HSA and Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health Sign Memorandum of Understanding
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National University of Singapore (NUS) Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH).
2 The MOU signing ceremony between Associate Professor John Lim, Chief Executive Officer of HSA and Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health was witnessed by Dr Amy Khor, Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Manpower. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the 1st Singapore International Public Health Conference.
3 The MOU seeks to encourage knowledge exchange, enhance academic and professional competencies and develop scientific leadership to promote the protection of public health and the advancement of public health science. It covers four public health domains of epidemiology, biostatistics, health promotion/education, and health systems and policy. In line with the theme of the 1st Singapore International Public Health Conference, the MOU seeks to also “translate public health research into practice” and advance issues from a global and regional perspective linked to HSA's key areas of focus in regulatory, forensic and analytical science, and transfusion medicine.
4 The areas of cooperation include the following:
a. Participation in joint research projects that are of common research interest
suchas in the area of pharmacogenomics.
b. Developing of a health information system that enables researchers to analyse
healthanddisease, and policymakers to evaluate the long-term outcomes of
proposed healthcare and public health policies and interventions.
c. Providing exposure to both SSHSPH students and HSA staff through attachments.
d. Developing and conduct regulatory and/or scientific courses as well as certification
programmes to meet national talent needs within regulatory science, blood services
and applied science domains and validate the appropriate skill sets.
5 Pharmacogenomics is an area that exemplifies the synergy of HSA and SSHSPH's collaboration. The two organisations have been developing tools to allow comparisons of genetic variation between the main ethnic groups in Singapore - Chinese, Malays and Indians and the other populations from around the world, by using the genetic variation databases which SSHSPH maintains. The team's aim is to develop a user-friendly internet portal to the database in 2013 to enable regulators, clinicians, and scientific researchers to better understand and assess how drug response established in one population or ethnic group might differ in another.
6 By knowing the effect of genes on drug response and metabolism, clinicians can tailor the treatment and drug dose for each individual patient. HSA will also be able to assess the advisability of genetic testing to improve efficacy and safety of treatments, thereby protecting and advancing overall public health.
7 Said Associate Professor John Lim, “This MOU will strengthen the fundamental public health orientation of our work, and supports HSA's aim of advancing thought leadership and innovation in our scientific and regulatory areas of expertise, both locally and globally. By collaborating with SSHSPH in research, teaching and training, we can develop and implement innovative public health solutions relevant to regulatory and analytical science, and transfusion medicine. This fits in well with our established international network of MOU partners and will also help to define key topics for scientific roundtables and research projects under the HSA Academy. I believe this partnership has great potential for building on existing cooperation in areas like pharmacogenomics, as well as exploring new dimensions of regulatory science and public health.”
8 “In order to ‘translate discovery into healthier communities', SSHSPH will need to work closely with various public health institutions to develop innovative and practical solutions. Our initial interaction in the area of pharmacogenomics has helped us to use our ethnic-specific genomic map to predict potential public health problems of existing and new drugs. It has also provided opportunities for students to pursue their postgraduate training. I am confident that newer areas of collaboration like regulatory science and implementation science will result from this MOU,” said Professor Chia Kee Seng.
HEALTH SCIENCES AUTHORITY
NUS SAW SWEE HOCK SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
1 OCTOBER 2012
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