NCCS research luminaries conferred distinguished professorships in pathology and colorectal surgery

2023-04-17

(Press-News.org)

Singapore, 16 April 2023 – The SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (AMC) announced that Distinguished Professorships have been awarded to two research luminaries from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS). The Professorships are the highest honour bestowed upon faculty members by the SingHealth Duke-NUS AMC.

Professor Teh Bin Tean, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Research), NCCS, and Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School, was conferred the Tan Yew Oo Professorship in Pathology and Associate Professor Iain Tan Bee Huat, Division Director of Research and Senior Consultant, Division of Medical Oncology, NCCS and Associate Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School, was conferred the Goh Hak Su Professorship in Colorectal Surgery.

Tan Yew Oo Professorship in Pathology

Professor Teh Bin Tean, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Research) of NCCS, holds numerous research leadership roles in the SingHealth Duke-NUS AMC. He also serves as an Advisor in Translational Pathology in the SingHealth Duke-NUS Pathology Academic Clinical Programme, collaborates extensively with the pathology community and mentors aspiring pathologist researchers.

Prof Teh and his research team have focused on endemic Asian cancers with seminal discoveries in the field of herbal carcinogen-related cancers and cholangiocarcinoma (biliary tract cancer). Prof Teh was notably involved in the novel discovery of MED12 gene mutations in fibroadenomas and the progression genes to phyllodes tumours, resulting in better understanding of the pathogenesis of fibropithelial tumours.

In addition to his research innovations and contributions, Prof Teh has a long and distinguished track record with numerous awards including the 2015 Singapore President Science Award, the 2018 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Team Science Award, 2019 AACR Annual Meeting Plenary Lectureship and 2021 Japanese Cancer Association International Award. He is on editorial boards of numerous international biomedical journals, serves on multiple scientific advisory boards and holds adjunct professorships at international institutions.

The Tan Yew Oo Professorship in Pathology is named after pioneer oncologist, Dr Tan Yew Oo, for his significant contributions to public service and healthcare development in Singapore. The distinguished Professorship underscores the important role pathology has as the core component in the diagnosis, staging and management of cancer. The Professorship will support long-term research and advancements in pathology in the critical areas of cancer diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutic accuracy.

The conferment of the Tan Yew Oo Professorship in Pathology Academic Clinical Programme is an endorsement of Prof Teh’s exemplary achievements in cancer pathology and wealth of expertise in translational cancer research.

Goh Hak Su Professorship in Colorectal Surgery

Associate Professor Iain Tan Bee Huat is a clinician scientist, Division Director of Research and Senior Consultant in the Division of Medical Oncology, NCCS. Assoc Prof Tan focuses on colorectal cancer research and the development of tailored diagnostic and therapeutic tools for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the disease. His cross-disciplinary research, which spans clinical and scientific specialties, is conducted in translational studies, clinical trials and public health research. He has published more than 100 publications in leading journals including Nature, Nature Genetics and Nature Medicine.

Assoc Prof Tan has obtained numerous individual competitive grants, is co-investigator of several national collaborative projects, and holds platform lead positions with the Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium (STCC) for the Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation Singapore (CRIS).

Assoc Prof Tan is a recipient of several research awards including the Singapore Youth Award and ASCO Young Investigator Award. He is also an active mentor for clinician scientists in the AMC’s Centre for Clinician-Scientist Development (CCSD) programme, and works across the cluster to groom young oncologists and surgeons.

The Goh Hak Su Professorship in Colorectal Surgery is named after Professor Goh Hak Su, a renowned colorectal surgeon, who established the Department of Colorectal Surgery at the Singapore General Hospital, which built the foundations for clinical work, teaching and research that trained many colorectal surgeons in Singapore and the region. The Goh Hak Su Professorship in Colorectal Surgery aims to propagate advances in surgery and training locally and internationally, as well as transform research and innovation in the field of colorectal diseases.

The conferment of the Goh Hak Su Professorship in Colorectal Surgery to Assoc Prof Tan is an endorsement of his sterling research achievements and commitment to mentoring young talent which is aligned with the goals of the Professorship.

-END-

For media queries, please contact:

Ms Lo Sok Wan

Corporate Communications

National Cancer Centre Singapore

Mobile: 9689 8791

Email: lo.sok.wan@nccs.com.sg

Ms Cheryl Sng

Corporate Communications

National Cancer Centre Singapore

Mobile: 9655 7726

Email: cheryl.sng.x.p@nccs.com.sg

About the National Cancer Centre Singapore

The National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) is a leading national and regional tertiary cancer centre with specialists who are experts in treating cancer. NCCS attends to the majority of cancer cases in Singapore’s public healthcare sector. In addition to offering holistic and multidisciplinary oncology care, our clinicians and scientists collaborate with local and international partners to conduct robust, cutting-edge clinical and translational research. To achieve its vision of being a global leading cancer centre, NCCS offers world-class care and shares its depth of experience and expertise by training local and overseas medical professionals.

To meet growing healthcare needs, the new NCCS building opened in 2023 with increased capacity and expanded facilities dedicated to cancer care, rehabilitation, research and education. To give patients the best treatment outcomes, advanced and innovative treatment such as proton therapy is offered at the new Goh Cheng Liang Proton Therapy Centre at NCCS.

For more information, please visit: www.nccs.com.sg

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