Research institute to improve treatment for heart diseases

Posted: September 5, 2014 at 1:44 am

SINGAPORE: The Republic now has a research institute to improve treatment and seek cures through research for cardiovascular diseases. The facility was launched on Friday (Sep 5) at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Scientific Congress 2014, a platform to showcase the latest medical developments.

The 4,000-square-meter National Heart Research Institute Singapore is located in the Singapore General Hospital campus, and will focus on areas such as heart function and genetics, and regenerative medicine.

A joint venture by National Heart Centre Singapore and Duke-NUS, the research institute seeks to be a leading facility in cardiovascular research in Singapore and the Asian region. It is helmed by renowned cardiovascular research expert Professor Stuart Cook.

Research efforts were given a boost with a gift of S$3 million from Tanoto Foundation. Of this amount, S$2.5 million will be used to set up the Tanoto Foundation Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine, and S$500,000 will fund the Tanoto Foundation Initiative for Genetics and Stem Cell research.

NEW MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS

At the congress, some of the latest medical developments were showcased. One of the breakthroughs was the discovery of novel genes for age-related cataract, a global leading cause of blindness, by the Singapore Eye Research Institute in partnership with Duke-NUS and the Genome Institute of Singapore at A*STAR.

These findings will improve clinician's understanding of the disease and pave the way for further research on how to target the genes to delay cataract formation. The two-day congress will see more than 2,500 delegates.

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Research institute to improve treatment for heart diseases

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