far apart in the linear
genome sequence but come together in close 3-dimensional spatial proximity,
and may constitute common mechanisms for gene regulation. Dr Fullwood
previously helped to develop Chromatin interaction Analysis with Paired-End Tag
Sequencing (ChIA-PET) for genome-wide elucidation of chromatin interactions,
and applied this to the study of chromatin interactions bound by Estrogen
Receptor α (a drug target in breast cancer), and demonstrated that chromatin
interactions constitute a major mechanism by which Estrogen Receptor α
functions to upregulate genes. In addition, she participated in the “ENCODE”
consortium funded by the National Institutes of Health in the United States,
where her work (and the work of other people), demonstrated that chromatin
interactions are common mechanisms for transcription regulation. Now, in her
independent laboratory, she is applying chromatin interaction methodologies to
cancer models to investigate detailed epigenomic profiles, allowing for new
insights into possible cancer-associated biomarkers and cancer therapies. This
work is expected to have translational applications in terms of annotations for
personal and clinical sequencing and development of clinical biomarkers.
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Dr Fullwood has 17 publications in journals such as Nature, and her works have
been cited over 1,500 times. She also holds several patents. She is a recipient of
the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) National Science
Scholarships, one of the three recipients of the inaugural L’Oreal-UNESCO for
Women in Science National Fellowships in Singapore in 2009, and the
international winner of the GE and Science prize in 2010. In 2013, she received
the National Research Foundation (NRF) fellowship. She is the President of the
Singapore Institute of Biology (SIBiol).
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