NIC Singapore Conference 2021 - Preparing for the Post-Pandemic World, 6-7 October - NIC

COVID-19 shook the world. Global tourism plummeted. Cruise ships and planes sat idle. Global trade also seemed threatened. Hence, many predicted the end of globalisation. But has this happened? Global trade wasn’t badly dented. Indeed, it has bounced back, even between the US and China. The widely predicted re-shoring or near-shoring of supply chains hasn’t happened. The law of comparative advantage still holds true. This conference will explore the real long-term impact of the pandemic. Did it kill globalisation? Or was it a temporary pause with globalisation poised to bounce back fiercely when the pandemic finally recedes? These questions are extremely important for the future of both ASEAN and Singapore.

PROGRAMME

Wed, 6 October	Conference agenda
11:00am – 12:00pm	Registration and health declaration (Note: current pandemic regulations in Singapore require all participants to either be fully vaccinated or go for pre-event testing i.e. ART tests every 24 hrs.)
12:00pm – 1:00pm	Opening Lunch programme Brief Opening remarks by Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Chairman, NUS Medicine International Council (NIC) Lunch commences
1:00pm	Lunch ends
1:00pm – 2:00pm	Opening Dialogue with Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chairman, Yunus Centre and Nobel Peace 2006 Laureate, Bangladesh Synopsis: The cure for millions – Professor Yunus will be sharing his ideas for making the COVID-19 vaccine a global common good and about creating a network of “3ZERO Clubs” to engage the global youth in initiating actions for creating solutions for global problems related to economics, poverty, and net carbon emissions. He will also talk about post corona reconstruction on the basis of his “Social Business Model” to create a world of “Three Zeros” Moderator: Ms Cindy Hook, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Asia Pacific, Singapore
2:00pm – 2:15pm	Update by Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Chairman, NUS Medicine International Council (NIC)
2:15pm – 3:30pm	NIC members’ meeting – self introduction time
3:30pm – 4:00pm	Tea break
4:00pm – 5:00pm	Members’ meeting – meet and greet time
5:00pm – 6:30pm	Free & Easy
6:30pm – 7:30pm	Welcome dinner Opening remarks by Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Chairman, NUS Medicine International Council (NIC) Dinner commences
7:30pm	Dinner ends
7:30pm – 8:30pm	Evening Dialogue with Amb Frank Lavin on “Biden as the one-year mark approaches”, Former US Ambassador to Singapore and Under Secretary for International Trade at the US Department of Commerce Synopsis: A general assessment of Joe Biden’s presidency, with a focus on foreign policy.
9:00pm	End of Day 1 programme

Thu, 7 October	Conference agenda
8:30am – 9:30am	Registration and health declaration Breakfast will be served 8:45am – 9:15am.
9:30am – 9:35am	Welcome by Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Chairman, NUS Medicine International Council (NIC)
9:35am – 10:00am	Opening address by Prof Yap Seng Chong, Dean, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
10:00am – 11:00am	Opening panel on “Covid 2.0” – Mics-off with the COVID Updates from Singapore (CUFS) Hosts A/Prof Sophia Archuleta, Head and Senior Consultant, Division of Infectious Diseases, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Prof Dale Fisher, Department of Medicine, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine A/Prof David Allen, Associate Vice President (Health Innovation and Translation), National University of Singapore Dr Louisa Sun, Consultant, Alexandra Hospital, National University Health System Synopsis: For the past 18 months, there has been an amazing amount of research done to understand and fight the pandemic. There has been an equally mind-boggling amount of misinformation and doubt surrounding the COVID-19’s infection, vaccination, medicine, and research. Here to help us cut through the noise and discuss key issues are expert clinicians from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Their experience in managing COVID at the National University Hospital (NUH), contributing to Singapore’s national response, as well as global education through the regular NUS and WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) CUFS webinars has led them to worldwide recognition. Come prepared to ask questions! Moderated by A/Prof Swaine Chen, Associate Professor, National University of Singapore
11:00am – 11:15am	Intermission
11:15am – 12:15pm	Talk: “When minimal is maximal; for the patient, our campus, and beyond – the era of less invasive, personalised surgical solutions” by Associate Professor Theodoros Kofidis, Head, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic & Vascular Surgery, National University Hospital Synopsis: Less Invasive procedures aim at reducing the trauma, improving recovery and facilitating a much better and faster patient journey. Despite Hi-Tec employed, such platforms also make socio-economical sense. We are employing cutting edge technology, but also – at NUS – strive to create our own, in our pursuit to establish a strong cardiovascular medtech hub, and emphasise Singapore’s role as a “player” on modern heart therapy. Moderator: Dr David Ong, NIC Advisor & Chair of Nomination Committee
12:15pm – 1:.30 pm	Lunch
1:30pm – 2:30pm	Dialogue with Mr George Yeo on “Current political and macro-economic situation” Visiting Scholar, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and Former Singapore Foreign Minister
2:30pm – 3:30 pm	Panel on “Resilience for healthy longevity” ·Dr Mary Ann Tsao, Chairman, Tsao Foundation ·A/Prof Jeremy Lim, Chief Executive Officer, AMILI ·Dr Michael Hodin, Chief Executive Officer, Global Coalition on Aging Synopsis: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an unexpected blip in the upward trajectory of the super-aging megatrend of the past 3 decades, with average human lifespan in the United States and many peer countries reduced. In the face of the evolving threat and potential long-term consequences of the on-going pandemic, how can we strengthen the resilience of people and societies? Moderated by Prof Andrea Maier, Co-Director at Centre for Healthy Longevity, National University Health System
3:30pm – 4:00pm	Coffee break
4:00pm – 5:00pm	On the Cutting Edge (Technology Showcase) “Transforming Community Eye Care for an Ageing Population” by A/Prof Victor Koh, Head, Department of Ophthalmology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Synopsis: Vision disorder ranks as one of the top disease burden in terms of economic impact and loss of quality of life, above other chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Currently, ophthalmic care is an inaccessible centralised concept of tertiary care that cannot cope with the increasing demands of chronic eye disease in an aging population. Our solution aims to utilise a hybrid of novel technology to transform community eye care for long term sustainability and scalability. “Magnetic Mitohormesis: A potential paradigm shift in modern clinical medicine” by Prof Alfredo Franco-Obregón, Department of Surgery, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Synopsis: Life, as we know it, evolved in an electromagnetic realm. Hence, biochemistry is set to threshold under weak magnetic fields such as that which naturally envelops the Earth. Our scientific strategy is to exploit this innate biological imperative to promote tissue regeneration and human health. Today I will outline our initial achievements at the National University of Singapore in this endeavour. Mr Dennis Mak, Chief Executive Officer, AVECRIS Pte Ltd and Dr Volker Patzel, Senior Lecturer, NUS Department of Microbiology & Immunology / AVECRIS Pte Ltd Synopsis: Dennis and Volker will discuss the technologies they are developing at AVECRIS Pte Ltd. AVECRIS is a technology spinoff from NUS School of Medicine. For the past 12 years, Volker and his lab have been developing genetic engineering platform technologies that solve key problems in gene therapy, specifically, the ability to deliver gene therapy into cells efficiently and with high levels of long-lasting protein translation. AVECRIS solves these problems by developing its novel advanced dumbbell-shaped DNA vectors that are able to deliver gene therapy into the cell and nucleus efficiently. A second genetic engineering technology called RNA trans-splicing allows the delivered gene to express only in the intended cell type. This level of cell-type specific gene expression is unprecedented. AVECRIS’s platform can also uniquely deliver RNA and DNA into the mitochondria, which will enable mitochondrial gene therapy. With stable, long-lasting protein expression, cell-type specific gene expression and a highly scalable and low cost manufacturing process, AVECRIS will usher in a new era of precision, programmable genetic medicine that will take us beyond the capabilities of mRNA. Moderated by Prof Dean Ho, Director, The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM), NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
5:00pm – 5:05pm	Chairman’s closing remarks for conference programme (End of hybrid event)
5:05pm – 6:30pm	Free & Easy
6:30pm – 7:30pm	Special highlight dinner programme Launch of Kishore Mahbubani Professorship in Medicine and Health Policy
7:30pm	Dinner commences
8:30pm	Dinner ends
8:30pm	End of event

NIC Singapore Conference 2021 – Preparing for the Post-Pandemic World, 6-7 October