Distinguished Professor Barry Halliwell conferred Outstanding Service Award

Published: 11 Sep 2023

Prof Barry Halliwell was conferred the Outstanding Service Award at the NUS University Awards on 8 September 2023.

At the NUS University Awards on 8 September 2023, the prestigious Outstanding Service Award was conferred on Professor Barry Halliwell, Distinguished Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at NUS, in recognition of his inspiring leadership and dedicated service. He is an accomplished individual who has made sustained contributions in selflessly serving the University and society.

Prof Halliwell’s 25-year career at NUS has seen him play a pivotal leadership role in driving the University’s research excellence and global reputation as a top research-intensive university. He was instrumental in promoting NUS as a hub for excellence in life sciences at the Life Sciences Institute, where he heads the Neurobiology Research Programme; and in establishing NUS research institutes, centres and programmes, contributing to successful bids for four Research Centres of Excellence. These are the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, Mechanobiology Institute, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (jointly with NTU).

An internationally acclaimed biochemist, and one of the world’s most highly cited researchers in biology and biochemistry, Prof Halliwell is distinguished especially for his seminal work on the role of free radicals and antioxidants in biological systems. His transformative research, particularly on Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders, includes identification of the most important antioxidants in the human diet as well as the development of novel antioxidants to treat diseases.

Prof Halliwell’s outstanding contributions have garnered him numerous accolades, including the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine, USA (2008) and Citation Laureate (2021), a distinction awarded by Clarivate to the most highly cited researchers in their field and whose work is of Nobel class. In 2013, he was awarded the Science and Technology Medal by the President of Singapore for sustained and exceptional contributions to Singapore’s science and engineering landscape.