Scientific symposium furthers translational research into “healthy ageing”
Published: 13 Jan 2017
NUS Medicine hosted the inaugural Joint Scientific Symposium with Japan’s Keio University on January 10 and 11 at the Centre for Life Sciences. Titled ‘Frontiers of Translational Medicine – From Cradle to Ageing’, the conference highlighted the current state-of-the-art efforts of the two countries to translate novel approaches in stem cells, senescence, cancer and RNA biology to address the twin challenges of ageing and disability.
The symposium saw close to 90 attendees ranging from faculty staff, researchers and students, and featured speakers from Singapore, Japan and the United States. The two-day event also spurred discussion among attendees and facilitated interdisciplinary collaboration.
Singapore and Japan both face similar social challenges in their rapidly ageing populations and low birth rates. As a result, “healthy ageing” has become an important goal for both the basic and clinic sciences research communities in both countries.
“Japan is years ahead of Singapore in this regard, and therefore I think there is a lot we can learn from Japan on how we can tackle the ageing problems successfully,” said Associate Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, the Dean of NUS Medicine, in his opening address at the event.
“There is … a need to accelerate and translate biomedical research and health research quickly into meaningful solutions for our communities and populations, and that is why the collaboration between Keio University and NUS is so important and meaningful. By drawing on the combined academic talent and expertise from both universities, we have a better chance of successfully overcoming these challenges confronting us.”
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