NUS ranks 13th globally in Medical and Health in THE World University Rankings 2026

The National University of Singapore has been ranked 13th globally in the Medical and Health subject category in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, reflecting the collective strength of NUS’ medical and health disciplines, comprising Duke-NUS Medical School, the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH) and the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, as well as the complementary Academic Medicine ecosystems that support education, research and clinical impact.

Scientists uncover molecular “switch” that could make pancreatic cancer more treatable

Duke-NUS scientists have identified a molecular “switch” that determines whether pancreatic cancer cells resist chemotherapy or respond to it—a finding that could help convert some of the most treatment-resistant tumours into forms that are more manageable with existing drugs.

Pancreatic cancers fall into two main molecular subtypes — the classical subtype, which is more structured and organised, and the basal subtype, where the cells are more disorderly, aggressive and often resistant to chemotherapy. However, cancer cells can transition between these two states, a process known as cancer cell plasticity. When levels of the gene GATA6 drop, the cancer cells lose this organisation, becoming more aggressive and more likely to resist treatment.

Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the study identified a chain of signals within pancreatic cancer cells that controls this process.

AI tools improve diagnostics and patient outcome prediction in resource-limited healthcare settings

Duke-NUS researchers and their collaborators have adapted an advanced AI model to accurately predict neurological recovery after cardiac arrest in resource-limited settings.

Published in npj Digital Medicine, the study applied transfer learning, an advanced AI approach that adapts pre-trained models built on large datasets to new settings with limited local data. This method improves performance in new environments without requiring extensive data collection, making it particularly relevant for low- and middle-income countries.

Taking a brain-recovery prediction model developed in Japan using data from 46,918 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, the team adapted it for use in Vietnam, where it was tested on a smaller cohort of 243 patients. The adapted model performed significantly better, correctly distinguishing high-risk from low-risk patients about 80 per cent of the time, compared with around 46 per cent when the original model was used in the Vietnam context.

Ageing, smoking, oral bacteria and genetic mutations linked to higher stomach cancer risk

Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School, together with their Singapore and international collaborators, have uncovered that a complex interplay of factors—including genetic and age-related blood mutations, smoking, and infection by oral bacteria—increases the risk of developing stomach (gastric) cancer.

Published in Cancer Discovery, the findings provide new insights into the earliest biological changes that precede the development of gastric cancer and could enable more precise approaches to risk stratification and prevention.

Conducted under the Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium, a multidisciplinary national research programme, the study analysed more than 1,500 intestinal metaplasia samples collected across six countries. Using advanced genetic analyses, the researchers found that mutations in the ARID1A gene were associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer and poorer prognosis. They also identified a distinct pattern of DNA damage, known as SBS17, which was absent in healthy stomach tissue but commonly found in intestinal metaplasia.

The team further discovered that pyrvinium, a drug currently used to treat parasitic infections, can inhibit the growth of intestinal metaplasia cells.