Master of Clinical Investigation (MCI)

Empowering healthcare professionals to design and conduct clinical research relevant to patient care

Overview

The Master of Clinical Investigation (MCI) Programme at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, was developed in consultation with the National Medical Research Council (NMRC), senior clinician-researchers, and biostatisticians to equip healthcare professionals with the essential expertise to design and conduct meaningful clinical research. The programme also provides a foundation for advanced research training, including PhD pursuits, ensuring participants are well-prepared to integrate scientific research with clinical practice.
Designed for clinicians and allied health professionals, MCI’s focus include evaluating:
  • New treatments and technologies
  • Diagnostic modalities
  • Mechanisms of human disease
  • Determinants of disease outcomes
  • Effectiveness of health services

Intake: August 2025

Duration:
2 years (Part-time)
Application Start Date:
1 November 2024
Application Deadline:
31 March 2025
Outcome of Applications:
Mid-May 2025
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Course Brochure
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Ideal candidates for the programme

Doctors, Nurses, Dentists, Pharmacists, Allied Health Professionals, and TCM Practitioners

Graduates can pursue careers in roles such as:

  • Research Director
  • Associate Professor
  • Health Tech Innovator

Programme Faculty

Makoto Yawata,M.D., Ph.D.

Programme Director and Clinical-Scientist Mentor, NUS Yong Loo Lin
School of Medicine

Learn more

Prof Cheung Yin Bun

Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine,
Duke-NUS Medical School

Learn more

A/Prof Edwin Chan

Associate Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS
Medical School

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Mihir Gandhi

Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS
Medical School

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Dr Cindy Lin Xinyi

Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS
Medical School

Learn more

Dr Lee Chun Fan

Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS
Medical School

Learn more

Makoto Yawata,M.D., Ph.D.

Programme Director and Clinical-Scientist Mentor,
NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Learn more

Prof Cheung Yin Bun

Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine,
Duke-NUS Medical School

Learn more

A/Prof Edwin Chan

Associate Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine,
Duke-NUS Medical School

Learn more

Mihir Gandhi

Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

Learn more

Dr Cindy Lin Xinyi

Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

Learn more

Dr Lee Chun Fan

Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

Learn more
The MCI programme is designed for completion within two years, with an option to extend to a third year if additional time is required for the research component.

Graduation Requirements
Total Units Required: 40 Units

To graduate, students have to fullfill both the coursework and research requirements:
Coursework (32 Units):
Nine coursework courses will be offered as a core requirement for all students.
Coursework will be conducted in two blocks, each comprising between five to seven weeks of full-time study, and held semesterly (in August-September and January-February).

All students are expected to complete the coursework requirements in the first year as it is foundational for the research component.

Research Component (8 Units):
The research component will span a minimum of eight months. The aims of this component are to enable students to apply knowledge, acquire skills to plan a project, and to integrate and sustain research within clinical practice.
View the full list of courses

Please refer HERE for the proposed study plan for full-time and part-time students.

Important:

The University does not engage external agencies for student recruitment. Candidates should apply directly to the University and not through any agents. Applications submitted through agents will not receive any added advantage and the University reserves the right to reject such application without explanation.
Only online applications are accepted.

Before submitting your application:

Click here to apply online
To be eligible for enrolment, applicants must meet the following requirements. However, please note that selection of candidates is based on a competitive basis and meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission into the programme.

Minimum Requirements:

For Physicians

  • An MBBS or equivalent degree from an internationally-recognised medical school or university
  • Physicians who have entered specialist training or residency programme
  • Aptitude for clinical research at the international level
For Allied Health and Other Healthcare Professionals
  • Internationally-recognised qualification in their profession
  • At least three years of professional practice experience
  • Aptitude for clinical research at the international level

Tuition Fees:

Total Tuition Fees (for students enrolled in the Academic Year 2025/2026 only): S$61,912 (inclusive of 9% Goods & Services Tax (GST))

The payment schedule is as follows:

Part-Time Students

Full Time Students

International Students

Year 1 Semester 1

S$15,478

–

–
Year 1 Semester 2

S$15,478

–

–
Year 2 Semester 1

S$15,478

–

–

Year 2 Semester 2

S$15,478

–

–
Additional Fee:

In addition to tuition fees, students will be charged miscellaneous student fees each semester.

Miscellaneous student fees help meet costs incurred by the University in providing services to the student community that are either not covered or only partially covered by the tuition fees. These services include healthcare for students; facilitating student cultural, social and recreational programmes; and maintaining the shuttle bus service, IT network and other essential campus infrastructure and services.

For more information, please visit the Office of the University Registrar website.

Applicants may apply to the NMRC Research Training Fellowship for funding for the course fees, subject to eligibility requirements. For more information regarding the NMRC Research Training Fellowship, you may send your query to moh_nmrc@moh.gov.sg

Applicants may also apply to Public Service Commission (PSC) for the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship; do note that their preference is for full-time studies although they would still consider candidates for part-time degree programmes.

The MCI programme is designed for completion within two years, with an option to extend to a third year if additional time is required for the research component.

Graduation Requirements
Total Units Required: 40 Units

To graduate, students have to fullfill both the coursework and research requirements:
Coursework (32 Units):
Nine coursework courses will be offered as a core requirement for all students.
Coursework will be conducted in two blocks, each comprising between five to seven weeks of full-time study, and held semesterly (in August-September and January-February).

All students are expected to complete the coursework requirements in the first year as it is foundational for the research component.

Research Component (8 Units):
The research component will span a minimum of eight months. The aims of this component are to enable students to apply knowledge, acquire skills to plan a project, and to integrate and sustain research within clinical practice.
View the full list of courses

Please refer HERE for the proposed study plan for full-time and part-time students.

Important:

The University does not engage external agencies for student recruitment. Candidates should apply directly to the University and not through any agents. Applications submitted through agents will not receive any added advantage and the University reserves the right to reject such application without explanation.
Only online applications are accepted.

Before submitting your application:

Click here to apply online
To be eligible for enrolment, applicants must meet the following requirements. However, please note that selection of candidates is based on a competitive basis and meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission into the programme.

Minimum Requirements:

For Physicians

  • An MBBS or equivalent degree from an internationally-recognised medical school or university
  • Physicians who have entered specialist training or residency programme
  • Aptitude for clinical research at the international level
For Allied Health and Other Healthcare Professionals
  • Internationally-recognised qualification in their profession
  • At least three years of professional practice experience
  • Aptitude for clinical research at the international level

Tuition Fees:

Total Tuition Fees (for students enrolled in the Academic Year 2025/2026 only): S$61,912 (inclusive of 9% Goods & Services Tax (GST))

The payment schedule is as follows:

Year 1 Semester 1

Part-Time Students

S$15,478

Full-Time Students (N.A.)

–

International Students (N.A.)

–

Year 1 Semester 2

Part-Time Students

S$15,478

Full-Time Students (N.A.)

– 

International Students (N.A.)

–

Year 2 Semester 1

Part-Time Students

S$15,478

Full-Time Students (N.A.)

–

International Students (N.A.)

–

Year 2 Semester 2

Part-Time Students

S$15,478

Full-Time Students (N.A.)

–

International Students (N.A.)

–
Additional Fee:

In addition to tuition fees, students will be charged miscellaneous student fees each semester.

Miscellaneous student fees help meet costs incurred by the University in providing services to the student community that are either not covered or only partially covered by the tuition fees. These services include healthcare for students; facilitating student cultural, social and recreational programmes; and maintaining the shuttle bus service, IT network and other essential campus infrastructure and services.
For more information, please visit the Office of the University Registrar website.

Applicants may apply to the NMRC Research Training Fellowship for funding for the course fees, subject to eligibility requirements. For more information regarding the NMRC Research Training Fellowship, you may send your query to moh_nmrc@moh.gov.sg

Applicants may also apply to Public Service Commission (PSC) for the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship; do note that their preference is for full-time studies although they would still consider candidates for part-time degree programmes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Coursework I (Semester 1, August – September) will require seven weeks of full-time study and Coursework II (Semester 2, January – February) will require five weeks of full-time study.
All classes are carried out during office hours, while some of the continual assessments and examinations are conducted on Saturday mornings. Students enrolled in the MCI Programme will need to take time off (study leave, etc.) from their institutions.
Unless granted approval by the University, no student may concurrently be a student for more than one degree or register as an NUS student and of another university/institute.
Generally, only courses that have not been used towards another degree at NUS or elsewhere may be considered for credit transfer (NUS courses) / exemption (Non-NUS courses). Such courses must be at level-5000 and above, relevant to the degree programme to which the candidate seeks admission, and read less than 10 years before the date of admission. Please refer to the following website for more details: https://nusgs.nus.edu.sg/admissions/credit-policy.
No, non-specialists are welcome to apply, but you should have a clinical research topic / question.

No, MCI students could also undertake projects in areas such as Health Services Research.

You may defer your start of the programme to the following year.
Students may be allowed to take Coursework 2 in Year 2 in situations such as maternity leave, department scheduling conflict, HMDP etc. However, Coursework 1 must be taken in Year 1 of MCI.
Students could extend their candidature for a third year.

As tuition fees for MCI are charged on a per programme basis, not per annum, students who extend their candidature beyond the standard 2 years will not be charged additional tuition fees. However, they will still be liable for the NUS miscellaneous student fees.

If you are unable to find the answer to your query in the list of FAQs, you can email us at mci@nus.edu.sg and we will reply to you within 3 working days.
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    Makoto Yawata,M.D., Ph.D.

    Programme Director and Clinical-Scientist Mentor
    Research Assistant Professor
    Department of Pediatrics, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Principal Investigator, Immunology Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore Principal Investigator, NUSMED Immunology Translational Research Programme, National University of Singapore

    Makoto YAWATA is the Director of the MCI Programme, where he also serves as a clinician-scientist mentor guiding the students in designing and planning their clinical studies and as coordinator of the MCI wet lab experiential research workshop. He is affiliated with the Department of Paediatrics at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and a Principal Investigator in the Immunology Programme in the NUS Life Sciences Institute and the NUS Medicine Immunology Translational Research Programme. His clinical background is autoimmune diseases; however the research he conducted as postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Structural Biology in Stanford University School of Medicine has led him to become more involved in hematology and transplantation. His laboratory has been investigating the mechanisms of human natural killer cell responses against particular types of virus infections and cancer, and also in transplantation immunology.

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    Prof Cheung Yin Bun

    Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine
    Deputy Director, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

    CHEUNG Yin Bun is Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, and Adjunct Professor at Tampere University, Finland. Prior to joining Duke-NUS, he was a Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Chief Scientific Officer at the Singapore Clinical Research Institute.
    He received his degrees in social science, medical demography, statistics and paediatric epidemiology from institutions in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. He has broad interest in the studies of global child health, statistical methodology, and quality of life in palliative care setting. He has been the principal investigator of multiple research grants on statistical methodology and quality of life research. He is the author of Statistical Analysis of Human Growth and Development (CRC Press, 2014) and co-author of Survival Analysis: A Practical Approach (Wiley, 2006). He is the developer of the Singapore Caregiver Quality of Life Scale.
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    A/Prof Edwin Chan

    Associate Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine
    Office of Clinical Sciences, Duke-NUS Medical School

    A/Prof Chan is a clinical epidemiologist with over twenty years of experience in clinical research and evidence synthesis as the Chief Scientific Officer of the Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI). He has been the Director of Cochrane Singapore since its establishment and is currently the Senior Scientific Advisor to SCRI. He teaches research literature critical appraisal skills and mentors students in clinical research (MCI programme, NUS). He has taught many research methodology courses on clinical trials, biostatistics, epidemiology, clinical practice guidelines (CPG) development, meta-analysis & evidence- based medicine (EBM). His interests are in the teaching of critical appraisal skills, epidemiology, health technology assessment and evidence synthesis.
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    Mihir Gandhi

    Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

    Mihir Gandhi is an Assistant Professor in the Signature Program in Health Services & Systems Research, Lien Centre for Palliative Care, as well as the Head of Biostatistics Core team at the Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. He is also affiliated with the Singapore Clinical Research Institute, Singapore as the Head of Biostatistics Department and the Global Health Group at the Center for Child Health Research, Tampere University, Finland as a Visiting Researcher.
    He is primarily working on planning, analysis and reporting of clinical trials. He has experience in wide range of therapeutic areas such as oncology, paediatrics, and hypertension for drug and health services interventional trials. In addition to clinical trials, he has research interest in applied statistics, health-related quality of life, quality of healthcare and health state valuation.
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    Dr Cindy Lin Xinyi

    Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

    Dr. Xinyi (Cindy) Lin is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke- NUS Medical School. She serves as the course coordinator for two modular courses in in the MCI programme: MCI5001 (Design and Planning of Clinical Studies) and MCI5006 (Design and Planning of Epidemiological Studies). Dr. Lin has extensive experience utilising advanced statistical methods in clinical research studies and genetic epidemiology investigations. She has taught biostatistics coursework to a diverse audience, including PhD students and clinical researchers.
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    Dr Lee Chun Fan

    Assistant Professor, Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

    Dr Lee Chun Fan is an assistant professor at the Centre for Quantitative Medicine at the Duke-NUS Medical School. Prior to this, he was also affiliated with the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong and the Singapore Clinical Research Institute.
    His research interests comprise health-related quality-of-life studies, clinical trials, and modelling transmission of infectious disease. He has also worked with projects in various therapeutic areas including oncology, stroke, ophthalmology and orthopaedics.
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    A/Prof Kenneth Ban

    Programme Director, National Supercomputing Cluster Singapore (NSCC)
    Assoc Prof, Dept of Biochemistry, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    Prof Kenneth Ban graduated from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and completed his PhD in Stanford University, As a medical educator and Phase I Director at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Kenneth is leading the development of a Health Informatics track aiming to build foundational competencies in data science for medical students.

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    A/Prof Caroline Lee

    Vice Dean, NUS Graduate School, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
    Assoc Prof, Dept of Biochemistry, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    Prof Caroline Lee graduated with PhD from Baylor College of Medicine and did her post-doctoral training with Dr. Michael Gottesman at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. She has ~100 peer reviewed publications focused on the functional genomics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pharmacogenetics.
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    Aaron Chua

    Principal Lecturer and Consultant
    Digital Strategy & Leadership Practice
    NUS-ISS

    His research interests comprise health-related quality-of-life studies, clinical trials, and modelling transmission of infectious disease. He has also worked with projects in various therapeutic areas including oncology, stroke, ophthalmology and orthopaedics.
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    A/Prof Jason Yap

    Associate Professor
    NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health

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    A/Prof Seth Gilbert

    Dean’s Chair Associate Professor
    Head, Department of Computer Science
    NUS School of Computing

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    A/Prof Ngiam Kee Yuan

    Head, AI Office, National University Health System
    Head & Senior Consultant, Division of General Surgery (Endocrine & Thyroid Surgery), Department of Surgery, National University Hospital
    Professor, Department of Surgery, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
    Senior Consultant, Division of Surgical Oncology, NCIS

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    Dr Aoife Keohane

    • Programme Director, MSc in Behavioural and Implementation Sciences
    in Health (MSc BIS)
    • Senior Lecturer, Centre for Behavioural and Implementation
    Science Interventions (BISI) NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

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    Prof Nick Sevdalis

    • Academic Director, Centre for Behavioural and Implementation Science Interventions (BISI)
    • Visiting Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
    • Academic Director (Joint), Quality Improvement & Implementation Science Clinical Academic Group, King's Health Partners, London, UK

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    Dr Volker Patzel

    Biomedical Innovation & Enterprise Course Coordinator
    Senior Lecturer, Dept of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    Dr Volker Patzel is a Senior Lecturer at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and holds a PhD from the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg. With more than 20 years of teaching experience, he coordinates six modules at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and leads research on RNA technologies for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Dr Patzel has published over 50 papers, filed 15 patent families, and founded AVECRIS Pte Ltd in Singapore.

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    A/Prof Gautam Sethi

    Drug Discovery and Development Specialisation Coordinator
    Capstone Project Co-Coordinator
    Associate Professor, Dept of Pharmacology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    A/Prof Gautam Sethi is a tenured Associate Professor at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, focusing on oncogenic transcription factor activation and cancer therapy. His work has led to over 400 scientific publications in high-impact journals. A/Prof Sethi is an editorial board member for numerous international journals and has been recognized as one of the world’s most highly cited researchers in 2020 and 2021 by Clarivate.

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    Dr Sham Lok-To (Chris)

    Capstone Project Coordinator
    Assistant Professor, Dept of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    Dr Chris Sham is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, where he teaches multiple microbiology-related courses, including Microbiology and Infection and Immunity He also serves as the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme coordinator and the Deputy Research Director of the Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme. His research focuses on bacterial cell envelope synthesis, and in 2019, he received the prestigious National Research Foundation Fellowship.

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    Dr Png Chin Wen

    Vaccinology and Immunotherapy Specialisation Coordinator
    Lecturer, Dept of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    Dr Png Chin Wen earned his PhD from the University of Queensland and is a Lecturer at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, where he teaches topics such as immunology, cellular signaling, and vaccine development. His research focuses on gut microbiome and mucosal inflammation related to gastrointestinal cancers. Dr Png collaborates with clinicians to explore the role of gut bacteria in disease progression and serves as course coordinator for the MSc in Applied Biomedicine’s Vaccinology and Immunotherapy specialisation.

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    Dr Jaishree Tripathi

    Infectious Diseases Management Specialisation Coordinator
    Lecturer, Dept of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    Dr Jaishree Tripathi is a Lecturer at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, where she leads the Infectious Diseases Management track for the MSc in Applied Biomedicine programme. She has over 11 years of research experience in malaria parasite biology, including drug resistance and host-parasite interactions. Dr Tripathi holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Cambridge and has made significant contributions to malaria research using stem-cell-based models and single-cell transcriptomics.
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    A/Prof Zhang Yongliang

    Co-Programme Director, MSc in Applied Biomedicine (ABM)
    Associate Professor, Dept of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    A/Prof Zhang Yongliang is a tenured Associate Professor and Deputy Research Director of the Translational Immunology Programme at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. With over 15 years of teaching experience, he has created several programmes focused on infection and cancer. A/Prof Zhang’s contributions to immunology research have earned him recognition, including the Graduate Mentor of the Year award in 2019.

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    A/Prof Kevin Tan Shyong Wei

    Programme Director, MSc in Applied Biomedicine (ABM)
    Associate Professor and Head, Dept of Microbiology & Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

    A/Prof Kevin Tan is the Head of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at NUS and Vice-Dean (Graduate Studies) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He has 20 years of teaching experience and played a key role in developing the world’s first online course on the biomedical aspects of COVID-19. A/Prof Tan has received numerous teaching awards, including the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and Graduate Mentor of the Year.
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