he Chua Toh Hua Memorial Gold Medal is a university-level award that is given to PhD graduates with the most outstanding research work done in Life Sciences. Established in 1998 by Professor and Mrs Chua Nam Hai in memory of Prof Chua’s late grandfather, Mr Chua Toh Hua, the medal was awarded to two students this year—NUS Medicine PhD students Dr Chen Weihua, Elijah (Class of 2020) and Dr Low Su Jun, Blaise (Class of 2021). Dr Chen graduated under the supervision of Professor Nicholas R. J. Gascoigne from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, while Dr Low graduated under the supervision of Dr Teo Kee Keong, Adrian from the Department of Biochemistry and Professor Tai E Shyong from the Department of Medicine. Their theses are titled, “Identification of Cdc7 as A New Regulator of T Cell Activation” and “Investigating the Effects of A Novel HNF1A Mutation in Maturity Onset Diabetes of The Young 3 (MODY3)” respectively.

In addition, NUS Medicine PhD student Dr Lavenniah Annadoray (Class of 2021) was awarded the Wang Gungwu Medal and Prize, in the category of “Best PhD thesis in the Natural Sciences”. Established in 2005 by Professor Wang Gungwu, the award comprises a medal and cash prize of S$5,000, and recognises the global impact of the candidates’ theses, impact factor of publications, as well as the essential impact and quality of employment as a result of their graduate training and research.

Dr Lavenniah graduated with a PhD under the main supervision of Professor Roger Foo, Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Translational Research Programme, with her thesis titled “Synthetic Circular miRNA Sponges as A Novel miRNA Interference Technology”.