{"id":22063,"date":"2026-08-18T06:25:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T06:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicine.nus.edu.sg\/graduatestudies\/?page_id=22063"},"modified":"2026-08-18T06:25:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T06:25:02","slug":"2026awards","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/medicine.nus.edu.sg\/graduatestudies\/office-of-postdoctoral-affairs\/2026awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Winners of the NUS Medicine Outstanding Research Fellow Award 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Outstanding Research Fellowaward recognises the efforts and achievements of our research fellows who have demonstrated excellence in all areas of research, service, mentoring, and leadership at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

We are pleased to announce that the following candidates have been selected to receive the NUS Medicine – 2026 Outstanding Research Fellow Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Awardee<\/th>\nDepartment\/Translational Research Programme<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Dr Stephen Chong Jun Fei – Winner<\/td>\nDepartment of Physiology and NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR) Translational Research Programme<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr Zou Ke – First Runner Up<\/td>\nDepartment of Ophthalmology<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr Lam Hiu Yan – Second Runner Up<\/td>\nDepartment of Pharmacology and NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR) Translational Research Programme<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Dr Stephen Chong Jun Fei<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr Stephen Chong is a Lee Kuan Yew Fellow in the Department of Physiology, NUS Centre for Cancer Research, and is affiliated with the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore. His research focuses on understanding how redox signalling, BCL-2 biology and cell death pathways shape cancer progression and therapeutic resistance, with the aim of identifying vulnerabilities that can be therapeutically exploited. Following his post-doctoral training, he has developed extensive expertise in BCL-2 biology and BH3 profiling, which he believes can advance precision medicine by better predicting therapeutic vulnerabilities and guiding more effective cancer treatment strategies. His work is inspired by fundamental questions in cancer biology and the opportunity to translate scientific discoveries into meaningful advances for patients, and has been recognised through multiple international awards and publications in leading journals.<\/p>\n

Dr Zou Ke<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr Ke Zou is a Research Fellow at the Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. His research focuses on trustworthy and clinically impactful artificial intelligence for ophthalmology and medical imaging, spanning medical foundation models, vision-language models, uncertainty-aware learning, and agentic AI, and he has contributed to international initiatives such as Global RETFound. A central theme of his work is advancing evidence-based medical AI by developing systems that can ground their decisions in clinical evidence, recognise uncertainty, and support reliable translation into real-world clinical practice. He is motivated by a simple goal: to make advanced medical AI not only more capable, but also sufficiently evidence-grounded and trustworthy to make a meaningful difference in clinical care.<\/p>\n

Dr Lam Hiu Yan<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr. Hiu Yan Lam is a Research Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at NUS Medicine, where she explores new ways to understand and treat diseases, with a focus on cancer and other challenging health conditions. What inspires her most is the hope that discoveries made in the laboratory today can ultimately translate into better treatments and a better quality of life for patients. She is equally passionate about supporting young researchers, helping them discover their strengths, find their direction, and realise their potential through her work with the NUS Medicine Early Career Researchers Office (NUS Medicine ECRO), formerly the NUS Medicine Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. For Dr. Lam, meaningful science is about turning knowledge into better health and quality of life for people, while inspiring the next generation to drive new breakthroughs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Winners of the NUS Medicine Outstanding Mentor Award for Research Fellows 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Outstanding Mentor Awardrecognises outstanding research fellows who have demonstrated excellence in mentorship and actively contributed to the personal and professional development of students and research staff at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

We are pleased to announce that the following candidates have been selected to receive the NUS Medicine – 2026 Outstanding Mentor Award for Research Fellows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Awardee<\/th>\nDepartment\/Translational Research Programme<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Dr Chandra Sekhar Bhol<\/td>\nDepartment of Pharmacology and NUS Centre for Cancer Research (N2CR) Translational Research Programme<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr Li Heng<\/td>\nDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology and Immunology Translational Research Programme<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr Gough Gillian<\/td>\nDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Dr Chandra Sekhar Bhol<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr. Chandra Sekhar Bhol is a Research Fellow in Associate Professor Gautam Sethi’s laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. He is actively engaged in cancer research, with a particular focus on autophagy, apoptosis, cancer stemness, and cancer pharmacology. By integrating fundamental cancer biology with translational pharmacology, his work seeks to elucidate mechanisms underlying cancer progression and identifying novel strategies for cancer treatment. Beyond research, Dr. Bhol is deeply passionate about mentoring and empowering the next generation of researchers. He has mentored several undergraduate, master’s, PhD, and visiting scholars across diverse biomedical research projects, fostering scientific curiosity, critical thinking, experimental rigor, independence, and effective research communication. Through his research, mentorship, and scholarly contributions, Dr. Bhol is committed to advancing cancer research, inspiring young scientists, and translating scientific discoveries into remarkable advancements that can contribute to effective cancer therapeutics and better patient outcomes.<\/p>\n

Dr Li Heng<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr Li Heng is a Senior Research Fellow under A\/Prof. Zhang Yongliang’s team at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. His research focuses on inflammation and immunopharmacology, particularly on understanding how protein phosphatases regulate immune responses in infectious diseases, inflammatory disorders, and cancer. He integrates molecular and cellular approaches, gene editing, disease models, and multi-omics to uncover disease mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets. He is inspired by the opportunity to translate fundamental scientific discoveries into innovative strategies for improving human health and by the curiosity, collaboration, and continuous learning that drive scientific research.<\/p>\n

Dr Gough Gillian<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr Gough Gillian is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at NUS, where she develops iPSC-derived models of fetal nucleated red blood cells to strengthen fetal cell based non-invasive prenatal diagnostics research. Dr Gillian is driven by curiosity and by the satisfaction of finding gaps in the literature and building careful, practical ways to address them. As a mentor, she aims to help her mentees grow the confidence to try, work thoroughly and meticulously, and not be afraid of failure. Outside the lab, her children remind her to lead by example, and she believes that making a difference often comes from showing up, doing the work well, and supporting people along the way.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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