An American doctor and a British
engineer have been named honorary
citizens of Singapore – the
highest form of recognition for foreigners
– for their contributions to
postgraduate medical education
and engineering research and development.
Professor Victor J. Dzau, president
of the US-based National
Academy of Medicine, and Professor
John O’Reilly, chairman of
the Science and Engineering Research
Council at the Agency for
Science, Technology and Research
(A*Star), were conferred the
award by President Halimah Yacob
at the Istana yesterday.
Prof Dzau, 73, played an integral
role in bringing postgraduate medical
research opportunities to doctors
by establishing the Duke-NUS
Medical School in 2005. He has
been working in Singapore for 15
years. To connect the school’s research
capabilities with the clinical
strengths of healthcare institutions,
Prof Dzau shaped up the academic
medicine partnership between
Duke-NUS and SingHealth
while he was a board member of
SingHealth from 2008 to last year.
Under his leadership, the
SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic
Medical Centre has done multiple
research studies on chronic diseases,
ageing population trends
and models of care that impact individuals
in Singapore and the region.
Advancing medical treatments
through research was the main reason
to build Duke-NUS, said Prof
Dzau. “The direction of medicine requires
a lot of scientific advances
and applying the science to patient
care. You want to have doctors who
are also very inquisitive and want to
do research and stay at the patients’
bedside and see what is missing. Then they go back to do research to
try to fix the unmet needs.
“I’m very honoured and humbled
to receive this award because it
comes from a nation whose people
I have great admiration and respect
for,” he added.
Sir John, 72, who came to Singapore
more than a decade ago, set
the path for research and development
in engineering and physical
sciences by accelerating collaborations
between A*Star and British
firms like Rolls-Royce, starting in
2007. In 2017, Rolls-Royce, A*Star
and Singapore Aero Engine Services
launched a $60 million joint
lab to develop smart manufacturing
technologies that include 3D industrial
printing of complex aeroengine
components, and advanced
robotic and automatic solutions.
For Sir John, the business benefits
for Singapore and the engineering
giant were a bigger determinant
than innovations in his decision
to help bring Rolls-Royce
here. He also led the creation of
new research and development
programmes as chair of several Research,
Innovation and Enterprise
2020 funding review panels for the
advanced manufacturing and engineering
domain.
He said: “Over the years, I have
been fortunate to witness Singapore’s
transformation into a
Global-Asia node of technology, innovation
and enterprise, and I feel
grateful to have played a part in
shaping the science and engineering
research landscape here.”
Tags:
;
;
;
;
News Article;
;
SingHealth;SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre;
;
The Straits Times;
;
;
;
;
Announcements
Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction