The School is pleased to welcome its new vice deanery leadership, with effect from 1 July 2020:
- Vice Dean (Academic Affairs): Associate Professor Jeannette Lee
- Vice Dean (Education): Dr Liow Chee Hsiang
- Vice Dean (Global Health) and Programme Leader (Infectious Diseases): Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang
- Vice Dean (Practice) and Director (Public Health Translation): Associate Professor Jason Yap
- Vice Dean (Research) and Domain Leader (Biostatistics and Modelling): Associate Professor Alex Cook
Appointment of Associate Professor Jeannette Lee as Vice Dean (Academic Affairs)
Associate Professor Jeannette Lee has been appointed as the new Vice Dean (Academic Affairs). She will formally assume her new role with effect from 1 July 2020.
Since October 2012, Assoc Prof Lee has helmed the Education Office as Vice Dean and served as the Master of Public Health (MPH) programme director. Under her leadership, the MPH curriculum was reviewed and updated, with a revised offering of specialisations including Epidemiology and Quantitative Methods, Global Health, Occupational Health, Health Policy and Services, and Health Promotion. A programmatic review of the Graduate Research Programmes was also conducted, leading to the development of new modules, seminars and forums for students to experience the breadth of public health research topics and to enhance their presentation and communication skills.
Extending public health education to undergraduates, Assoc Prof Lee initiated the Minor in Public Health in AY2013/2014 to introduce students to the multidisciplinary role of public health in preventing disease and improving the health of communities. She also spearheaded the planning and development of the Second Major in Public Health, which will be offered in the upcoming academic year.
Assoc Prof Lee has played an active and instrumental role in the engagement of regional and local partnerships for student placements and internships, as well as capacity building with regional public health professionals. These include collaborations with the University of Hong Kong, Lao Tropical and Public Health Institute, and Christian Medical College, Vellore. As an educator, she cares deeply about students and devotes her time to mentor those around her. Her genuine concern for the growth and development of those she works with is widely recognised. It is with this same spirit and motivation that she will lead the Academic Affairs Office and champion the fostering of strong bonds between the School and its academic staff.
In her position as Vice Dean (Academic Affairs), Assoc Prof Lee will lead talent acquisition and management, and leadership development. She will also lead the Academic Affairs Office in ensuring its faculty policies and processes are aligned with the strategic vision and mission of the School.
Appointment of Dr Liow Chee Hsiang as Vice Dean (Education)
Dr Liow Chee Hsiang has been appointed as the new Vice Dean (Education). He will formally assume his new role with effect from 1 July 2020.
Dr Liow joined the School in 2017. Since the beginning of 2020, he has been understudying Assoc Prof Jeanette Lee and effectively serving as the Assistant Dean (Education). He has been instrumental in raising awareness of and championing pedagogy and good teaching practices. Over the past few years, he has reached out to public health stakeholders such as the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to enable authentic teaching and assessment, and to raise awareness about education and training for evidence-based public health practice and implementation science.
Dr Liow has taught in the School’s undergraduate and postgraduate educational programmes. He also supports individual faculty members to improve the design and delivery of their modules, and played a pivotal role in the School’s recent review of its MPH programme, which included making revisions to core modules. His passion for and commitment toward teaching is acknowledged by the consistently excellent faculty and student feedback for the MPH Programme Evaluation module, Minor in Public Health modules (including Designing Public Health Programmes, Health of the Poor in Asia and Global Health), as well as global health education for the medical undergraduates.
Prior to joining the School, Dr Liow was the Managing Director (Operations) at Bless China International, a non-government organisation (NGO), from 2011 to 2016. During this time, he oversaw the operations of 16 projects across six geographic sites in Yunnan Province. The projects include medical and dental clinics, disaster and humanitarian relief, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, community-based rehabilitation for those affected by leprosy, rehabilitation for disabled children and adults, special education for children with autism spectrum disorders, and foster care for orphans.
Appointment of Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang as Vice Dean (Global Health) and Programme Leader (Infectious Diseases)
Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang has been appointed as the new Vice Dean (Global Health). He will formally assume his new role with effect from 1 July 2020, and continue to hold the appointment of Programme Leader (Infectious Diseases).
Assoc Prof Hsu brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise, having served in various senior leadership roles over the years. Most recently, he served as Co-Director of the Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation (LIGHT) along with Associate Professor Jeremy Lim. LIGHT has been instrumental in driving collaborations with regional and international partners, including the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong; Harvard Medical School; and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Discussions with these partners explore the development of fellowship programmes, training and capacity-building programmes, policy papers, and joint activities such as guest lectures and internship opportunities for SSHSPH students.
LIGHT also works with various funders on producing white papers and other research, such as evaluation and mapping/indexing projects, for the purpose of transforming health promotion and disease prevention. As a vehicle for the School to achieve regional and global impact, LIGHT has successfully secured funding from NUS Global Asia Institute to run the next edition of the NUS Initiative to Improve Health in Asia (NIHA) Leadership Development Programme, with the focus on COVID-19 in the frame of Universal Health Coverage.
In his new capacity, Assoc Prof Hsu will ensure that the School’s international engagement — through strategic partnerships in research, consultancy, teaching and knowledge transfer — contributes to the achievement of its mission and vision, and enhances its international standing and contributions. The office of Global Health will continue to work very closely with LIGHT, which will now be helmed by Assoc Prof Lim as its Director.
Appointment of Associate Professor Jason Yap as Vice Dean (Practice) and Director (Public Health Translation)
Associate Professor Jason Yap has been appointed as the new Vice Dean (Practice). He will formally assume his new role with effect from 1 July 2020, and continue to hold the appointment of Director (Public Health Translation).
In his new capacity, Assoc Prof Yap will be responsible and provide strategic vision for all practice-related activities at the School. Under his leadership, the Practice Office shall serve to catalyse and encourage practice-related work locally and globally among all faculty members.
As Director (Public Health Translation), Assoc Prof Yap has developed productive relationships with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and supported the identification of priority areas to research. Since July 2016, he has led the Public Health Translation Team (PHTT) in delivering studies and projects on a range of topics, including hospital waiting times, cost-effectiveness of specific vaccinations and screening tools, and behaviours of pre-diabetics, among others.
To translate knowledge to practice on a broader scale, he also expanded PHTT’s scope to produce Thought Leadership reports for tobacco control and medicinal cannabis, develop regional and local case studies for executive- and masters-level teaching, and generate content for the School such as for its ‘Let’s Talk Public Health’ series.
He has also been leading PHTT in producing the School’s weekly COVID-19 Science Reports, at the request of Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, MOH’s Chief Health Scientist, since the beginning of the outbreak in Singapore in late January. The reports present relevant, up-to-date information on the outbreak, and are now the trusted, go-to curated resource for policymakers and colleagues at the Ministry. The reports have been similarly shared with regional collaborators in academia and healthcare, the World Health Organization’s Science Division, as well as 120 members of the American Association of Academic Health Centres International.
Re-appointment of Associate Professor Alex Cook as Vice Dean (Research) and Domain Leader (Biostatistics and Modelling)
Associate Professor Alex Cook’s re-appointment as both Vice Dean (Research) and Domain Leader (Biostatistics and Modelling) will take effect from 1 July 2020.
Assoc Prof Cook has helmed the Research Office as Vice Dean and led the Biostatistics and Modelling Domain since 1 January 2018.
During his term, he contributed significantly to MOH and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) with technical expertise and advice for e-cigarettes legislation in Singapore. He has worked on many fronts to demonstrate the School’s research capabilities and foster inter-institution collaboration, having contributed to the national Hepatitis C elimination strategy committee and advised the Housing Development Board (HDB) on population modelling. He has also played an active role in developing a blueprint for HIV control in Singapore, and advised the Global Fund to Eliminate Modern Slavery on size of slave populations in Vietnam, planning out the data collection and analysis for the fund.
While his main research interests are infectious disease modelling and statistics, in particular applied to influenza and dengue, Assoc Prof Cook’s work increasingly spans across other infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, he has been working with his team to use computer and mathematical models to analyse the status of public health with regard to the pandemic. The scope of the projects includes analysing the potential impact of workplace distancing, providing assistance on outbreak investigations, and assessing the impact on the transmissibility of the virus.
Assoc Prof Cook will continue to lead the Research Office in promoting and coordinating translational research within the School, as well as further develop and promote research capacity and scholarship amongst faculty members, research staff and students.
Appreciation
The School would like to convey its deepest appreciation to Professor Rob van Dam for his energy and devotion in serving as Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) since 1 January 2018.
During his term, Prof van Dam implemented a robust promotion and tenure structure that not only duly recognises faculty members’ efforts and contributions but also focuses on their career development. He also spearheaded the review of the School’s Practice Track policy.
At the helm of the School’s recruitment strategies, he formed ‘search working groups’ to review faculty hires in the School’s domains, with the purpose of identifying and recruiting new faculty members through advertisements and networks. He has mentored new and junior faculty members, holding individual meetings with them on a regular basis, and led academic faculty staff bonding activities.
Prof van Dam will continue as Domain Leader (Epidemiology) and focus on building the School’s research programmes and capabilities around cohort studies, chronic diseases and nutritional epidemiology.