Women’s reproductive longevity the focus for new NUS research
Published: 09 Feb 2021
The issue of female fertility has come into sharp focus in recent years, with more women getting married later and having children later in life. In Singapore, the number of women giving birth in their 40s has almost doubled in the last three to four decades, according to data from Singapore’s Department of Statistics. Conception is an uphill task for women above 40 as fertility declines with age. The chances of natural conception fall to less than 5% and this also often comes with serious health risks and complications, such as miscarriages and premature live births, and higher chances of having a child with Down’s Syndrome.
To be established at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality will study ways to advance female fertility, lifespan and health-span. Research initiatives at the Centre will be led by scientists and clinicians from NUS Medicine and other institutions here as well as the Asia-Pacific, US and Europe, and specialising in women’s reproductive health, ageing, and digital medicine. The effort will seek to find ways to improve and lengthen female reproductive health and longevity, helping women to preserve and improve their reproductive systems for conception and general health, potentially enabling women to conceive safely in their later years.
The Centre was made possible by a US$8 million gift from the Bia-Echo Foundation, based in the USA, whose founder is attorney and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan.
“It was during my time as a study abroad student at NUS Law school that I came to realise the unique position Singapore is in to be a pioneer in science and governance for this generation of innovators. I couldn’t be happier to support NUS Medicine’s leadership in women’s reproductive longevity and equality. Professor Chong Yap Seng has long been a leader in reproductive health in Singapore, and has created a world class team of researchers and scientists that are connecting the fields of women’s health and longevity. Expanding the reproductive lifespan of women is an investment that I know will serve generations to come, will have a positive and everlasting effect in how we approach women’s health, and provide greater confidence to families as they plan for the future. I hope that we can ameliorate the pain and fear so many women face today of losing reproductive capacity in their 30’s. As overall lifespan is increasing, so should reproductive lifespan,” said Ms Nicole Shanahan.
The vision of the US-based Bia-Echo Foundation, a private enterprise founded to accelerate social change to establish a fair and equitable society for generations to thrive, aligns with that of NUS Medicine, said Professor Chong Yap Seng.
“The reproductive health of women is paramount to the well-being and progress of a nation. The field of women’s reproductive health has not progressed much beyond in-vitro fertilisation and hormone replacement therapy and there is a pressing need for us to re-imagine approaches and possibilities in this field, especially with fast ageing population in many Asian societies, including Singapore,” said Professor Chong Yap Seng, Dean of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.
“We are deeply appreciative of the generous gift from the Bia-Echo Foundation, whose vision aligns with our work in women’s health. With this gift paving the way forward in the study of fertility and reproductive ageing, I believe the Centre is uniquely positioned to lead this conversation and, in time to come, shift the needle in enhancing the reproductive longevity and health of Asian women across generations.”
