Singapore – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, and the National University of Singapore (NUS) on 13 April announced three research projects, which are supported under their strategic alliance. Each project could receive a grant of up to S$300,000 per year.

The five-year strategic alliance formed by the two parties in April 2014 has committed to sponsor both multi-year and short-term research grants to accelerate life sciences, as well as to support activities that encourage knowledge exchange among NUS researchers and Thermo Fisher Scientific’s scientists. This alliance is facilitated by the NUS Industry Liaison Office, which is part of NUS Enterprise.

The call for proposals for the multi-year grants attracted over 50 applications from various labs and investigators across NUS. The selected research projects were chosen based on the application of the research to the request for proposal topics generated from Thermo Fisher Scientific and NUS, including potential for future commercial viability. These projects cover three areas of research: Synthetic Biology, Analytical Applications and Stem Cell Biology.

1) Synthetic Biology – Dr Matthew Chang (Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and Program Leader, NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation) will seek to make molecular improvements in a mammalian cell line that is used for the manufacturing of proteins (for pharmaceutical applications). 

2) Analytical Applications – Dr Sam F.Y. Li (Professor, Department of Chemistry, NUS Faculty of Science) will seek to develop new analytical applications for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Capillary Electrophoresis platform.

3) Stem Cell Biology – Dr Michael Raghunath (Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, NUS Faculty of Engineering; Department of Biochemistry, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine; and Principal Investigator of the NUS Tissue Engineering Programme, NUS Life Sciences Institute) will seek to develop novel methods for the proliferation of human stem cells.

“The selected projects were submitted from different faculties in NUS, namely Engineering, Medicine and Science. This demonstrates that NUS has the capabilities to collaborate with Thermo Fisher Scientific, across different disciplines, and to serve as an engine to promote life science research in the region. NUS will continue to forge strong collaborations with industry, to translate our research into impactful innovations for the benefit of society,” said Ms Irene Cheong, Director, NUS Industry Liaison Office.

“We were delighted to receive the creative proposals from the NUS through our grant selection process” said Alan Sachs, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Life Sciences Solutions for Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We are looking forward to the new discoveries that our joint efforts will enable. Our alliance with NUS will also help to accelerate innovation from Singapore, which will benefit the people of the Asia Pacific and the world.”

Moving forward, the Thermo Fisher Scientific-NUS strategic alliance is now in the process of selecting projects for the Discovery Innovation Grants (DIGs). The DIGs will support investigation of new areas or new applications of existing technologies that come under the spotlight such as: Next Generation Sequencing, Genetic Analysis, Molecular Diagnostics, Food Safety and Animal Health, Life Sciences and Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry, Rare Cells & Single Cells and Synthetic Biology. The grant period will be for one-year and up to S$100,000 for each project. The projects will be selected in May.