Winners of the President’s Science and Technology Awards 2017
Published: 17 Nov 2017
Professor Edward Warren Holmes and Dr Li Jingmei clinched the President’s Science and Technology Medal (PSTM) and Young Scientist Award (YSA) respectively at this year’s President’s Science and Technology Awards (PSTA). PSTA are the highest honours conferred upon research scientists and engineers in Singapore whose work have resulted in significant scientific, technological or economic benefits for the country. Winners of PSTA were presented with the award at the Istana on 13 November by Madam Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore during the annual ceremony, organised by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
Lien Ying Chow Professor of Medicine Edward Holmes from Department of Medicine, NUS Medicine received the PSTM for his work in developing the physical and social infrastructure that galvanised translational and clinical research in Singapore’s health and biomedical sciences sector. Prof Holmes, who is also a Senior Fellow at A*STAR and an Advisor to the National Research Foundation and the Ministry of Health, is a world-renowned academic leader in translational and clinical research and has held leadership positions across Duke University, Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California, San Diego. For his extensive contributions and valuable services to Singapore, he was conferred Honorary Citizenship in 2011.
Dr Li Jingmei, Adjunct Assistant Professor from Department of Surgery, NUS Medicine, and Senior Research Scientist at the Genome Institute of Singapore, was honoured with the YSA in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Category. Dr Jingmei graduated from NUS Science as Valedictorian in 2006, before proceeding to do her post-graduate studies at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Her research is dedicated to predicting, preventing and improving care for breast cancer — the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in Singapore — by discovering novel susceptibility markers and mechanisms as well as genetic differences in mammographic density that identify those at risk of developing the disease. The NUS Overseas Colleges programme alumna was awarded a $54,000 (US$40,000) grant as part of the UNESCO-L’Oréal For Women in Science Fellowship in 2014 and a National Research Foundation Fellowship Award in 2017.
This article was first published on NUS News on 14 November 2017.
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