News

The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health warmly congratulates our distinguished alumnus and eminent philanthropist Professor Saw Swee Hock on being listed as one of the 48 Heroes of Philanthropy by Forbes Asia. Currently in its eighth year running, the Heroes of Philanthropy honour roll lists notable philanthropists in the Asia-Pacific region, calling attention to altruists whose contributions have launched new and innovative projects in a wide variety of fields. As a member of the NUS Board of Trustees, Prof Saw has been recognised for his significant philanthropic contributionsRead more

Big data and the immense potential from these vast information sources is fast becoming one of the most talked-about topics today. Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health speaks to BFM89.9’s The Bigger Picture about the role big data plays in predicting population health trends, especially its growing potential in Asia. He sheds light on issues such as the need to ensure a high degree of trust between researchers and the public, the need for consistency across several data sets, as well as how patternsRead more

The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is pleased to announce that the School has been re-designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health for another 4 years, as from 22 June 2014 till 22 June 2018, by the World Health Organization (WHO). This Collaborating Centre will continue to be headed by Associate Professor Chia Sin Eng and Professor David Koh. The School is one of 65 institutions and organisations in the six WHO regions who will support WHO in implementing the objectives of the Global Plan of Action on Workers’Read more

It was three long months ago when Associate Professors Mikael Hartman from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Philip Iau from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine set off on an extraordinary adventure. The two trauma and breast cancer surgeons would journey 20,000km by motorcycle across 17 countries in Asia and Europe for The Long Ride 2014: From Singapore to Sweden for Breast Cancer Research to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research in Asia. Since then, they’ve braved nasty sandstorms, conquered challenging terrain, and altogether encountered many interestingRead more

Poor eyesight may cause a poorer quality of life than suffering from chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity and hypertension, according to a study conducted by researchers from the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Eye Research Institute. The study combined data from three population-based eye studies and found that for every 100,000 people in Singapore, the burden for visual impairment was 512 healthy individuals dying every year, for the Chinese, 707 for Malays and 609 for Indians. One explanation is that while chronic conditions can lead to life-threatening diseasesRead more

A local study of 63,000 Singaporean Chinese has found that Omega-3 fatty acids in seafood and nuts are beneficial in reducing the mortality risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, led by Professor Koh Woon Puay from the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health found that the 25% of the study cohort who consumed the most Omega-3 fatty acids from seafood like fish and shellfish as well as plant-based Omega-3 fatty acids from seeds, nuts and grains were 17% less likely to die from cardiovascular complicationsRead more

Many of us spend at least 8 hours at the office, so how can you ensure that you stay healthy and safe at a sedentary environment like the workplace? 938LIVE’s Need to Know speaks to Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Chairman of the Workplace Health Committee at the Workplace Safety and Health Council, to find out more. To begin with, you could find ways to increase physical activity as part of the daily routine both inside and outside the office, for exampleRead more

7 May 2014 marked the first day of the Singapore Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Conference 2014, held in conjunction with the launch of the National Workplace Safety and Health Campaign for this year. The conference saw regional workplace safety and health professionals and stakeholders, businesses and organisations convene to share and learn about how to adopt a holistic approach in managing health and safety risks in the workplace. Co-organised by the WSH Council, WSH Institute and the Ministry of Manpower, the theme for this year’s conference was “Integrating SafetyRead more

The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is pleased to announce that Professor Saw Seang Mei has made it to the list of the world’s 100 most influential people in ophthalmology. In addition to Prof Saw, Singapore saw two other eye doctors make the top 100 list, including Professor Donald Tan from the Singapore National Eye Centre and Professor Aung Tin from the Singapore Eye Research Institute. Prof Saw is noted for her extensive work in the area of myopia, including environmental factors that affect short-sightedness, and is one of onlyRead more

The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is pleased to announce that two of our colleagues were awarded at the recent Stars@NUHS Awards. Assistant Professor Alex Cook received the NUS Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (FTEA) AY2012/2013 in recognition of his many contributions and commitment to teaching excellence at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in the last academic year. Ms Lim Hui Ping from the Centre for Molecular Epidemiology received the Values-in-Action (VIA) Award (Top 6 – Individual) for demonstrating the NUHS TRICE Values (Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Compassion and Excellence)Read more

Regular consumption of vegetables, fruit and soy can reduce the risk of lower hip fracture among Singaporean Chinese by more than three times, according to a study on the dietary and lifestyle habits of 63,000 Chinese Singaporeans over the last 15 years. Lead researcher of the study, Associate Professor Koh Woon Puay from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, added that soy-based foods contain a rich source of isoflavones, which are beneficial to womens’ health, while green leafy vegetables contain carotenoids, which helps strengthens bonesRead more

Drinking at least two cups of coffee a day may help sufferers of liver cirrhosis reduce the chance of dying by 66 per cent, according to a study on the dietary and lifestyle habits of 63,000 Chinese Singaporeans over 15 years. However, the study found that only patients with cirrhosis that had been caused by alcohol consumption or liver disease saw a decrease in mortality risk; those who had viral hepatits-related cirrhosis did not see any significant drop is mortality risk. “The benefit of coffee on reducing the risk ofRead more