Organised by the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, the Singapore Chinese Health Study: A Legacy for the Future symposium was held on 2 November 2017.
Dr Mimi Yu, co-founding principal investigator of the Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS), was presented the inaugural SSHSPH Distinguished Service Award by Dean, Professor Chia Kee Seng and Emeritus Professor Lee Hin Peng, who was also the Study’s co-founding principal investigator. The award recognises Dr Yu for her commitment and contributions to public health as well as her devotion to mentoring the next generation of public health leaders, educators and students.
Current SCHS principal investigator, Professor Koh Woon Puay delivered the citation for Dr Yu. Prof Koh shared inspiring stories about Dr Yu’s life, how the Study was started and the struggles faced by the founding team. She highlighted Dr Yu’s brilliance, experience, courage, determination and tenacity, adding that without these, there would be no Cohort today.
“To simply list her achievements would not do justice to this outstanding epidemiologist,” said Prof Koh. “For those of us here who have had the privilege to know her as mentor, collaborator and friend, she is truly a remarkable individual who has impacted the lives of many.”
“She has shown us what it means to conduct scientific research of the highest calibre and also what it means to live a meaningful, generous and happy life,” Prof Koh added.
Following the awards ceremony was a dialogue session with the Study’s co-founders, Dr Yu and Emeritus Prof Lee, which was moderated by Prof Koh.
At the end of the dialogue, Prof Chia presented Dr Yu with a personalised memento: a Singapore-shaped collage of photographs, newspaper articles and academic papers relating to the study.
After a short tea break, the event continued with the symposium, where the speakers presented findings from their research using SCHS data.
Prof Koh started the symposium by presenting overall facts and figures about the Singapore Chinese Health Study.
Next, findings on the topic of cancer were presented by Professor Jian-Min Yuan, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute in USA. Prof Yuan is also currently PI on the USA-based NIH-grant supporting SCHS, and works closely with Prof Koh in promoting the research in SCHS.
The third speaker was Associate Professor Rob van Dam, SSHSPH Epidemiology Domain Leader, who shared his findings related to cardiovascular disease.
The next presentation was on Type 2 Diabetes by Prof Pan An, Assistant Dean of Tongji Medical College’s School of Public Health at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.
The fifth speaker was Assistant Professor Teng Gim Gee, Department of Medicine in Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, who presented her research findings on musculoskeletal diseases.
To round off the symposium, Prof Koh shared on the topic of ageing as well as future work.
Watch Prof Koh’s citation for Dr Yu and the dialogue session.
Media coverage:
- Award for Health Study Researcher, The Straits Times, 2 November 2017
- 研究本地华族健康逾20年, Lianhe Zaobao, 3 November 2017
- Gift from 63,257 Singaporeans to healthcare research, The Straits Times Opinion, 6 November 2017
- Health legacy for the future, NUS News, 8 November 2017