Welcome Address | Professor Patrick Tan, Dean, Duke-NUS Medical School
Thursday, 26 March 2026 | 5.05PM
The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, Academia
Salutations
- Professor Ng Wai Hoe, Group CEO, SingHealth
- Our Master Academic Clinicians
- ACP chairs, past and present
- Newly promoted and appointed faculty members
- Colleagues and friends
Good evening, and welcome to the 2026 Hall of Master Academic Clinicians Induction ceremony today.
This gathering has become an important tradition at our SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. Since the hall was established in 2021, it has served as a moment for our community to pause and recognise individuals whose work exemplifies the very best of academic medicine.
Today, we honour clinicians who have distinguished themselves through clinical mastery, education, leadership, impactful research and innovation, and contributions to patient safety and quality improvement.
But more than recognising individual achievements, this ceremony celebrates the collective mission of our Academic Medical Centre: the integration of clinical care, research and education to improve the health of our patients and our communities.
This integration is what allows our AMC to act as a catalyst—bringing together ideas, disciplines and institutions in ways that move medicine forward.
Let me begin with the individuals we are inducting into the Hall of Master Academic Clinicians.
Our Master Academic Clinicians
The MACs represent a select group of leaders who have shaped the culture and direction of our institutions through their commitment to Academic Medicine. They are clinicians who have excelled not only in patient care but also in advancing education, research and innovation across the AMC.
In this sixth cohort, nine Master Academic Clinicians will be inducted, representing five SingHealth institutions: the National Dental Centre Singapore, the National Heart Centre Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, and Singapore General Hospital. Together, they span eight Academic Clinical Programmes across disciplines ranging from Cardiovascular Science and Medicine to Emergency Medicine, Neuroscience, Oral Health, Radiological Sciences, Family Medicine and Paediatrics.
Many of us here have had the privilege of learning from, working alongside, or being mentored by these individuals.
I would like to make special mention of a few colleagues whose contributions have helped shape our AMC.
Professor Ivy Ng, whose leadership has been instrumental in strengthening the partnership between SingHealth and Duke-NUS, helping literally “bridge” our clinical and academic missions.
Professor Chan Choong Meng, whose dedication to clinical leadership and education has helped nurture generations of clinicians and educators within our system.
And Associate Professor Chow Wan Cheng, a valued colleague within the Duke-NUS leadership community, whose contributions in the boardroom and beyond have helped guide many of the strategic conversations shaping our institution.
Each of them reflects what it means to be a Master Academic Clinician — leaders who not only excel in their own fields, but who invest deeply in mentoring others and strengthening the institutions around them.
Please join me in congratulating our Master Academic Clinicians.
Our former academic chairs
We also recognise today our former Academic Chairs.
Academic Clinical Programmes are one of the defining features of our AMC. Since the first ACP was established in 2011, they have provided the framework that brings clinicians, educators and researchers together across institutions with each specialty.
Through this model, clinicians with a passion for education or research are able to deepen their academic commitments while continuing to deliver outstanding patient care.
The ACPs also strengthen the connective tissue of our AMC, linking clinicians, researchers and educators across institutions so that knowledge flows more easily between the clinic, the classroom and the laboratory.
Our Academic Chairs play a critical role in guiding these programmes, setting academic priorities, mentoring faculty and ensuring that each discipline continues to evolve.
So today we also recognise Chian Min and Chai Rick for their dedication and leadership in shaping their respective programmes.
Newly promoted and appointed faculty
Today’s ceremony is also about celebrating the next generation of academic leaders. We recognise fourteen faculty members who have achieved key milestones in their academic careers through promotion or appointment.
Among them are four individuals promoted to full Professor and eight promoted to Associate Professor across ten ACPs. This includes Marcus Ang and Joe Yeong, who have advanced on the research track.
We also recognise colleagues from the Duke-NUS Office of Research, including Sharon Sung from the Health Services Research & Population Health programme, who also serves as a clinical psychologist at IMH & KKH.
When we look at this year’s list, what stands out is the diversity of expertise represented: clinician-scientists, educators, researchers and clinical leaders. Together, they reflect the many pathways through which Academic Medicine advances knowledge and improves care.
To all our newly promoted and appointed faculty: congratulations on this well-earned achievement. Your work strengthens our AMC and advances the missions of education, research, and patient care.
Supporting faculty across different stages of their careers remains an important priority for Duke-NUS.
Beginning of this year, we established the Office of Faculty Affairs, led by Professor Silke Vogel, to provide clearer and more coordinated support for academic appointments, promotion pathways, career development and faculty well-being.
This Office will initially focus on faculty advancement processes before expanding its remit to support broader professional development initiatives.
Closing
When I look around the auditorium this evening, I see the full arc of our AMC. We see our pioneers—our MACs and Academic Chairs—whose leadership helped build the foundations of this partnership. And we see the next generation of clinicians, educators and researchers who will carry this mission forward.
This diversity of experience and perspectives is one of the greatest strengths of our AMC. It reflects a community that is open to ideas from across disciplines, institutions and cultures, outward-looking and globally engaged, yet deeply committed to improving healthcare here in Singapore.
So let me close by offering my sincere congratulations to all those we recognise this evening.
Your contributions strengthen our AMC and inspire the next generation of clinicians and scholars.
Thank you …and congratulations once again!