The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) turned 120 in July. While we pause to mark the occasion, I am also mindful that our School is a mere sapling in the global higher medical education ecosystem: the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montpelier in France is 805 years old. Founded on 17 August 1220, the faculty continues its inspiring, unbroken, centuries-old run of educating and training doctors and scientists.

Montpelier’s longevity testifies to the enduring value that medical education and research hold for humankind. It also serves as inspiration for the work that we are doing here at NUS Medicine. This milestone year, we have just graduated 304 members of the Class of 2025: they join their seniors and earlier generations of alumni in attending to the health and well-being of Singaporeans. A study by NUS Medicine and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine published in the June issue of The Lancet Public Health reports that Singapore has demonstrated impressive progress in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) prevention and management. In 2021, age–standardised prevalence rate of CVDs stood at 4,579.5 per 100,000 population and age–standardised mortality rate stood at 75.8 per 100,000—both the lowest in the ASEAN region and below the global average. But there is so much more to be done.

The 120 years of teaching and research work carried out by NUS Medicine have helped to lay the foundations for Singapore’s healthcare system. We continue to build on this legacy. Our successes come about because of the enterprise, commitment and industry of our staff. They are also the results of the enduring philanthropic support of our donors and well-wishers.

Recognising that helping Singaporeans to live healthy, long lives is a multidisciplinary endeavour, we are also working together with colleagues from NUS faculties—engineering, arts, business, law and science as well as other like-minded partners on a common mission to lengthen the healthspan of Singaporeans. Healthy lifespans also require strong social networks that encourage people to remain engaged and connected. This is something that is beyond the remit and ability of hospitals to bring about. For this, we need supportive families, friends and communities, as well as social and physical infrastructure that is attentive to the needs of ageing citizens. I am therefore very glad to share that NUS Medicine is launching the Mary Ann Tsao Family Professorship in Longevity.

This Professorship expresses the conviction of the School and the Tsao Family Foundation that ageing is not a challenge to manage—it is rather a season of life that brings with it wisdom, dignity—and for NUS Medicine and the Foundation, opportunities for innovation geared towards our shared vision of healthy, successful longevity. This Professorship will enable interdisciplinary research, strengthen person-centred models of care, and ensure that our future medical professionals are equipped to meet the real-world challenges and opportunities of longevity—with insight and empathy. Entering its second century, NUS Medicine is committed to help realise this vision.

Yours sincerely