The School is honoured to host the visit of Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Chairman of the National Research Foundation, Mr Heng Swee Keat at the ADVANcing Clinical Evidence in Infectious Diseases (ADVANCE-ID) showcase held on 10 March 2023.
Mr Heng was warmly welcomed by a receiving party led by Prof David Paterson, director of ADVANCE-ID. ADVANCE-ID is a clinically-oriented antimicrobial resistance surveillance network for Healthcare-associated infections consisting of 40 hospitals in 16 countries.
During the showcase, Mr Heng was introduced to the ADVANCE-ID team and participated in an interactive station with bacteria plates and microscopes. Prof Paterson gave a presentation on the impact of antimicrobial resistance and the problems with the antibiotic market. He explained that ADVANCE-ID was set up in Asia as the region has the highest level of antimicrobial resistance. He went on to share the vision and mission of ADVANCE-ID with its vision being “the ‘go-to’ for evaluation of new antimicrobials, diagnostics or prevention strategies relevant to antimicrobial resistance and other infectious diseases”.
The showcase saw thought leaders and industry experts from the National University of Singapore (NUS), ADVANCE-ID, Wellcome Trust Thailand Africa and Asia Programme, National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation Singapore (CRIS), Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Pfizer and bioMérieux come together in discussion against the threat of antimicrobial resistance in view of the dwindling supply of new antibiotics.
ADVANCE-ID has its operational headquarters in the NUS Saw Swee Hock School Of Public Health. The network is jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and local institutions [NUS, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID)], and supported by multiple local institutions including Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI).