Current Projects
CancerLink – a database to facilitate research and collaboration in cancer and public health
Team members: Assoc Prof Adeline Seow, Assoc Prof Mary Chong, Asst Prof Seow Wei Jie, Asst Prof Ho Peh Joo, Dr Park Su Hyun, Assoc Prof Andrew Li, Dr Miao Hui, Mr Isaiah Soh and Ms Juang Yah Ru
The Singapore Prospective Health Study (SPHS) cohorts, built up over a period of 20 years by faculty and researchers at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health have collectively recruited more than 75,000 individuals between the ages of 21 and 99 years, who are being actively followed up through linkage with national disease registries.
CancerLink aims to use data from questionnaires as well as biological markers of risk to further our understanding of susceptibility to cancer and propensities for poorer outcomes after cancer diagnosis. Some of the areas of focus include the effect of pre-diagnostic socioeconomic and lifestyle factors on cancer survival and the impact of chronic physiologic stress on cancer development.
National Health Economics on Cancer
Team members: Asst Prof Kennedy Ng, Asst Prof Dawn Chong, Prof Iain Tan, Asst Prof Evelyn Wong, Assoc Prof Grace Yang, Assoc Prof Adeline Seow, Asst Prof Seow Wei Jie, Assoc Prof Alec Morton, Asst Prof Wang Yi under the partnership with the Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium (STCC)
Cancer is a global health challenge with far-reaching implications for individuals, families, and healthcare systems. It is the top cause of death in Singapore and one in three Singaporeans will have cancer in their lifetime.
Understanding cancer outcomes provide vital information on the burden of cancer within the population, the effectiveness of treatment, and the overall health and well-being of cancer patients. This impacts the healthcare utilisation patterns among cancer patients where we study the efficiency and accessibility of healthcare services.
From the patients’ perspective, the economic impact of cancer extends beyond the direct medical costs associated with diagnosis and treatment. It encompasses a broad spectrum of expenses, including hospitalisation, medications, surgeries, and specialized therapies.
Working closely with members of STCC platform 5, our study team enables a comprehensive examination of critical aspects of cancer in Singapore, offering insights into the multifaceted impact of cancer on the nation’s health and healthcare system.
Understanding Cancer Health Disparities – Where Do We Start?
Team members: Assoc Prof Christina Wong, Assoc Prof Grace Yang, Asst Prof Evelyn Wong, Dr Miao Hui, Ms Chong Chin Wen and Assoc Prof Adeline Seow
Social, economic and environmental factors – at the individual and systemic level, contribute to disparities in cancer survival rates in the population. These factors act through complex and interacting pathways, which need to be understood in context as a basis for intervention and healthcare policy. This formative study will involve in-depth interviews of patients with early stage breast or colorectal cancer and their caregivers, as well as healthcare professionals, and will explore:
- Factors that promote or hinder acceptance and adherence to curative treatment
- Other contextual factors (including biological and systemic) that may explain disparities in outcome of care
- Potential high impact mitigation strategies
Contact us
For more information or to express interest in these projects, please contact Dr Miao Hui at miaohui@nus.edu.sg