Duke-NUS Affairs

About Duke-NUS
Duke-NUS Affairs

About the Office of Duke-NUS Affairs

Representing Duke-NUS on the Duke University campus in Durham, North Carolina, the Office of Duke-NUS Affairs acts as the focal point for all collaborative initiatives between Duke, Duke-NUS and SingHealth. It coordinates administrative support for initiatives including dedicated research grants, faculty and student development opportunities and educational exchanges.

Collaboration programmes

Educational exchanges

Collaborative research

Duke/Duke-NUS Research Collaboration Awards

Duke and Duke-NUS offer a series of collaborative research grants, including the Duke/Duke-NUS Research Collaboration Pilot Project Grant. The goal of these grants is to nurture international research collaborations between faculty in Durham, North Carolina, and Singapore to advance translational and clinical research, including research on medical technologies.

2024 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Assistant Professor Nishad Jayasundara	Global Environmental Health; Environmental Science & Policy Division	Associate Professor Renzo Guinto	SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute	Heat stress, kidney health, and lived experience of communities in the climate frontlines in Sri Lanka: an interdisciplinary population health analysis through a planetary health lens
2	Associate Professor Charles Scales	Urology	Assistant Professor Chong Tsung Wen	Surgery Academic Clinical Programme; Singapore General Hospital	Climate change, heat exposure, and urinary stone disease
3	Associate Professor Hanzhang Xu	School of Nursing	Associate Professor Rahul Malhotra	Centre for Ageing Research & Education	Perception and lived experience of health effects of climate change among vulnerable older adults residing in Durham and Singapore – Informing health communication interventions
4	Professor Charles Nunn	Duke Global Health Institute	Professor Gavin Smith	Emerging Infectious Diseases	Linking Environments and Markets to Understand Regional Spread of Infections along Networks in Madagascar
5	Associate Professor Vijay Krishnamoorthy	Department of Anesthesiology	Professor Marcus Ong Eng Hock	Health Services & Systems Research	Impact of Wildfire Smoke and Heat on Acute Cardiopulmonary Outcomes in Southeast Asia

2022 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Assistant Professor Michael Tadross	Biomedical Engineering	Associate Professor Adam Claridge-Chang	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme	Cell-Tethered Drugs in a Small-Animal Model to Analyze Circuit Function
2	Associate Professor Ayako Suzuki	Gastroenterology and Hepatology	Assistant Professor Brijesh Kumar Singh	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	Roles of Sex and Age on the Efficacy of Homocysteine-Lowering Supplements to Treat NAFLD
3	Assistant Professor Zhang Guofang	Medicine	Assistant Professor Ching Jianhong	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	The Dysregulated Fatty Acid Metabolism Leads to Kidney Disease in Propionic Acidemia
4	Professor Nancy Zucker	Psychiatry and Behavioral Science	Clinical Assistant Professor Courtney Elizabeth Griffiths Davis	Paediatrics Academic Clinical Programme; KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital	Adapting the US-Based Parental Skill Training Model of Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment into an Innovative Culturally Relevant Digital Treatment Model in Singapore
5	Professor Christopher Newgard	Duke Molecular Physiology Institute	Associate Professor Jens Marc Titze	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	Role of Branched-Chain Amino Acid Metabolism in the Pathogenesis of Salt-Induced Left Ventricular Hypertrophy
6	Assistant Professor Hong Chuan	Biostatistics and Bioinformatics	Associate Professor Liu Nan	Centre for Quantitative Medicine	Privacy-Preserving, Adaptive Federated and Swarm Learning: Emergency Department Triage Decision-Making Across Two International Healthcare Systems
7	Assistant Professor Chen Yong	Neurology	Clinical Assistant Professor Lim Su Ping, Regina	Medicine Academic Clinical Programme; Changi General Hospital	Targeting Skin TRPV4 to Alleviate Psoriatic Itch
8	Professor Timothy Strauman	Psychology and Neuroscience	Assistant Professor Sharon Cohan Sung	Health Services and Systems Research Programme	International Collaborative Study of a Telehealth Stepped-Care Intervention for ED Patients with Panic-Related Anxiety
9	Assistant Professor Amanda Randles	Biomedical Engineering	Associate Professor Zhong Liang	Cardiovascular Sciences Academic Clinical Programme; National Heart Centre Singapore	Improved Detection of Ischemia-Induced Coronary Stenosis with a Novel Parallel Computational Fluid Dynamic Solver
10	Assistant Professor Laurie Sanders	Neurology and Pathology	Assistant Professor Zhou Zhi Dong	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme; National Neuroscience Institute	Identification of Binding Partners of Homopolymeric Polyglycine Protein as New Therapeutic Targets of Non-Coding CGG Repeat Expansion Induced Neurodegeneration

2019 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Assistant Professor Diego Bohorquez	Medicine - Gastroenterology	Professor David Virshup	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	Stem Cell – Mesenchyme Signaling through Synaptic Like Junctions
2	Professor Nenad Bursac	Biomedical Engineering	Associate Professor Ye Lei	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme; National Heart Centre Singapore	BacNav Gene Therapy for Myocardial Infarction in Cynomolgus Macaques
3	Professor Roberto Cabeza	Psychology & Neuroscience	Associate Professor Zhou Juan Helen	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme	Investigating Brain Network Dynamics Underlying Cognitive Processes in Young and Older Adults: A Pilot Study
4	Associate Professor Cliburn Chan	Biostatistics & Bioinformatics	Associate Professor Narayanan Gopalakrishna Iyer	Oncology Academic Clinical Programme; National Cancer Centre Singapore	Precision Oncology Approach to Identification and Validation of Tumour-Targeting Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer
5	Assistant Professor So Young Kim	Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Assistant Professor Danielle Anderson	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	Functional Genomic Strategies to Discover Antiviral Mechanisms in Bats
6	Professor Deborah Muoio	Medicine	Assistant Professor Lena Ho Wai Mun	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	Utilising a Respiratory Phenomics Platform to Comprehensively Characterise How Novel Mitochondria Proteins Regulate Cardiometabolic Health
7	Associate Professor Wei Yang	Anesthesiology	Professor Zhang Su-Chun	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme	Exploring Cell-Based Therapy in Ischemic Stroke
8	Associate Professor Sarah Armstrong	Paediatrics	Adjunct Assistant Professor Chew Chu Shan, Elaine	Paediatrics Academic Clinical Programme; KK Women's and Children's Hospital	Adapting the US-Based Clinic-Community Model of Child Obesity Treatment into A Novel School-Clinic-Community Model in Singapore
9	Associate Professor Sina Farsiu	Biomedical Engineering	Associate Professor Gemmy Cheung Chui Ming	Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Programme; Singapore National Eye Centre	Automatic Evaluation and Prediction of Polyp Closure and Visual Outcome in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy using Artificial Intelligence
10	Assistant Professor Tamara Fitzgerald	Surgery - Pediatric General Surgery	Assistant Professor Loh Hong Pheng Amos	Surgery Academic Clinical Programme; KK Women's and Children's Hospital	Increasing Accessibility of Laparoscopic Surgery in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
11	Associate Professor Alexander Limkakeng	Medicine - Emergency Medicine	Professor Ong Eng Hock Marcus	Health Services and Systems Research Programme; Singapore General Hospital	Cost-Effectiveness of Termination of Resuscitation Criteria in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
12	Professor Christopher Mantyh	Surgery	Assistant Professor Lam Shao Wei Sean	Health Services and Systems Research Programme; SingHealth Health Services Research Centre	Development of a Multi-Fidelity Simulation System for the Optimisation of Operating Room Resources
13	Assistant Professor Joshua Thaden	Medicine - Infectious Diseases	Associate Professor Kwa Lay Hoon Andrea	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme; Singapore General Hospital	Multinational Effort to Decode Antibiotic Resistant Infections
14	Professor Zeng Yi	Medicine - Center for the Study of Aging	Professor Koh Woon Puay	Health Services and Systems Research Programme	Collaborative Research on Effects of Gene-Nutrition Interactions on Cognition and Mental Health Among Older Adults

2018 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Associate Professor Lori Ann Orlando	Internal Medicine	Assistant Professor Ngeow Yuen Yie Joanne	Oncology Academic Clinical Programme; National Cancer Centre Singapore	Development and Clinical Implementation Pilot of an Oncology-Specific Risk Assessment Tool in Singapore

2017 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Associate Professor Sallie Permar	Pediatrics and Molecular; Genetics and Microbiology	Professor Ooi Eng Eong	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	Relationship between Maternal Humoral Immunity and Fetal Outcome of Maternal Zika Virus Infection
2	Assistant Professor Xian Ying	Neurology; Medicine	Associate Professor Deidre De Silva	Neuroscience Academic Clinical Programme; National Neuroscience Institute	Improving Door-To-Needle Times for Tissue Plasminogen Activator Administration in Acute Ischemic Stroke in Singapore: A Pilot Study
3	Professor Ashraf Habib	Anesthesiology	Associate Professor Sng Ban Leong	Anaesthesiology & Perioperative Sciences Academic Clinical Programme; KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital	Evaluation and Risk Assessment for Persistent Postsurgical Pain after Breast Surgery: A Collaborative Prospective Cohort Study
4	Professor Stuart J Knechtle	Duke Transplant Center	Adjunct Assistant Professor Kee Yi Shern Terence	Medicine Academic Clinical Programme; Singapore General Hospital	Immune Profile of Race and Rejection after Kidney Transplantation
5	Associate Professor Lori Ann Orlando	Internal Medicine	Professor David Matchar	Health Services and Systems Research Programme	Development and Clinical Implementation Pilot of an Oncology-Specific Risk Assessment Tool in Singapore
6	Professor Keith Sullivan	Medicine	Assistant Professor Nicholas Francis Grigoropoulos	MD Programme; Singapore General Hospital	Investigation of Clonal Hematopoiesis as a Risk Factor for Therapy-Related Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Patients with System Sclerosis Undergoing Myeloablative Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
7	Assistant Professor Palen Mallory	Pediatrics	Associate Professor Lee Jan Hau	Paediatrics Academic Clinical Programme; KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital	Association between Nutritional Adequacy, Muscle Wasting and Functional Outcomes in Children Supported on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Dual-Center Cohort Study
8	Assistant Professor Kuo Anthony Nanlin	Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering	Professor Leopold Schmetterer	Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Programme; Singapore Eye Research Institute	Innovations in High Resolution Corneal Imaging for the Clinic
9	Associate Professor Charles Gersbach	Biomedical Engineering	Adjunct Assistant Professor Owen Rackham	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	A Predictive Computational Framework for Targeted Epigenome Editing
10	Associate Professor Micah Luftig	Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Professor Patrick Tan	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	Development and Characterisation of Preclinical Models for EBV-Associated Gastric Cancer
11	Professor Wang Xiao-Fan	Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Associate Professor Toh Han Chong	Oncology Academic Clinical Programme; National Cancer Centre Singapore	Systemic T Cell Receptor Repertoire Profiling and Cloning to Improve Therapeutic Outcomes in Advanced EBV Specific Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
12	Assistant Professor David Shiao-Wen Hsu	Medicine	Assistant Professor Babita Madan	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	Exploiting Wnt Dependencies in Platinum Resistant Cancers
13	Assistant Professor Wang Donghai	Medicine	Professor Ooi Eng Eong	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme,	Modulation of the Efficacy and Safety of Live Attenuated Yellow Fever Virus Vaccine by the Cholesterol Biosynthesis Pathway
14	Professor Christopher Counter	Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Associate Professor Ong Sin Tiong	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	Elucidating the Mechanism by which the Splicing Factor SRSF1 Imparts Resistance to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
15	Associate Professor Matthew Hirschey	Medicine; Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Professor Han Weiping	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme; Agency for Science, Technology and Research	Activation of BCAA Catabolism as a Therapeutic Strategy in Cancer
16	Associate Professor Brant Inman	Urology	Professor Steven Rozen	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme; Center for Computational Biology	Comprehensive Genomic Profiling to Determine the Clonal Origin and Genetic Evolution of Recurrent Urothelial Carcinoma

2016 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Professor Vadim Y. Arshavsky	Ophthalmology, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Professor David L. Silver	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	The Role of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Supporting Retinal Function
2	Theo Pilikington Professor and Department Chair Ashutosh Chilkoti	Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering	Professor Wang Linfa	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	Field-based Diagnostics for Rapid Detection of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Coronavirus Infection
3	Assistant Professor Sarah Sammons	Medical Oncology, Medicine	Associate Professor Rebecca A. Dent	MD Programme; National Cancer Centre Singapore	Homologous Recombination Deficiency and Immune Biomarker to Predict Outcomes in Patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treated with Olaparib or Olaparib-Immunotherapy Combinations
4	Professor Glenn Jaffe	Vitreoretinal Service, Ophthalmology	Associate Professor Cheung Chui Ming	Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Programme; Singapore National Eye Centre	To Develop and Validate Imaging Biomarkers to Predict Morphological and Functional Outcome in Asian Patients with Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration, and to Evaluate the Impact of Genetic Polymorphisms on these Imaging Parameters
5	Assistant Professor Tamara J Somers	Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences	Assistant Professor Teo Eng Ai Irene	Health Services and Systems Research Programme	Feasibility and Acceptability of A Behavioural Symptom Management Programme for Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer in Singapore and the US
6	Professor Brenda Plassman	Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences; Neurology	Adjunct Associate Professor Teoh Khim Hean	Oral Health Academic Clinical Programme; National Dental Centre Singapore	Developing A Behavioural Intervention to Improve Oral Health for Persons with Cognitive Impairment
7	Professor Brenda Plassman	Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences; Neurology	Associate Professor Chan Wei-Ming, Angelique	Health Services and Systems Research Programme	Developing A Behavioural Intervention to Improve Oral Health for Persons with Cognitive Impairment
8	Professor Tso-Pang Yao	Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Associate Professor Lim Kah Leong	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme; National Neuroscience Institute	Elucidating the Novel Functional Relationship between Parkin and Lipoprotein Lipase – Implications for Parkinson’s Disease
9	Associate Professor Susan B Gurley	Medicine	Assistant Professor Jean-Paul Kovalik	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	Fatty Acid Oxidation Pathways in Diabetic Nephropathy
10	Professor Christopher V. Nicchitta	Cell Biology and Biochemistry	Professor Subhash Vasudevan	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	High Resolution Genomic Imaging of Host Cell and Viral Transcriptome Expression in Dengue Infection
11	Assistant Professor Hans E. Hohmeier	Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition	Professor Karl Tryggvason	Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disorders Programme	An Integrated Approach for Expansion of Functional Human IsletCell Mass
12	Associate Professor Heather Whitson	Medicine (Geriatrics) & Ophthalmology	Professor Wong Tien Yin	Singapore National Eye Centre	Ocular Markers of Alzheimer’s Disease: OMEGA Study
13	Associate Professor Walter Tsong Lee	Head & Neck Surgery & Radiation Oncology, Surgery	Adjunct Assistant Professor Tan Hiang Khoon	SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute; Singapore General Hospital	Partnership to Use a Low-Cost, Mobile Flexible Nasopharyngoscope for Head and Neck Cancer Screening in Vietnam

2015 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Professor Soman N. Abraham	Pathology; Immunology; Molecular Genetics; Microbiology	Assistant Professor Ashley St. John	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	A Point of Care Test to Diagnose Dengue Infection and Clinical Severity

2014 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Professor Christopher V. Nicchitta	Cell Biology and Biochemistry	Professor Subhash Vasudevan	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	High Resolution Genomic Imaging of Host Cell and Viral Transcriptome Expression in Dengue Infection
2	Associate Professor Timothy AJ Haystead	Pharmacology	Professor Subhash Vasudevan	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	Preclinical Development of Novel HSP90 Inhibitors for the Prevention and Treatment of Chikungunya Virus Infections
3	Professor Michael Hauser	Medicine, Ophthalmology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics	Professor Aung Tin	Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Programme; Singapore Eye Research Institute	Roles of Regulatory Variants for LOXL1 in Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma.
4	Associate Professor David MacAlpine	Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Associate Professor Antonius Van Dongen	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme	The Role of Epigenetics in Formation and Consolidation of Long-Term Memories

2013 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Associate Professor Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi	Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Assistant Professor Lee Sang Hyun	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	Mitotic Catastrophe and Chromothripsis Caused by Metabolic Dysregulation
2	Steven D. Crowley	Division of Nephrology, Medicine	Assistant Professor Babita Madan	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	The Role of Porcupine-Mediated Wnt Acylation in the Pathogenesis of Kidney Fibrosis
3	Associate Professor Michael Dee Gunn	Medicine and Department of Immunology	Assistant Professor Ashley St. John	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	A Rapid Test for Dengue Clinical Severity
4	Associate Professor Christopher Woods	Medicine; Pathology	Professor Wang Linfa	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	Detecting Interspecies Pathogen Transmission at Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary, Democratic Republic of Congo
5	Associate Professor Mitchell E. Horwitz, MD	Medicine	Assistant Professor William Hwang	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	Improving the Accessibility and Safety of Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation in Singapore using NiCord ex vivo Cord Blood Expansion
6	Professor Douglas A. Marchuk	Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Professor Stuart Cook	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	Identification of Modifier Genes for Dilated and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

2012 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Professor Christopher Counter	Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Assistant Professor Mei Wang	Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme	Evaluation of the Therapeutic Potential of Novel eNOS Inhibitors Alone or in Combination with Other Agents for the Treatment of Oncogenic Ras-Driven Cancers
2	Professor Christopher V. Nicchitta	Cell Biology and Biochemistry	Professor Shirish Shenolikar	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme; Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	Linking Translational Control to Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress-induced Cell Death
3	Professor Soman N. Abraham	Pathology, Immunology; Molecular Genetics; Microbiology	Professor Duane Gubler	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	Novel Treatment for Dengue Infections
4	Professor Priya Kishnani	Division of Medical Genetics, Pediatrics	Bhavani Sririam	KK Women's & Children's Hospital	Collaborative Project between Duke Medical Genetics and Duke-NUS/KK Hospital to Develop and Expand the Clinical Trial Research Capacity in Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Rare Diseases
5	Professor Virginia Kraus	Division of Rheumatology, Medicine	Leung Ying Ying	Medicine Academic Clinical Programme; Singapore General Hospital	A Randomized Controlled Trial of Colchicine for Symptom and Inflammation Modification in Knee Osteoarthritis

2009 Recipients

S/N	Duke University PI	Duke University Department	Duke-NUS PI	Duke-NUS Programme	Project Title
1	Associate Professor Tso-Pang Yao	Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Associate Professor Lim Kah Leong	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme; National Neuroscience Institute	The Role of Parkin-HDAC6 Complex in Mitochondria Quality Control and Parkinson's Disease
2	Professor Timothy AJ Haystead, Mariano A. Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD	Pharmacology Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Professor Subhash Vasudevan	Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme	Validation of Host Purine Utilising Enzymes Induced by Dengue and Yellow Fever Virus Infection as Novel Targets for Anti-Flavivirus Drug Development
3	Professor Scott Huettel Professor Michael Platt	Psychology, Neurobiology; Psychiatry Neurobiology; Psychology; Evolutionary Anthropology	Professor Michael Chee	Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme	Sleep-Deprivation Modulation of the Neural Responses to Reward and Risk
4	Christopher B. Newgard Deborah Muoio	Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center	Associate Professor Scott Summers	Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme	Biochemical Mechanisms of Improved Insulin Sensitivity in Response to Weight Loss