Out of sight is not out of mind for the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. As it reaches its 90-year milestone, the Department’s work on tiny disease carriers that threaten to invade our bodies has contributed greatly to medical knowledge.
Public health was an issue that Singapore struggled with throughout much of the 19th century and early 20th century. Smallpox and tuberculosis were rampant, while venereal disease was problematic. In 1911, malaria accounted for 20 deaths a day in Singapore.
Those were the circumstances in which the Department of Microbiology and Immunology was born in the predecessor of the NUS. For the next 90 years, the Department would go on to make significant strides in combating these diseases and contributing to public health, research and education.
Asian Flu Virus Isolated, SARS Pathogenesis Studied Here
The Department has roots in the Departments of Bacteriology and Parasitology, established in 1925 and 1950 respectively. It was not until the 1950s, however, that the Department made its first major breakthrough.
In 1954, the Department built its very first air-conditioned laboratory, which allowed tissue culture work to be performed for the very first time. Three years later, Professor Lim Kok Ann (Head of Department, 1959-1977) and his team isolated a new pandemic strain of the Asian influenza virus, which led to the development of a vaccine. The Department’s contributions to public health did not stop there.
When Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) struck in 2003, the Department collaborated with institutions and hospitals in Singapore and overseas to investigate SARS pathogenesis, and to study patients with antibodies. “We also worked with a Dutch company and collaborated to generate monoclonal antibodies that neutralised the SARS virus,” reveals Associate Professor Vincent Chow, the Head of Department from 2002-2005. “We are like the backroom boys. You don’t always see us, but that doesn’t mean we are not there.”
“Even today, the Department continues to work with regional and international colleagues,” says Professor Nicholas Gascoigne, the current Head of Department. An example of a regional collaboration is a recent publication from Associate Professor Lee Yuan Kun’s team on the diversity of gut bacteria in children, in collaboration with colleagues in Indonesia, Thailand, China, Japan and Taiwan. The Department also works closely with the Cambridge Infectious Disease and Immunology faculty to work on diseases relevant to Southeast Asia.
Anchor Department
Aside from addressing public health challenges, the Department is the anchor that coordinates modules on microbiology, infectious diseases and immunology. As a result, students from Medicine, Dentistry, Science and Nursing have all benefited from the Department’s work over the years.
As healthcare becomes more collaborative, the Department is pulling various disciplines together so that doctors, nurses, dentists and scientists of the future can be fluent in the language of microbiology. “We view microbiology and immunology as core knowledge for medical students, and aim to give them a solid grounding in the aspects that are crucial to other practice,” Prof Gascoigne states. Assoc Prof Chow concurs: “It’s not about turning them into microbiologists; it’s about giving them the concepts and principles of microbiology that will help them in their clinical practice.”
Pathogens are evolving all the time, and the Department must adapt in order to stay relevant in protecting Singapore’s public health. One way it does so is by doing what it has effectively done for the past 90 years: educating and training students so that they are prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.
“You don’t always see us, but that doesn’t mean we are not there.”