MONDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2006 (this page is maintained for the historic record)
(Part of a seminar series on "Singapore as a High-Tech Regional Hub")
Location: Department of Trade and Industry Conference Centre, London SW1
Supported by UK Trade and Investment
Nearest Tube Station: Westminster, St James Park, Victoria
Time: 13.30 - 14.30
To Register: please click here
Chair:
Hugh Purser, Director, Asia-Pacific Technology Network former Consultant in the Executive Director's Office of the National Science & Technology Board (A*STAR's predecessor)
Speaker
Prof. Tan Chorh Chuan, Deputy President & Provost National University of Singapore, Deputy Chairman, A*STAR
Background:
Professor Tan Chorh Chuan
is Deputy President and Provost at the National University of Singapore. As Provost, he is responsible for maintaining academic excellence, for ensuring the quality of the faculty and student body and for educational quality assurance. The Provost oversees budgetary policies and priorities. The Deans of Faculties and Schools report to the Provost. Professor Tan is concurrently the Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Deputy Chairman, Biomedical Research Council, A*STAR, and Chairman, Finance and Budget Committee, A*STAR.
A graduate of the National University of Singapore and a renal physician, Professor Tan started his medical career in 1983. He has held concurrent hospital and academic appointments from 1987, starting as a faculty member with the NUS Department of Medicine; and Registrar, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital (NUH). He has been a Senior Consultant with the NUH Division of Nephrology since 1997 and a Professor of Medicine with NUS since 1999. He headed the Department of Medicine from 1997 to 1998 and was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1997 to 2000 and Chairman of the NUH Medical Board.
He was appointed as the Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health, from 2000 to 2004, in which capacity he was responsible for the medical response to the SARS epidemic in 2003. Between 1987 and 2004, Professor Tan received 10 awards. These include the Public Service Star (Singapore National Day Awards) in 2003 for outstanding contributions to overcoming SARS in Singapore, and the Public Administration Gold Medal in 2004 for his work in the Ministry of Health. In the academic field, the awards received within the period included the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal (awarded by the Polish Academy of Medicine); and the Achievement Medal (awarded by the Singapore Society of Nephrology). In addition, he won the 1996 Singapore Youth Award for his research in the regulation of erythropoietin.Between 1989 and 1990, Professor Tan received five fellowship awards including the Commonwealth Medical Fellowship, Association of Commonwealth Universities, UK; Wellcome Fellow, University of Oxford, UK; and the Elected Fellow, Polish Academy of Medicine.
Professor Tan is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and of London, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the American College of Physicians, and of the Royal Geographical Society, UK.
A*Star
is the leading Scientific and Technological Agency in Singapore, which has strong links with the UK.
On 13 July the British High Commission and A*STAR held a conference on “Building Science & Technology Capacity with South East Asian Partners”. This event, which was agreed by the British and Singaporean Prime Ministers, brought together key policy-makers and experts, together with representatives of multilateral organisations, to discuss with countries in South East Asia how they could help promote scientific capacity building and influence international thinking on the role of science in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals in the region. We were delighted that Singaporean Minister of State for Trade and Industry Mr S Iswaran gave the Keynote address, and Prof. Sir Gordon Conway, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for International Development, gave the Plenary Presentation. Key recommendations from the conference included holding the equivalent of “Gordon Conferences” in countries on SE Asia, helping countries to access experts and journals, developing exchange fellowships and the establishment of a regional fund. A full report of the conference will be available in due course. We were very grateful to all the participants who attended, most especially those who came from the UK.
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