As Singapore celebrates its 60th birthday this year, Duke-NUS Medical School and its partners are looking ahead – towards the kind of healthy ageing that allows people not just to live longer, but to live stronger by staying active.
One in three Singaporeans aged 60 and older are likely to suffer from sarcopenia[1], a progressive loss of muscle mass and strength, which can lead to physical frailty, loss of independence and poorer health outcomes.
Marking a bold step in that direction, MAGNET—short for Mechanistic Investigation and Clinical Innovation for Sarcopenia Diagnosis and Therapy–-was officially launched on 4 August 2025 by Guest-of-Honour Professor Kenneth Mak, Director-General of Health at the Ministry of Health.
This S$10 million national research initiative, supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, under the National Medical Research Council or NMRC Open Fund - Large Collaborative Grant (OF-LCG) programme, aims to transform how sarcopenia is understood, diagnosed and treated.
Beyond the elderly, sarcopenia also affects 1 in 14 younger adults with chronic conditions such as cancer or diabetes[2]. Despite its impact on independence, mobility and health outcomes, no approved treatment exists today beyond exercise and nutrition.
“Sarcopenia robs people of strength, mobility and independence—yet there’s still no approved treatment anywhere in the world,” said Professor Wang Yibin, MAGNET’s Corresponding Principal Investigator and Director of the Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disorders Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School.
“With MAGNET, we’re accelerating the race to develop the first therapy for this condition--driven by Singapore and powered by science. Our goal is simple: help people age not just longer, but stronger.”
MAGNET: A nationwide initiative to transform care for sarcopenia
MAGNET unites a cross-sector coalition of Singapore’s top medical, research and academic institutions. The initiative is jointly led by SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre and involves:
- Academic and research institutions
- Leading healthcare institutions
- Public healthcare clusters
Together, this collaborative ecosystem will investigate how and why sarcopenia develops—not only with ageing, but also in association with other disease states—and translate these findings into targeted, made-in-Singapore therapies.
MAGNET integrates cutting-edge AI, genomic and molecular platforms, and clinical cohorts of sarcopenia patients to uncover the molecular drivers of sarcopenia. At its core is one of Asia’s largest sarcopenia-focused unique clinical biobank, with over 560 muscle and blood samples already collected—and a goal to reach 1,000 samples during the study.
The team is actively recruiting more participants across partner hospitals. Those approached by their doctors or student teams are encouraged to consider donating their muscle or blood samples to support this first-of-its-kind breakthrough research.
Researchers working in ageing, muscle biology, immunology, or translational medicine are also invited to collaborate in this multi-institutional effort.
“MAGNET is part of a growing number of key initiatives at Duke-NUS focused on healthy ageing and longevity—areas we see as central to Singapore’s future,” said Professor Patrick Tan, Dean-designate and Senior Vice-Dean for Research at Duke-NUS Medical School.
“Through partnerships across sectors, we’re turning science into solutions that promote strength, independence and wellbeing at every age.”
[1] Chen L-K, Woo J, Assantachai P, et al. Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia: 2019 Consensus Update on Sarcopenia Diagnosis and Treatment, of the American Medical Directors Association. 2019;21(3):300-307.e2.
[2] Pang BW, Wee SL, Lau LK, Jabbar KA, Seah WT, Ng DH, Tan QL, Chen KK, Jagadish MU, Ng TP. Prevalence and associated factors of Sarcopenia in Singaporean adults—the Yishun Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2021 Apr 1;22(4):885-e1.