Guest post by Dharshini Subbiah
With diseases like heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes on the rise in Asia and throughout the world, six Duke University faculty made the trip to Singapore last week to be a part of the symposium, “Synergizing Biomedical Research in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders.”
The symposium featured experts presenting their research related to the clustering of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular disease — a global epidemic that is emerging as a major cause of mortality and human suffering in Asia.
A major objective of the meeting was to develop productive partnerships and collaborations to enhance research in the field. The Duke faculty were joined by colleagues from the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School (Duke-NUS), SingHealth, A*Star, the National University of Singapore, the National University Health System, and the NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
“I dare say it would be difficult to go anywhere in the world and find a scientific program with the breadth and quality of what we’ve heard during this Symposium. After reflecting on the various presentations and what people are doing, I believe there are many potential areas where we can work together productively,” declared Duke-NUS Dean-designate Tom Coffman.
Professor Coffman, who for many years was the Chief of Nephrology at Duke University, was both optimistic and clear about his expectations, “I think it’s on us, to take advantage of the opportunities to bring together Duke and Singapore in order to harness our resources, talents and energy to do some great things. We can have a real impact in this area and improve what happens to our patients.”
The Symposium was held on January 19-20 and was the first in a series of activities marking the tenth year of Duke-NUS.
Working in concert for the future of medicine are researchers from Duke-NUS, SingHealth, A*Star, the National University of Singapore, the National University Health System, and the NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. Shown on the extreme left is Thomas Coffman, M.D., Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Duke Medicine.