News & Events

3 Feb 2024

Congratulations Pei Min and Fei Kean!

Ms Thong Pei Min and Dr Loh Fei Kean are both awarded Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) Travel Sponsorship to Barcelona.

17 Jan 2024

New publication

A publication "Relative IFNγ deficiency is strongly associated with poorer COVID-19 vaccination responses in older adults." has been published in Aging Cell. Read more here.

12 Jan 2024

Welcome Bora and Valeria to our lab!

Valeria is a final year PhD student and Bora a postdoctoral research fellow whose interest are in rifampicin resistant M. tuberculosis strains.

11 Jan 2024

IDTRP Postgrad and Postdoc Society committee members

Congratulations Hyeyoung on your appointment as President of the ID TRP Postgraduate Society!!!

3 - 15th December 2023

Outgoing visit

Our PhD student Pei Min and Masters student Hai Tarng were funded by the NCID Short Term Fellowship on a bioinformatics training to University of Southampton, UK.

6 - 9th November 2023

Our lab attended The Granulocyte Meeting

Super proud of our final year PhD students Pei Min and Hyeyoung who presented their work as posters, and Research Fellow Dr Loh Fei Kean presenting to a packed audience.

4 October 2023

New publication

A publication "Long-term outcomes of the global TB and COVID-19 coinfection cohort" has been published in European Respiratory Journal. Read more here.

1 September 2023

New book publication

New publication "Diagnosis of tuberculosis infection" and "Host-pathogen interactions and clinical outcome of tuberculosis" have been published in European Respiratory Society Monograph: The Challenge of Tuberculosis in the 21st Century. Read more here.

25 August 2023

Congratulations Srishti for clinching the prestigious Chan Heng Leong Research Award and Hyeyoung for the Junior Research Award! These two awards were given during the annual Department of Medicine Academic Day and were highly competitive.

8 July 2023

Congratulations Hyeyoung for clinching the APCCMI 2023 Best Oral Presentation Award, and Dr Vanda Ho for graduating with your Masters in Clinical Investigation!

1 July 2023

New publication

A new publication "Clinical standards for the management of adverse effects during treatment for TB" has been published in The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Read more here.

22 June 2023

June lab outing was held at Sum Dim Sum in Jalan Besar. Lots of food, beer and blue-coloured prawn dumplings!

27 April 2023

New publication

A new publication "GPT-4, Artificial Intelligence and the implications on publishing" has been published in International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Read more here.

20 April 2023

New publication

A new publication "Tuberculosis in older adults: challenges and best practices in the Western Pacific Region" has been published in The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific. Read more here.

18 April 2023

The 33rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Dr LOH Fei Kean showcased her findings in an oral presentation at ECCMID ’23, Copenhagen, Denmark on “Spatial transcriptomics uncovers neutrophils and matrix metalloproteinases-driven inflammation in central nervous system tuberculomas of human and mice with adjunctive matrix metalloproteinase inhibition improving survival.”

6 April 2023

New editorial publication

A new publication "World Tuberculosis Day 2023 theme “Yes! We Can End TB!”" has been published in International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Read more here.

8 March 2023

New publication

A new publication "COVID-19, the escalation of diabetes mellitus and the repercussions on tuberculosis" has been published in International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Read more here.

7 March 2023

New publication

A new publication "Impact of COVID-19 on diagnosis of TB, MDR-TB and on mortality in 11 countries in Europe, Northern America and Australia. A Global Tuberculosis Network study" has been published in International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Read more here.

21 February 2023

New publication

A new publication "Tuberculosis in older adults: case studies from four countries with rapidly ageing populations in the western pacific region" has been published in BMC Public Health. Read more here.

4 February 2023

Congratulations Ms ONG Yun Ting!

Heartiest congratulations to Ms ONG Yun Ting for being awarded the UROP’s Commendation Award for her UROPs project!

10 January 2023

Welcome Dr. Angelica!

Dr Angelica WIN will be joining our lab and continuing her PhD journey with us. Angelica will be driving the blinded aspect of the Phase 3 Doxycycline trial.

16 December 2022

Welcome Anabel to our lab!

Welcome Ms Anabel CHANG! Anabel is an NUS Final Year Project student who will be studying dysregulated angiogenesis in the immunopathology of diabetes and tuberculosis using a cellular model.

8 December 2022

Welcome Hai Tarng!

Ms CHONG Hai Tarng will be pursuing a Masters in Science, studying the effects of diabetes on dysregulated angiogenesis in tuberculosis

17-20 November 2022

ICID 2022, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Dr LOH Fei Kean, Ms THONG Pei Min and Ms CHONG Hai Tarng presented their projects which were selected for oral presentation for this prestigious conference. It was a very fruitful conference, with a nice celebratory dinner at KLCC, Suria.

1 October 2022

Congratulations Dr. Catherine

Dr Catherine ONG was awarded the NMRC Clinician Scientist Award (INV) for a duration of 3 years.

29 September 2022

Lab outing to welcome our visiting PhD student Richard Yeo and celebrating Dr Srishti Chhabra’s time with us plus the multiple talented people in our lab ! The awards (Wellcome Trust Bursary, Chan Heng Leong Research Award, Junior Research Award, NCID Fellowships x2) and funding THEY have clinched this year are truly astounding!

3 September 2022

New publication

A new publication "COVID-19 hampered diagnosis of TB infection in France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom " has been published in Archivos de Bronconeumologia . Read more here.

1 August 2022

New publication

A new publication "Tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment during the COVID-19 Pandemic" has been published in Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. Read more here.

28 July 2022

New publication

A new publication "Rapid diagnosis of XDR and pre-XDR TB: A systematic review of available tools" has been published in Archivos de Bronconeumologia. Read more here.

19 July 2022

New publication

A new publication "Modular micro PCR system for the onsite rapid diagnosis of COVID-19" has been published in Microsystems and Nanoengineering. Read more here.

1 July 2022

Two new publications in Int J Tuberc Lung Dis!

"Accelerating TB diagnosis during the COVID-19 pandemic" and "Clinical standards for drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis" has been published in Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2022. Read more here for the first publication and here for the second publication.

29 June 2022

Lab Outing Jun 2022

Lab lunch at Sushi Tei @ Jurong Gateway.

15 June 2022

Congratulations Dr Loh Fei Kean and Dr Hu Ting Huey

Congratulations Dr Loh Fei Kean and Dr Hu Ting Huey for being awarded NCID Short Term Fellowship FY21!

12 November 2021

Welcome Ting Huey

Welcome Dr Hu Ting Huey for joining our lab! She will be investigating host pathogen interactions in tuberculosis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

11 November 2021

New publication in European Respiratory Journal

A new publication "Tuberculosis and COVID-19 co-infection: description of the global cohort." has been published in European Respiratory Journal. Read more here.

7 October 2021

Congratulations Dr. Loh Fei Kean

Congratulations to Dr. Loh Fei Kean for clinching the NUSMed B2B Collaboration grant for her project!

5 October 2021

Well done Pei Min!

Congratulations Pei Min passed her PhD Qualifying Examination (PQE).

1 October 2021

We have two new publications published online!

A new publication "Clinical standards for the assessment, management, and rehabilitation of post-TB lung disease." has been published in Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. Read more here.

A new publication "Lack of latent tuberculosis screening and delay in Anti-Retroviral Therapy initiation in HIV-TB co-infection: A 11-year study in an intermediate TB-burden country. Read more here.

15 September 2021

A new publication in Breathe

A new publication "The definition of tuberculosis infection based on the spectrum of tuberculosis disease" has been published in Breathe. Read more here.

A new publication in Biosensors and Bioelectronic

A new publication "Accessible detection of SARS-CoV-2 through molecular nanostructures and automated microfluidics" has been published in Biosensors and Bioelectronic. Read more here.

27 August 2021

New publication in European Respiratory Journal

A new publication "Gauging the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis services: a global study" has been published in European Respiratory Journal. Read more here.

27 August 2021

Congratulations Ms Thong Pei Min and Ms Ong Yun Ting

Congratulations for Ms Thong Pei Min and Ms Ong Yun Ting for being awarded the Junior Research Award 2021 ($6,000).

19 July 2021

New publication in the Advanced Science

A new publication "Collaborative equilibrium coupling of catalytic DNA nanostructures enables programmable detection of SARS-CoV-2." has been published in Advanced Science. Read more here.

12 July 2021

Congratulations Ms Thong Pei Min

Congratulations for Ms Thong Pei Min for being selected for Top-rated Poster at 31st European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 2021.

18 June 2021

New publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation

A new publication "Doxycycline as host-directed therapy in human pulmonary tuberculosis" has been published in J Clin Invest. Read more here.

1 June 2021

New publication in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

A new publication "COVID-19 and tuberculosis: a progression-regression conundrum" has been published in Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. Read more here.

20 May 2021

Speak at Pre- European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) Day

Dr Catherine Ong was honoured to speak at Pre- European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) Day 2021 on 5th May on COVID-19 pandemic on TB services, and to chair another session on 19th May.

30 APRIL 2021

Lab Outing!

After a long while, we finally managed to host our lab outing for our new members who joined, and our lab intern who is starting a new job.  To a successful year of quality publications, grants, and happy careers!

24 Mar 2021

The clock is ticking for tuberculosis care and prevention

In commemoration of World Tuberculosis Day this year, Asst Prof Catherine Ong from the Dept of Medicine pens her thoughts with WHO's Dr Ying-Ru Jacqueline Lo and Dr Tauhidul Islam on how Singapore can strengthen its efforts in the fight againt tuberculosis. Read more here.

17 Mar 2021

A new publication in Science Advances

A new publication of "Catalytic amplification by transition-state molecular switches for direct and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2." has been published in Science Advances. Read more here.

30 Jan 2021

Dr Catherine Ong is awarded the Wong Hock Boon Society Outstanding Mentor Award

Dr Catherine Ong is awarded the Wong Hock Boon Society Outstanding Mentor Award.

28 Jan 2021

A new publication in Pulmonology

A new publication of "Tuberculosis and COVID-19 interaction: a review of biological, clinical and public health effects" has been published in Pulmonol. Read more here.

8 Jan 2021

New publication

A new publication of "Perspectives of Singaporean biomedical researchers and research support staff on actual and ideal IRB review functions and characteristics: A quantitative analysis" has been published in PLoS One. Read more here.

8 Jan 2021

Welcome Fei Kean!

Welcome Fei Kean for joining our lab! Dr Loh Fei Kean will be investigating the immunological responses and potential therapies against tuberculosis.

11 Dec 2020

Congratulations Mr Spark Loh!

Congratulations Mr Spark Loh for being awarded awarded the UROP Excellence Award in Academic Year 2020/2021 for project titled “Host Immunopathology in Human Tuberculosis”!

2 Dec 2020

Welcome Hai Tarng!

Welcome Hai Tarng for joining our lab! Ms Chong Hai Tarng will be focused on TB animal models.

1 Dec 2020

New publication

A new publication of "TB and COVID-19 co-infection: rationale and aims of a global study" has been published in Int J Tuberc Lung D. Read more here.

22 Sep 2020

Dr Catherine Ong was elected as the Treasurer of College of Clinician Scientist, Academy of Medicine, Singapore

Dr Catherine Ong was elected as the Treasurer of College of Clinician Scientist, Academy of Medicine, Singapore!

18 Sep 2020

A new publication in the Emerging Infectious Diseases

Our lab just recently published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases. Read more here.

03 Aug 2020

Welcome Hyeyoung!

Welcome Hyeyoung for joining our lab in NUS iHealthtech as a PhD student! Hyeyoung shall be driving the project “Platelet-neutrophil interactions and immunopathology in Tuberculosis”.

27 Jul 2020

Welcome Estelle!

Welcome Estelle for joining our lab in Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech) as a Research Apprentice! Estelle shall be driving the project "A point-of-Care test for the detection of pathogens and Anti-Microbial ResIstance."

2 Jul 2020

A publication in the European Respiratory Journal

Our lab just recently published in the European Respiratory Journal on 2nd July. Read more here.

1 Jul 2020

Welcome Bai Chen!

Welcome Bai Chen for joining our lab! Dr Bai Chen will be driving SARS-CoV-2 detection and rapid TB diagnostic development.

8 Jun 2020

New publication in BMC Medicine

A new publication of "Responding to COVID-19: how an academic infectious diseases division mobilized in Singapore" has been published in BMC Medicine. Read more here.

26 May 2020

A publication in the European Respiratory Journal

Look out for our publication of "Active tuberculosis, sequelae and COVID-19 co-infection: first cohort of 49 cases" which has been published in European Respiratory Journal! Check out the publication here.

20 Mar 2020

New publication

Our lab just recently published in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease on 20th March. Read more here.

1 Mar 2020

Dr Catherine Ong was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

Dr Catherine Ong was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians!

29 Jan 2020

Congratulations Ms Poh Xuan Ying

Congratulations Ms Poh Xuan Ying for being awarded the the Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) Conference Sponsorship!

07 Jan 2020

Congratulations Dr Catherine Ong and Ms Thong Pei Min

Congratulations Dr Catherine Ong and Ms Thong Pei Min for being awarded the NCID Short Term Fellowship FY2019!

10 Dec 2019

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the ID Translational Research lab

Christmas outing this round is at Hai Di Lao @Novena and we took the opportunity to wish Happy Birthday to Dr Eddy Miow!

23 Nov 2019

Wong Hock Boon Society Research Day 2019

Our UROPs student Spark Loh (Phase 4, YLLSoM) and Ong Yun Ting (Phase 1, YLLSoM) presented their projects at the Annual Wong Hock Boon Society Research Day 2019. Spark was awarded “WHBS Best Poster – 2nd Runner-Up” and Yun Ting was also awarded “WHBS Best Oral Presentation – 2nd Runner-Up” for their work. Dr Catherine Ong also received the WHBS - Singapore Medical Association Charity Fund Outstanding Mentor Award.

26-28 Sep 2019

ESCMID-SIDS TB Postgraduate Education Course, Singapore

Congratulations Dr Eddy Miow and Ms Poh Xuan Ying for presenting your posters at the ESCMID Postgraduate Education Course, Tuberculosis and Mycobacterial Infections: An Educational Update in Singapore. Eddy was also awarded “ Best Poster for Lab Scientist” for his work. Well done both of you!

25 Sep 2019

The TB lab at NUHS ABSC!

25 Sep 2019

Congratulations Dr Eddy Miow, Ms Poh Xuan Ying and Mr Spark Loh!

Eddy, Xuan Ying and Spark presented in the NUS 8th Annual Biomedical Scientific Congress (ABSC). Well done all for showcasing the results of your hard work!

6 Sep 2019

NUHS Innovation Summit

Dr Hong Jia Mei clinched the Merit Award, Disruptive Technologies in the NUHS Innovation Summit for her poster “Ultra-rapid point-of-care device for identification of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes in bloodstream infections.” Dr Catherine Ong who was part of the Scientific Committee was also privileged to host Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Kiat during the morning tea break.

29 Aug 2019

Lab Barbeque!

Our long overdue lab outing is held on the rooftop of NUHS Tower Block, celebrating the multiple successes of members of our lab (and the return of our PI from maternity leave!). Conditions were windy, but we had a roaring fire going in no time, and a roaring good time!

5 Aug 2019

Welcome Pei Min!

Welcome Pei Min for joining our lab in NUS Department of Medicine as a PhD student! Pei Min shall be driving the project “Diabetes Mellitus and the dysregulation of host proteases in TB”.

8 Jul 2019

Well done Xuan Ying!

Xuan Ying passed her PhD Qualifying Examination (PQE), and is now progressing onwards to finishing her PhD.

1 Jul 2019

Congratulations Wang Yu and Eddy!

Ms Wang Yu is promoted to Senior Laboratory Executive and shall focus on the administrative aspects of the TB lab. Dr Eddy Miow is promoted to Senior Research Fellow in our lab.

14 Apr 2019

Congratulations Dr Eddy Miow!

Eddy presented his poster “Matrix Metalloproteinase inhibitor doxycycline suppresses systemic and respiratory MMPs in patients with pulmonary TB” at the 29th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was awarded the Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) Conference Sponsorship for his presentation at ECCMID.

8 Mar 2019

It is International Women’s Day today!

It is International Women’s Day today! Dr Catherine Ong is featured in NUS News, along with 2 other Principal Investigators from BIGHEART. “For me, one of the most fulfilling aspects is being able to nurture and mentor the younger generation of doctors and researchers. Ideally, we will see more women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) research, and more women in senior management roles, so that they can then mentor others with an understanding of the challenges that STEM research brings, especially for women,” said Dr Ong. Read more about here.

19 Feb 2019

A publication in Infection Control Hospital Epidemiology

We worked with a group of hospital epidemiologists and health economists on screening strategies for latent TB in healthcare workers. This work culminated in a publication in Infection Control Hospital Epidemiology. Check out the publication here.

14 Feb 2019

Well done! Xuan Ying!

Ms Poh Xuan Ying presented her project on central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS-TB) at BUG seminar.

08 Feb 2019

Congratulations Dr Eddy Miow

Congratulations Dr Eddy Miow for being awarded the Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) Conference Sponsorship!

31 Jan 2019

Dr Catherine Ong was invited as a Faculty to speak on TB tissue destruction at the Joint ID Symposium

Dr Catherine Ong was invited as a Faculty to speak on TB tissue destruction at the Joint ID Symposium between LKC Medicine and Imperial College London. Our whole lab attended this 2 day conference which featured TB as one of the main themes and had a very fruitful experience including tour of the new National Centre of Infectious Diseases!

02 Jan 2019

Happy New Year

Dr Catherine Ong’s profile is featured in the 2nd Issue of the BIGHEART Newsletter. Read more about here.

20 Dec 2018

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the ID Translational Research lab

Christmas outing this round is at Sen at Japan @MBS and we took the opportunity to wish Happy Birthday to Dr Eddy Miow! The delicious and yummy Japanese cuisine was lovingly prepared by the spouse of our lab members!

30 Nov 2018

Dr Catherine Ong is awarded the Institut Merieux – Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) Young Investigator Award

Dr Catherine Ong is awarded the Institut Merieux – Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) Young Investigator Award of Euros 10,000 to advance research in rapid pathogen and antimicrobial resistance detection.

23 Nov 2018

The November birthday ladies celebrated their hatch-days

Happy birthday Xuan Ying, Wang Yu and Catherine!

13 Nov 2018

Well done! Dr Hong Jia Mei!

Dr Hong Jia Mei presented her poster on rapid pathogen and antimicrobial detection at the Antimicrobial resistance in the Asia Pacific and its impact on Singapore Symposium during Antibiotic Awareness Week.

13 Nov 2018

Congratulations Jia Mei

Congratulations Jia Mei for being awarded the NUSMed Postdoctoral Fellowship for 3 years!

25 Oct 2018

Dr Catherine Ong gave a lecture on “Targeting TB and tissue destruction”

Dr Catherine Ong gave a lecture on “Targeting TB and tissue destruction” at the inaugural Medical Science Cluster Infectious Disease Symposium.

18 Oct 2018

Our article on hypoxia and TB has been featured

Our article on hypoxia and TB has been featured in the Straits Times, and on NUSMed Facebook

2 Aug 2018

Welcome Yun Ting to our lab!

Ms Ong Yun Ting is a first year Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine UROPs and Wong Hock Boon Society student. She will be working on the project in developing a point-of-care test against the ESCAPPM group of pathogens.

1 Aug 2018

New Publication

Look out for our publication of "Hypoxia increases neutrophil-driven matrix destruction after exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis" which has been published in Nature Scientific Reports!

Please click here to view the publication.

1 Aug 2018

Welcome Pei Min to our lab!

Ms Thong Pei Min will be investigating the effect of diabetes mellitus on tuberculosis.

23 - 24 Jul 2018

Congratulations Eddy and Jia Mei

Congratulations Eddy and Jia Mei for their poster presentations in the BIGHEART symposium 2018!

14 Jul 2018

Inaugural Microbiome-Joint workshop, BIGHEART

29 Jun 2018

June outing at La Nonna, Holland Village!

11 Jun 2018

Dr Catherine Ong is awarded the 2018 NMRC Clinician Scientist Award

Dr Catherine Ong is awarded the 2018 NMRC Clinician Scientist Award (Investigator) on “Diabetes mellitus and the dysregulation of host proteases in Tuberculosis” for 3 years!

Jun 2018

New Publication

Look out for our publication of “Integrin α2β1 expression regulates matrix metalloproteinase-1-dependent bronchial epithelial repair in pulmonary tuberculosis” which has been accepted by Frontiers of Immunology. Please click here to view the publication.

21 - 24 Apr 2018

Congratulations to Drs Vannesa Teng, Chua Yan Ting and Eunice Lai

Congratulations to Drs Vannesa Teng, Chua Yan Ting and Eunice Lai for presenting their poster, titled “Lack of latent TB screening and timely Anti-Retroviral therapy initiation in HIV-TB co-infection in an intermediate TB-burden country: Results from a 5-year retrospective review” at the European Congress of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Madrid, Spain!

24 Mar 2018

World TB Day! Hospitals move to tackle latent TB.

Please click here to view the article.

9 Feb 2018

Visit by Dr Edmund Ong

08 Jan 2018

Our lab has been awarded the FY2018 NUS Cross-Faculty Grant

Our lab has been awarded the FY2018 NUS Cross-Faculty Grant to investigate a point-of-care test for rapid pathogen and antimicrobial resistance!

Jan 2018

Congratulations to Dr Chua Yan Ting

Congratulations to Dr Chua Yan Ting (Year 3 Internal Medicine Resident)for having awarded the Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) Travel Award Grant and Dr Vannesa Teng (Year 3 Internal Medicine Resident) for having awarded the MOHH Travel Sponsorship for a poster presentation at ECCMID 2018!

10 Jan 2018

Welcome Jia Mei to our lab!

Welcome Jia Mei to our lab! Dr Hong Jia Mei will be driving rapid diagnostics and TB animal models.