May 2020

Women in the traditional Japanese costume

First-of-its-kind study identifies novel genetic markers of type 2 diabetes in East Asians

In the largest non-European diabetes genetics study, an international team of researchers identified 61 new genetic variants associated with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) in East Asians. Findings include discovery of variants near genes involved in skeletal muscle and pancreatic functions, as well as in alcohol metabolism, and also in genes linked to higher levels of fat around the belly in East Asian individuals. These genes had not been linked with T2D before and may help explain why — among people of similar body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference — theRead more

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Assoc Prof Helena Legido-Quigley

Assoc Prof Helena Legido-Quigley: advocate for health systems strengthening and global health

Associate Professor Helena Legido-Quigley was recently appointed Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s new Journal of Migration and Health, and was profiled in The Lancet last week, focusing on her work in health systems and passion for global health. “This is incredibly exciting for me, as the health of migrants is my passion, and no other journal has its main focus on this important component of global health,” she said. She commented on Singapore’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak earlier this year: “It was striking how well Singapore was prepared, a legacy from

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Man wearing a mask walking along an empty shop

Phased transition as Singapore exits ‘circuit breaker’

Earlier this week, the multi-ministry taskforce announced a three-phase transition to a ‘new normal’, as the next step in Singapore’s fight against COVID-19. As Singapore exits its ‘circuit breaker’ on 2 June, schools will reopen progressively and a third of the workforce will return to their workplaces. Dean, Professor Teo Yik Ying said that the phased transition “is a very prudent approach” as it allows us to determine which sector is contributing to any resurgence in cases. “We are testing to see what works and what doesn’t, and if we

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Congratulations Dr Margaret Chan

Congratulations to Dr Margaret Chan on being appointed inaugural Dean of Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University

The School congratulates Dr Margaret Chan, the former Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and esteemed SSHSPH alumna (Class of ’85, MSc Public Health and Occupational Medicine) on being appointed the inaugural Dean of Vanke School of Public Health at Tsinghua University. Assuming the role and responsibilities as Dean, Dr Chan and the School’s list of distinguished faculty will focus on training the next generation of leaders to shape and strengthen the public health policy in China. The newly established school will also contribute towards China’s public health emergencies

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Workers at a construction site

COVID-19: Dormitory-linked cases lower than projected estimates

Over the past week, an average of 700 cases were reported daily that were linked to foreign worker dormitories. Even as the number of dormitory-linked cases continues to rise, Vice Dean (Research), Associate Professor Alex Cook said the situation is better than originally expected and “the number of cases is consistently lower in reality than what the models say it should have been”. He said that this could be interpreted either pessimistically, that not all cases are detected yet due to a lack of capacity, or optimistically, that the curve

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