Research Areas
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis proposes that health and several non-communicable diseases have their origins in prenatal life and early childhood. Adolescence is another important window of opportunity. Adverse early life programming at sensitive periods of development can have lifelong consequences, increasing disease risk later in life. Optimal circumstances in early life on the other hand can optimise health outcomes. Epigenetic mechanisms have been proposed to play a major role in the process of programming. Optimising the health and lifestyle of young women and their children can have positive lifelong health consequences.
Exercise and Thermal Physiology
Exercise and Thermal Physiology are inter-disciplinary fields that aim to increase our understanding of how the human body responds to physical activity. Prevalence of obesity remains high worldwide and increased heat exposure due to rising ambient temperatures will threaten human health, safety and performance. We seek to enhance current knowledge on how physical activity in the tropics can affect human physiology in hope to identify preventive and therapeutic strategies to augment human potential in athletic, occupational and public health settings.
Sleep
Sleep is multi-dimensional and is fundamental to the optimisation of cognitive performance, well-being and health-span. Its restorative function is shaped by sleep duration, timing, continuity, quality, and efficiency, and its processes evolve with age. A tailored approach involving objective measures of sleep, cognition, mood as well as physiological markers are key to benefit individuals of different age groups.
Nutrition
Human health and performance are impacted by nutrition, diet quality and the behaviours that drive food choices. Nutrition is a key driver of human well-being across the different paradigms of physical, physiological, mental, psychological, emotional and social health. The factors that optimise lifelong nutrition habits are dynamic and ever-evolving in the modern society. Unlocking these factors across the human lifespan would maximise human potential and productivity through better health and holistic well-being.
Children’s Health
Preconception, antenatal and early life factors can impact child health, as shown through our landmark birth cohorts and hospital-based clinical cohorts. We seek to develop intervention strategies for prevention and treatment of early childhood disorders that will translate to policy change and development of recommendations for the treatment and prevention of childhood diseases.
Women’s Health
Women’s health is multi-factorial with life-course and intergenerational health implications, and of far-reaching clinical and populational health significance. It is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and is the key to families, communities, and societies. Healthy and happy women are foundations for a healthy and happy society and world. From the clinical and population health perspectives, we aim to improve women’s health and well-being over their lifespan and across generations.
Epidemiology
Epidemiological study methods are used to find the causes of health outcomes and diseases in populations. It includes the following purposes: discovering the agent, host, and environmental factors that affect health, determining the relative importance of causes of illness, disability, and death, identifying those segments of the population that have the greatest risk from specific causes of ill health, and evaluating the effectiveness of health programs and services in improving population health.
Computational Science
Modern imaging technologies (e.g., MRI) can provide unprecedented information about the human body. In the Human Potential TRP, we develop and employ advanced computational techniques (including machine learning and artificial intelligence) to extract maximum insights from in-vivo imaging data. We are also interested in understanding metabolism, healthy brain development and aging with the ultimate goal of optimizing human potential across the lifespan.