Mr Philip Yeo, in his farewell speech yesterday, gave an account of the development of the biomedical sciences in Singapore during his tenure as the Chairman of A*Star. The full text of his speech can be found here, but I am reproducing parts that I thought were noteworthy. Hmmm…

Extract 1

Our first Whale was Dr. Edison Liu, then Director for Clinical Sciences at the US National Cancer Institute, to whom I made an offer by email on 26th December 2000. Ed Liu accepted and asked for a building for the new Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS). Like Jackie Ying of MIT Chemical Engineering who came in 2003 and is now leading our Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Ed Liu has recently become a Singapore Permanent Resident.

The next Whales were Sir David Lane and his wife Professor Birgitte Lane from the University of Dundee, Scotland; now they respectively head the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB). More Whales followed and I was soon labelled a “serial kidnapper” by Time magazine. David Lane was “deputised” to recruit Whales of the likes of Dr. Neal Copeland and Dr. Nancy Copeland from the US National Institutes of Health’s Mouse Genomics Center.

These Whales are research role models who help guide the younger generation of Singapore scientists and also nurture the interest of our students in research. They have enabled A*STAR to quickly build up our research institutes from scratch. Today, we have established 7 research institutes for each of the core scientific capabilities that are required to support the development of the BMS industry. With their contacts, networks and projects, the Whales gave us a headstart so that we could leapfrog straight into areas of biomedical science that matter, that have a nexus with industry. It helped Singapore to catch up with established centres elsewhere, and also to develop a solid reputation for stem cell and cancer research. We will build on this and focus on other disease areas that are important not only to Singapore, but also to the rest of the world. That will open economic opportunities for Singapore.

Extract 2

The first EDB-A*STAR scholar with Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemical Engineering), Bachelor of Science in Economics (Finance) and Master in Biotechnology, from the University of Pennsylvania, USA worked in our EDB BMS group for 2.5 years. She then went to Cambridge University in 2003 and returned home in 2006 with a PhD in Protein Engineering. She was with me in Cuba two weeks ago checking out their protein engineering and drug development capabilities.

By 2010, over 1,000 scholarships will have been awarded. Those scholars will be Singapore’s future leaders in the public and private R&D domains, in our universities and also in our hospitals.

Extract 3

Since October 2000, the Biomedical Sciences International Advisory Council (BMS IAC) has been coming to Singapore bi-annually and then annually from 2005 to review our BMS Initiative. They are 18 of the world’s top physicians and biomedical scientists. They include Nobel laureates Dr. Sydney Brenner, Chairman of A*STAR’s Biomedical Research Council, Dr. David Baltimore, former President of Caltech, and Dr. Lee Hartwell, President of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, USA, and leaders of other top clinical and biomedical research institutes. The BMS IAC is co-chaired by Sir Richard Sykes, former Chairman & CEO of Glaxo and now Rector of the Imperial College, UK, and Dr. John Mendelsohn, President of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA.

These eminent doctors and scientists have soundly endorsed Singapore’s research direction every step of the way. They have praised our surprising achievements in just 5 short years. These senior advisers believe that Singapore can lead in biomedical sciences research and not just be a follower. They would not waste their time advising and guiding Singapore if they did not believe that we are on the right track. The rapid rise of Singapore as a biomedical sciences research centre of excellence has become an international phenomenon that other countries would like to emulate.

Extract 4

No ground breaking activity is without its critics. The recent storm over our BMS focus, stirred up in the local media and then picked up internationally, has attacked Singapore’s aim of pursuing R&D for long term competitiveness and, worse, Singapore’s policy of welcoming foreign talent. Our Whales and even our guppies are understandably shocked. But Singapore is not that easily swayed. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has asked me to reassure all of them.

Overall, it looks like Mr Yeo is pretty confident about the development of the biomedical sciences. As with all government policies, it usually takes a couple of decades to see the complete effects. I guess Singaporeans will have to wait and see if the investment to date will pay off handsomely in future. Until then, we can on speculate and debate (read my previous entry titled “The Clash of Titans“)