Singapore NeuroScience Association's 25th anniversary celebration
Published: 29 Apr 2013
This year is a major milestone in the history of the Singapore NeuroScience Association (SNA) as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary. In this connection, SNA held a one-day neuroscience symposium and honored outstanding neuroscience researchers and educators in Singapore with awards for their significant contributions on 26 April 2013 at the Centre for Life Sciences, NUS. The event was attended by more than 100 people involved in neuroscience education and research in Singapore.
Associate Professor S. T. Dheen (Department of Anatomy, NUS), the President of SNA, welcomed the participants and briefly highlighted the history of SNA which was formed without much fanfare in 1988 by then Associate Professors Laurence Garey and Tan Choon Kim. Associate Professor Gavin Dawe (Department of Pharmacology), Secretary of SNA, released a book entitled ‘25 years of Journey’ to commemorate the 25th anniversary of SNA and Associate Professor Yeoh Khay Guan (Dean, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine), who was the Guest of Honour, received a copy of the book.
In his speech, Prof Yeoh congratulated SNA for its sustained growth and contributions to the neuroscience community in Singapore over the last 25 years. He encouraged neuroscientists in Singapore to continue their good work in studying neurological disorders such as Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as these disorders have become increasingly complex in terms of therapy and causes deterioration in the quality of life, and this is particularly pertinent in the aged population. Prof Yeoh further noted that research on neurological disorders has gained global importance with President Barack Obama’s recent annoucement to start a Brain Initiative with about $100 million in federal funding to explore the mysteries of the human brain. Prof Yeoh concluded by congratulating Prof Ling (former President of SNA and former Head of Department of Anatomy) on being conferred the Emeritus Professorship by NUS.
Associate Professor Yeoh Khay Guan presented the SNA Awards to following recipients:
- Distinguished Neuroscientist Award: Assoc Prof Samuel Tay Sam Wah (Department of Anatomy, NUS)
- Outstanding Woman in Neuroscience Research in Singapore: Professor Charanjit Kaur (Department of Anatomy, NUS)
- Excellence in Neuroscience Research Award: Assoc Prof Soong Tuck Wah (Department of Physiology, NUS)
- Excellence in Neuroscience Research Award: Assoc Prof Ong Wei Yi (Department of Anatomy, NUS)
- Neuroscience Educator Award: Assoc Prof Sanjay Khanna (Department of Physiology, NUS)
- Neuroscience Educator Award: Assoc Prof Ng Yee Kong (Department of Anatomy, NUS)
At the end of the ceremony, a memento was presented to Prof Yeoh by Associate Professor Dheen. This event was kindly supported by the Department of Anatomy, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, with sponsorship from several vendors of biomedical instruments and materials.
[From L to R] Assoc Prof Liang Fengyi, Assoc Prof Yeoh Khay Guan, Prof Charanjit Kaur, Assoc Prof S Thameem Dheen, Assoc Prof Samuel Tay, Assoc Prof Ong Wei Yi, Assoc Prof Soong Tuck Wah, Assoc Prof Sanjay Khanna, Ms Shweta Jadhav and Assoc Prof Gavin Dawe
