Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble
Of scholars and bonds
Mr Philip Yeo posted this clarification of the episode between him and Mr Chng Hee Kok over the issue of scholars who broke bonds. The absolute chronology of the exchange was not too important to me. Rather, the key issue is whether it is alright for a scholar to break the bond on his or her scholarship.
Barring extenuating circumstances, I don’t think it is right for a scholar to break a bond. From the legal standpoint, perhaps there is nothing wrong with breaking bonds because it’s just a legal contract. As long as the scholar pays up the damages as specified in the bond, everything is settled. However, I think that bonds are more than just a contract; it’s a promise, or if you like, a covenant.
In fact, I don’t understand why some people view bonds as a legal contract. At it’s core, it’s plain and simple: a promise to serve in return for the provision of an opportunity to seek higher education. I’m not sure about other people, but if I’m going to make a promise, I’ll jolly well keep to it to the best of my ability. I think it’s very rude to just throw a pile of money on the table and then walk out of a promise without even making an effort to keep the promise.
Furthermore, most cases of bond-breakers (as far as I know) do not break their bonds due to extenuating circumstances. It’s usually because they found better opportunities than what was offered in their scholarship contract while studying (usually overseas). While it is true that time and tide wait for no man, should that be an excuse not to behave honorably?
Just because another hot and nubile 18 year-old babe comes along with the promise of great bedroom action doesn’t mean that I should break off my engagement. I think that keeping a promise is a fundamental human value and one should strive to keep promises that were made, of course, barring exceptional circumstances. Besides, it doesn’t look good to break promises without a good reason. If I call off my engagement for a hot and nubile 18-year old and she walks out on me after a while, which other woman will ever dare trust their future with me? After all, if I have done it once, what’s stopping me from doing it again?
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about 3 years ago
Somehow wonder if anyone has tried to study the molecular biology behind this process…seems like possible opportunities for drugs intervention…:p
about 3 years ago
“More than 211,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed a year, making it the most common cancer in women. Experts estimate that at least 25 percent of chemotherapy patients are affected by chemo brain, and a recent study by the University of Minnesota reported an 82 percent rate. ”
So if you can find a chemo-inhibitor treatment for 100,000 cases at $1000 per case…. you will be rewarded with $100 million and make the poor sufferers very happy…
____________________
Somehow wonder if anyone has tried to study the molecular biology behind this process…seems like possible opportunities for drugs intervention…:p
about 3 years ago
Dear Sir:
The thing is that given the multi-factorial mechanisms leading to cancer, there is no such thing as a one drug fits all to fight cancer.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
that is not true…When Gleevec was first developed, it was meant to treat CML and later it got used for all sorts of cancer…Also, from a physician standpoint, he is not going to analyze what molecular mechanism led to cancer in the patient and treat based on that so he will just use whatever anticancer drug deem fit…
about 3 years ago
The current approach: Combination therapy.
For example: Avastin (Bevacizumab) mono clonal antibody (intravenous) in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer as part of a combination chemotherapy (intravenous 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy) regimen.
about 3 years ago
Dear Starlet:
Not all anticancer drugs have a high efficacy and you must also consider the fact that they have a narrow therapeutic window. I worked on a particular breast cancer cell-line, the MDA-BM-231, which is known to have an upregulated expression of MDR-1 proteins, which are responsible for pumping the drugs outside the cancer cells. The frightening implication of my research is that this MDR protein is controlled by an upstream gene, which is also responsible for many other aggressive characteristics, like expression of metalloproteinases. If we don’t treat the cancer cell with drug, this gene behaves normally. However, we believed that if we treat the cell with drugs, this gene will be highly upregulated. There is a need to direct the therapy to the Archilles Heel of the type of cancer we are dealing with. That is why my supervisor and I were of the consensus that there is no such thing as a one drug fits all as far as cancer is concerned.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
Dear Sir:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452505_4
Reading this medscape article, it mentioned that few cancers expressed active VEGF, the target of avastin. It will be frightening if the downstream VEGF tyrosine kinase receptors are already constitutively active, which makes targeting VEGF completely useless.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
Well..u r looking at a very molecular standpoint but that is not how physicians operate…it is just like when u r down with some bacterial disease, the physician is just going to give u some antibiotics instead of trying to examine which microorganism is causing u the disease and choose the antibiotic based on that…And in general, anticancer drugs have low therapeutic window and there is a good reason for that…as for efficacy, it really depends on what the endpoint u r looking for…and yes, I do agree with u that cancer is complicated but the pple who produce drugs do not necessarily have in mind to treat every single possible case…U just need enough pple to try it to get a huge market…
about 3 years ago
As for Avastin, the fact that it is FDA approved means that it has cleared enough clinical trials to show enough efficacy and safety to be used clinically…so i won’t doubt its effectiveness…
about 3 years ago
Drop me an email on this matter.
Will connect you with the top oncologists to best answer your queries.
Am merely their supportive fund provider with a teeny weeny knowledge only.
Dr Dee SINGAPORE // May 5, 2007 at 12:02 am
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452505_4
Reading this medscape article, it mentioned that few cancers expressed active VEGF, the target of avastin. It will be frightening if the downstream VEGF tyrosine kinase receptors are already constitutively active, which makes targeting VEGF completely useless.
Starlet UNITED STATES // May 4, 2007 at 8:36 pm
that is not true…When Gleevec was first developed, it was meant to treat CML and later it got used for all sorts of cancer…Also, from a physician standpoint, he is not going to analyze what molecular mechanism led to cancer in the patient and treat based on that so he will just use whatever anticancer drug deem fit…
about 3 years ago
Avastin has been approved for both metastatic colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer in combination with chemotherapy. Cocktail therapy.
about 3 years ago
That is great for Genentech…
Most therapies out there r combination therapies anyways…
about 3 years ago
And for Singapore as Genentech is building their 4X20,000 litres facility here.
about 3 years ago
Must keep trying….
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452505_4
The reasons for these disappointing results are still being investigated, but in hindsight, it seems that only a few tumors were expressing active VEGF. As already seen in patients who overexpress HER2, careful selection of potentially sensitive patients is becoming mandatory when evaluating novel therapies aimed at biologically active targets. Identification of surrogate markers might also help to better identify patients that could benefit from these treatments.
To evaluate other combinations, trials are in progress with bevacizumab plus other chemotherapeutic agents, such as paclitaxel.[19]
about 3 years ago
Dear Starlet:
The study that my supervisor did had some clinical data from the usage of chemotherapeutic agents. Although I looked at the molecular mechanisms, it was consistent with clinical data. However, that’s besides the point. In general, I agree that one chemotherapeutic agent is rarely used alone. They are used together with other agents in a cocktail treatment. BTW, I am not doubting avastin’s effectiveness. Of course, avastin will be useful if VEGF is the primary main cause of angiogenesis within a tumor tissue.
Secondly, how a drug performs (effectiveness and safety) doesn’t depend on FDA approval alone. You have to remember the limitations of a clinical trials. It is not possible to exhuast all unfavorable possibilities during a clinical trial, given the limited number of subjects involved, the inability to trace subjects after a trial when retrospectively an anomaly is found because their identities are coded, which would have been destroyed for ethical reasons (protection of privacy).
I think the post marketing surveillance phase would tell us a lot more. A lot of drugs are taken off the shelves because of anomalies in the post marketing surveillance phase, irregardless of whether it has been approved earlier. However, as for avastin, I figure it’s here to stay for some time.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
True…but that is a problem with statistics…U can never be safe and effective 100% of the times and the bigger ur sample size, the greater the chance of anomalies…
about 3 years ago
Right.
FDA is now pushing for Phase 4. Europe does.
Multi Drug Resistance is another challenge.
___________________________
I think the post marketing surveillance phase would tell us a lot more. A lot of drugs are taken off the shelves because of anomalies in the post marketing surveillance phase, irregardless of whether it has been approved earlier. However, as for avastin, I figure it’s here to stay for some time.
about 3 years ago
That tends to be with many diseases….It is an evolutionary response…Bacteria does that too…
about 3 years ago
Read the Straits Times about the new Diabetes drug on the market. Kinda interesting that I just heard about the race between Merck and Novartis to develop the drug… Will be truly interesting if one day a Singapore-led effect can develop a drug like that…
about 3 years ago
Wah lau, ex-A-STAR chairman only know how to cut and paste from bio journals. Any idiot can do that. Why don’t he go to the lab and do real work instead of shitting here like a monkey?
about 3 years ago
First of all, the role of the Astar chairman is establish the science and tech of singapore so that that can become one of the key economic drivers in Singapore. Saying that, the role therefore is to create an environment that is conducive to attract scientists to come to singapore to contribute and at the same time, train and retain homegrown talent to put Singapore at the forefront of science. More importantly, the job involves creating an industry either based on local entreprenaurship or foreign investments that will drive the Singapore economy and create more jobs. I think PY has been trying to do that, though not necessarily in ways pple will agree with.
It is not his job to go into lab to create impactful results and even if he does so, that might establish him as a successful scientist but not necessarily in accomplishing what he is supposed to do.
In addition, I find it greatly admirable that someone as busy as he is will actually take time to read journal in hardcore biology and medicine that even pple within the field has fallen short of reading…Not to mention that he was never ever trained in biology before he took on this task…
about 3 years ago
Starlet,
I believe many people who are reading this thread have the maturity to judge for themselves, the posts that hold real value, and the posts (e.g. 623) which are better classified as dross.
Best to leave people like ‘Do Real Work’ to spout their own rubbish and yak all they want in their little well. If I could, I’d put a metal lid on top of that well. Haha! But for now, best to ignore such online graffiti.
Meanwhile, ’tis good to keep people informed of scholars, bonds, education, the importance of Sg embarking on this thrust of scientific research, and the challenges of globalization pertinent to this issue. Those with aptitude will survive and thrive, I’m sure. Time will tell the fate of those who only know how to spout rubbish.
about 3 years ago
Starlet,
You must be one of those female scholars who call the NS men wimps. Of course, you are one of those dogs (er, should be bitch) for supporting your beloved chairman.
Even you cannot deny that your beloved A-STAR chairman have insulted all the NS men for calling them wimps. He should be ashamed of himself for not serving a single day of NS and be sued for such unpatriotic behaviour.
Oh yeah, how did he get his A-STAR chairman? By whoring Singaporeans to whales…
about 3 years ago
Starlet and Sparky Twoshoes,
Ignore the “well view” wimpy chaps.
You have well defined the S&T and Economic scope of my pursuits.
My two predecessors at NSTB from 1990 to 2000 (pre-A*STAR) were a physics major and then a mechanical engineer by training.
I wanted to do Medicine (like 3 classmates of mine who did it locally) but there was no oversea scholarship for Medicine. So studied Control Systems Engineering at BS/MS. Physics and Maths. No biology.
Offered to do a 5 years US PhD in Operations Research.
Turned it down for a two years MBA. 10 years of bond.
Came home to manage weapons technology and defence industries.
Never had to push papers in my whole career.
When I took over NSTB in Feb 2001, I did wet lab work practice with private NUS instructors.
Poor chaps there suffered from my impatience.
Every Saturday morning for over a year, senior IMCB scientists by rotation came to tutor me on the full range of Immunology subjects and eat box lunches with me.
Then I went out to find “whales” focusing on Cancer and Immunology. Why these areas?
Years ago, I sent a really bright UK trained DSO engineering scholar to Stanford for his PhD in Digital Signal Processing. Did his PhD in 3 years and collected both a MA in Economics and a MA in Music too.
Worked with me until I left Mindef for EDB in Jan 1986.
Took him out of Mindef in 1994 to help me set up Pacific Internet (PacNet) at SembCorp.
Launched PacNet in Sept 1996 at a cost of S$12 million.
Listed PacNet on the US Nasdaq on 15th Feb 1999.
Raised US$250 million with the sale of 49 % of the stocks by May 1999.
My officer travelled extensively with me to the US to meet Internet companies from 1995 to 1999.
One morning in early May 1999, he was in my office discussing the next phase for PacNet.
Was coughing like a chicken! Told him to see our doctor immediately.
Came back from the doctor after extensive tests: he had advanced liver cancer!
He did not smoke nor drink. Fit and ran every morning.
I got MOH to help buy the latest interferon drug for him.
By October 1999, he was suddenly gone. I was deeply saddened.
He was like a younger brother. I knew his wife and two smart kids.
I had a driver who served me from 1979.
Died young from stomach cancer in 1997.
This evening, I just had dinner with friends.
One has a son seriously afflicted with lymphoma cancer.
Another has a working daughter with breast cancer.
So I always encourage our brightest kids to pursue cancer research.
Maybe some day, one of them will help find some light at the end of the tunnel.
Hope springs eternal.
about 3 years ago
Stupid Balls (or sadly lack of?),
I was a NS police inspector.
about 3 years ago
Hmm… so is being impatient a good thing or a bad one?
about 3 years ago
Oh and by the way, I am not an ASTAR scholar, nor in any way affliated with ASTAR…
Just a student in one of the life sciences, immensely interested and concerned about what is going back home and excited about the industry in general.
about 3 years ago
And I’m no scholar, just a concerned parent (with 3 kids) gone through different experiences and times, merely learning here and trying to figure out the minds of today’s farsighted scholars and those of yesteryears, those with EQ, honour and humour and who can admit to imperfection.
about 3 years ago
There is a “saying” that Laziness is a virtue.
So Impatience must be a virtue too.
———————————-
Hmm… so is being impatient a good thing or a bad one?
about 3 years ago
Hmm….interesting…but i think it is possible for one to be lazy and impatient at the same time…
about 3 years ago
Dear Sir:
I must have thought that in those days when you did your NS, life was not so rosy for the Men in Blue (Police). Last time, the gangsters from the ganglands were for real, not those who spot yellow hair and other fashionable items nowadays.
Lastly, both cancer and immunology are your subjects of interests? You even spent your weekends studying them? Wow! BTW, there is a great degree of marriage between the two fields. Sometime ago, they were working on immunotherapy against cancer, getting our immune system to battle cancer. Perhaps, this is one avenue for the “viral anticancer therapist” (would blog about it some time or another) to explore. However, it’s also known that cancer can make use of the immune system towards their own end, especially tapping the inflammatory process, which results in angiogenesis. This is where avastin might be useful.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
_________________________________
Every Saturday morning for over a year, senior IMCB scientists by rotation came to tutor me on the full range of Immunology subjects and eat box lunches with me.
Then I went out to find “whales†focusing on Cancer and Immunology. Why these areas?
about 3 years ago
A stint in the “Ang Cheah” (Police Reserve/Riot Squad.
Then a plain clothes detective in North Bridge area. Fun though.
My son, of your generation, survived NSF, survived as BMT Best Recruit, OCS and Sword of Honour.
Chemical Engineer turned Neuroscience researcher.
Have patience to tutor his biology illiterate and impatient old man.
Cancer immuno-therapy: use our immune system to fight cancer.
Monoclonal antibody therapy is here today and growing.
Set up A*BIO (www.a-bio.com)
And pursuit of Genentech and Lonza.
Cancer vaccines is the “golden chalice”. And a reality.
If we can clone and greatly expand our Natural Killer (NK) Cells, a great help too.
about 3 years ago
Potentially difficult since cancer cells are actually ur very own cells that went awry… :p And NK cells are trained to fight foreign entities…
about 3 years ago
Dear Starlet:
I think there is some prospects especially in utilizing Natural Killer Cell with viral therapy against cancer in vogue (targeting cancer cells with virus). Therefore, this is one way to trick the Natural Killer cells into invoking a response against the cancer cells, which have been infected by the viruses. We are using the basic property of Natural Killer cells to fight virus-infected cells. Therefore, to the Natural Killer Cell, the virus-infected cancer cell is seen as a virus-infected ordinary cell. I will be blogging on this topic soon.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
Dear Sir:
What a coincidence! I also pursued immunology and cancer biology research topics as in my research projects were in those two fields!
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
Starlet:
Maybe he meant ‘idleness’.
‘Idleness’ can be creatively stimulating. That is, it’s usually when the light bulb turns on.
Ok, you all err… continue. Coz I dunno what you’re talking about anyway. Haha.
about 3 years ago
Dee and Starlet,
Met with chaps from St Jude to discuss NK cells.
They are optimistic that NK cells can help leukemia patients
Sending a young doctor to their place in Memphis to take a look.
If possible, will help set up GMP line.
Dee,
If you have time, visit my library at Biopolis.
Have a comprehensive personal collection of Immunology and Cancer papers collected over the years.
about 3 years ago
Dee and Starlet,
Annual Review of Immunology
Vol. 24: 257-286 (Volume publication date April 2006)
(doi:10.1146/annurev.immunol.24.021605.090700)
NATURAL KILLER CELL DEVELOPMENTAL PATHWAYS: A Question of Balance
James P. Di SantoÂ
Cytokines and Lymphoid Development Unit, INSERM Unit 668 Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris, France; email: disanto@pasteur.fr
NK cells sit at the crossroads of innate and adaptive immunity and help coordinate tumor immunosurveillance and the immune response against pathogens. Balancing signals to NK cell precursors is crucial for their early development, when transcription factors compete to specify the different lymphocyte subsets. Despite an elaborate schema for NK cell development and differentiation, several major issues remain to be addressed, such as identifying the sites for NK cell maturation and defining the peripheral NK cell niche.
about 3 years ago
Thanks a lot for the reference. Went to my school library’s website to download the article. Heard from one of my friends that the Astar chairman will be in town to meet his Astar scholars this week. Are u going to be in town too?
about 3 years ago
I will be in Chicago on 9th May and in Boston on 10th May.
Dinner with Boston chaps on 11th May. Come for Free food.
about 3 years ago
Kinda feel awkward to go though since I am not one of the scholars…
about 3 years ago
Tell them that I invited hungry Spore students to come for free food. We need to bring you chaps home ~~ some day. To add to our human capital and find a solution to cancer…
about 3 years ago
Dear Sir:
Thanks for your reference too. I was browsing through pathways for activation of Natural Killer cells and I came across a paper in PNAS about a viral antigen that can ligate the Natural Killer cells activating receptors. A prospect there for the anticancer viral therapists.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=124383
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
Dear Sir:
I was wondering who decided to change the name of the NSTB stat board to A*STAR? I must admit A*STAR sounds ubiquitous though.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
I changed the name to A*STAR in 2002.
Every Primary 6 kid knows what is A*.
———————————–
I was wondering who decided to change the name of the NSTB stat board to A*STAR? I must admit A*STAR sounds ubiquitous though.
about 3 years ago
Dee,
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 June 25; 99(13): 8826–8831.
Thanks!
My PA will download and get Boston chaps to print hard copy for me to read.
Hard on eyes on notebook.
about 3 years ago
“I changed the name to A*STAR in 2002.
Every Primary 6 kid knows what is A*. ”
Haha….great marketing move…
remembered some puns abt it when I was making my scholarship decision… 
about 3 years ago
Dear Sir:
There is another paper on the use of Natural Killer Cells to kill neuroblastoma (brain tumor) via the induction of CD226 receptor of the Natural Killer cell by the CD155, which is expressed in a number of tumors.
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/64/24/9180
It’s being published in Cancer Research, a relatively high impact journal in the field of cancer research, and is a journal that is supported by the AACR.
I will be blogging on this topic soon.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Dee
about 3 years ago
Does The Crane use recycled paper??!
__________________________________________
The Crane // May 9, 2007 at 4:44 pm
My PA will download and get Boston chaps to print hard copy for me to read.
about 3 years ago
Cranes are “ecogreen friendly” chaps.