At Duke-NUS, we like ideas that travel well and travel far. As they leave the lab, they have to withstand rigorous critiques and real-world messiness. In this way, they can have a direct impact on the lives of patients. This is what drives Duke-NUS’ focus on innovation, which is not simply a slogan. It is how students prototype between clinics, how faculty co-design with allied health teams, and how partners test with us because they know we will not stop at just a clever PPT slide.

This inaugural print edition lands in a milestone year for Duke-NUS and opens with a profile of Professor Thomas Coffman, whose steady leadership has given many of us the room to be brave and kept us peripherally restless in our pursuit of research and educational excellence. It also carries the first message from our new Dean, Professor Patrick Tan, who sets out a clear promise for the next arc of our journey, to make Duke-NUS a place where good science becomes useful, efficient and easily digested.

Across the issue you can also see that promise at work. You will meet scientists who translate complexity into clarity, and clinicians who turn small changes into big improvements. Professor Wang Hongyan brings fresh energy to neuroscience with work that rethinks how we understand rare brain development disorders. Assistant Professor Anne-Claire Stona connects the resources, ideas and policies centred around mental health across cultural and geographical boundaries in her work. Hear our full conversation with her in our podcast, where she also reminds us that caring for our mental health starts with everyday compassion for others and for ourselves.

Our education stories keep the lens wide. Technology-enhanced learning is not a toy box here but a high-tech toolkit. Students practise the habits that matter in the real-world, from structured teamwork to speaking plainly about science. Behind the scenes, our Offices of Education and Innovation and Entrepreneurship keep enhancing the resources and support for those who (read, our future clinician-innovators) want to learn to build as a habit. As Associate Professor Christopher Laing likes to say, “Innovation is not magic, it is a discipline and a way of seeing.” His new Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship Certificate course gives early-career researchers a practical runway from idea to first customer, not just first citation.

If there is a theme to this book, it is that innovation only works when people do. The Duke, NUS and SingHealth partnerships give us scale, but people give us momentum. The colleagues who pick up the phone at odd hours, the students who ask the curious question that changes the brief, the mentors who encourage us to try again—it is the people who form the quiet engine under every story you will read.

I hope you find something here that makes you think, smile, or try. If it does, tell a friend. Better yet, tell us what you are building next. We will be cheering and probably asking how we can tell your story to the world.

And before you read on, a personal note: this print edition has been seven years in the making—since I joined Duke-NUS. As our bandwidth wavered, as we navigated deadline pressures, as we shimmied through this sizeable undertaking, the MEDICUS team poured skill and spirit (and sweat) into every page. Even on the tough days, they still found a way to laugh and deliver. I am unreasonably proud of them! Kudos!

Editorially yours,

Ani Sharma
Editor-in-Chief, MEDICUS
Director and Assistant Dean, Communications and Strategic Relations