NUS Medicine launches new clinical trial centre to advance healthy longevity research
Published: 13 Oct 2025
NUS Medicine’s Academy for Healthy Longevity team, outside their new clinical trial centre. From L to R: Mr Shivaji Rikka, Ms Jane Ong, Professor Andrea Maier, Dr Dotou Mazzarine, and Dr Ajla Hodzic Kuerec.
On Friday, 10 October 2025. NUS Medicine launched a new Clinical Trial Centre under its Academy for Healthy Longevity, a pioneering hub to advance clinical research and catalyse educational excellence in precision geromedicine. Spanning 350 square meters, the new Centre is poised to enhance research capabilities and accelerate the clinical translation of geroscience into real-world solutions.
Precision geromedicine entails the application of personalised, biomarker-driven strategies to optimise health, extend healthspan, prevent age-related diseases, and tailor interventions to an individual’s unique genetic, molecular, clinical, social, environmental, and behavioural profile. By integrating multi-omics data, digital health monitoring, and systems biology, precision geromedicine can predict ageing trajectories, detect early deviations from healthy ageing, and implement gerotherapeutics that enhance resilience and promote longevity throughout the adult lifespan.
The new Centre is purpose-built to accelerate precision geromedicine research. It supports multiple clinical trials in parallel, and enables on-site collection and immediate processing of biological samples, streamlining operations, and enhancing reproducibility. It houses a comprehensive suite of assessments to measure organ health across all physiological systems under one roof. New capabilities include advanced skin and scalp, ophthalmological and dental evaluations, as well as full-body bone mineral density scanning using Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA), sleep and behaviour monitoring, and an on-site investigative product repository. Together, these capabilities enable the most comprehensive evaluations available for healthy longevity clinical trials setting new benchmarks in global healthcare innovation.
Beyond clinical research, aligning with the highest standards of education, the Centre acts as the training ground for budding scientists, healthcare professionals, and educators. It anchors the Academy’s educational mission through programmes and courses that provide specific knowledge and skillsets for healthcare professionals looking to embark on their Healthy Longevity journey. New initiatives, that are currently in the planning phase, will immerse learners in real-world clinical trials by directly engaging with a team of multidisciplinary professionals and researchers, offering hands-on exposure to data collection, clinical assessments, and translational research processes designed to enhance expertise in this vital field. This integrated training model is essential for bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.
Professor Andrea Maier, Oon Chiew Seng Professor in Medicine, Healthy Ageing and Dementia Research at NUS Medicine and Director of the NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity at NUS Medicine.
Professor Andrea Maier explained, “At the core of the Academy’s approach is an interdisciplinary gerodiagnostics framework that assesses biological age and the function of multiple physiological and organ systems. The framework enables standardised evaluations across different levels, from molecular, clinical, psychological, behavioural, to social biomarkers of ageing, providing comprehensive, system wide analyses of participant health and intervention impact. With the Centre, we aim to generate high-quality evidence needed to extend healthspan, while training a new cadre of clinician-scientists to translate geroscience from bench to bedside.”
Pioneering multimodal clinical trials to optimise healthspan
Traditional clinical trials focus on a one factor (intervention, therapy, measurement method) to isolate the effect of that single modality on the targeted outcome. While that approach can yield important insights, it often fails to capture the complexity of ageing, where multiple biological systems interact and influence one another.
“Our approach to move towards multimodal trials combining interventions and measurements across multiple organ systems simultaneously allow us to understand and tailor interventions to achieve synergistic outcomes,” Professor Maier added.
Dr Jozo Grgic, from the Academy of Healthy Longevity, guiding Mr Nicholas Singh, the first participant in their PROMETHEUS trial, as they test his stamina and VO2 max on a stationary bicycle in their clinical trial centre’s gym.
Among the ongoing trials at the Academy is PROMETHEUS (PRecision gerOMedicinE: Tailored Healthy agEing with lifestyle, sUpplements and drugS), a Singapore-based feasibility trial that won the Milestone 1 Semi-finalist Award in the global XPRIZE Healthspan[1] in May 2025. This 8-week programme, involving 20 participants aged 50 to 80 years, tests a personalised regimen that combines exercise, targeted supplements, and lifestyle coaching, with completion expected in March 2026. Its findings will guide Singapore’s submission to the XPRIZE Healthspan Finals in April 2026.
Professor Chong Yap Seng, Dean, NUS Medicine, added, “Ageing is one of the greatest challenges confronting the world today. While Singaporeans are living longer, the last 10 years of life are often spent in ill health. The Clinical Trial Centre strengthens our ability to translate our research into real-world solutions that improve care, policy, and population health. By integrating geroscience research and education into one facility, we are building the talent and the evidence base required to benefit our ageing communities here and around the world.”
Forging global partnerships to accelerate healthy longevity research
In tandem with the launch of the Clinical Trial Centre, the Academy also announced the signing of three new strategic partnerships; it formalised collaborations with the State University of Makassar in Indonesia to advance education in healthy longevity; with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) to foster cross-border academic and research initiatives; and with the Alliance of Patients’ Organisations Singapore (APOS) to strengthen patient-powered collaboration in healthy longevity medicine.
The Academy also spearheads the Global Epigenetic Age Systematic Review Consortium, a pioneering effort to rigorously evaluate the validity and real-world application of epigenetic clocks, and the HELO Survey Consortium, a multi-nation study examining public awareness and motivation toward healthy longevity.
“The launch of the Centre marks a pivotal step forward in the pursuit of sustainable solutions for advancing precision geromedicine. Recognising that extending healthspan requires coordinated efforts across diverse fields, the Academy brings together the expertise of geroscientists, innovative industry partners, public and patient advocacy organisations, regulatory bodies, and healthcare professionals. This collaborative synergy underscores the Academy’s leadership in establishing new standards for geroscience and precision medicine. By fostering a global network dedicated to advancing clinical research and integrating comprehensive educational approaches, the Academy is well positioned to shape the future of healthy longevity worldwide,” added Prof Chong.
The Academy held their official launch on 10 October, 2025—involving the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), and a ribbon cutting ceremony. For the first MOU, it was a signing between Prof Chong, Dean of NUS Medicine, and Professor Charlie Xue, Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) of RMIT. The second MOU was a signing between Prof Chong, and Ms Nidhi Swarup, Chair at APOS.
Here are some photos of the signings and ribbon cutting:
MOU signing with RMIT. Front row, Professor Charlie Xue, Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International), RMIT, and Professor Chong Yap Seng, Dean, NUS Medicine.
MOU signing with APOS. Front row, Ms Nidhi Swarup, Chair, APOS, and Prof Chong Yap Seng, Dean, NUS Medicine.
Ribbon cutting ceremony, from L to R: Prof Roger Foo, Vice-Dean (Research), NUS Medicine, Prof Andrea Maier, Director, Academy for Healthy Longevity, and Prof Chong Yap Seng, Dean, NUS Medicine.
Group photo for NUS Medicine’s Academy for Healthy Longevity team, at their opening! Fourth from the left in the front row is Prof Andrea Maier, Director of the Academy.
Read more in the press release here.
[1] XPRIZE Healthspan, widely regarded as the world’s largest competition to restore years of health in ageing adults, offers a combined US$101 million in prize funding to identify accessible therapies that reverse aspects of ageing by restoring physical function, cognitive performance, and immune resilience in people aged 50 to 80. https://www.xprize.org/prizes/healthspan
