NUS Medicine turning into a research powerhouse

Its research findings are cited more frequently than others in the medical field

- Salma Khalik

Research is a very important facet of working at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and almost every member of its faculty is involved in scientific or clinical studies.

The school secures more than $100 million in research grants each year to fund impactful research and breakthroughs that shape the future of healthcare, with the money coming from a variety of sources, including the university, the Government, industry partners and private foundations.

In 2024, NUS Medicine researchers published 3,865 papers, which were cited 21,829 times, and this intense focus on research has borne fruit, both in discovering better ways to treat patients and raising the school's standing in the world, said Professor Roger Foo, vice-dean of research.

There are at least 220 labs in NUS Medicine, each of them helmed by a group leader or principal investigator, distributed among 10 translational research programmes and 15 faculty research centres. All these programmes and centres are led by prominent and world leaders in their research area.

There is also dedicated research administrative staff who support the school's research mission, through often complex approval processes, sometimes involving collaborations with multiple institutions all at one time. "Without this contingent of professional research administrators, none of us would be able to do the research smoothly," said Prof Foo.