Singapore, Feb 21, 2008: In its latest general grant call, the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has awarded research grants to a total of 61 projects out of the 170 applications. The projects were selected after a stringent review process involving both local and international expert reviewers. The grants amount to S$41 million ($29.1 million) and were awarded to seven host institutions. It is estimated that this year's projects will create 100 scientific positions, ranging from laboratory technicians, research assistants to research fellows.

 

The grant call saw a majority of the projects focusing on the topics of cancer and immunology. Other research areas include bioengineering, structural biology, animal models, infectious diseases, cell biology, molecular biology, chemistry and tissue engineering.

 

Prof Lee Eng Hin, Executive Director of BMRC, said, "BMRC believes in strongly supporting investigator-led research to complement our intramural research programmes. This is essential in nurturing the scientific vibrancy needed to stimulate excellent biomedical sciences research in Singapore. Over the past six years since we started the annual grant calls, a critical mass of researchers has been created and we are now riding on a strong momentum of continued growth in the BMS sector. Our expert reviewers inform us that the quality of the research proposals submitted has improved over the years, demonstrating internationally competitive science with high-impact research themes."

 

"Besides generating a dynamic pipeline of biomedical sciences research in Singapore, the grant calls have also enriched Singapore's intellectual capital with publication of papers in prestigious scientific journals and patent applications. In addition, some of the intellectual properties and technologies have been licensed to companies and resulted in spin-offs." added Prof Lee.

 

Since 2002, S$260 million (+$184.24 million) has been awarded to a total of 351 projects. While many of the projects have had significant research outcomes in terms of scientific publications and patent applications, there are projects which have been taken to the next stage of research through successful licensing of technologies and setting up of spin-offs.

 

The research project led by Prof Gong Zhiyuan from National University of Singapore (NUS) secured the most funding of S$ 900,000 ($ 637,755) for the basic science research category. This is the second time Prof Gong has successfully obtained funding support from BMRC. He was a recipient in BMRC's 1st grant call in 2002 for his project on zebrafish as a model for human liver cancers. The project successfully demonstrated a remarkable similarity in gene expression between zebrafish and human liver cancer, thus establishing the zebrafish as an animal model for human liver cancer. The current project, leveraging on what the research team has established from the initial grant, will explore the interaction of genes in zebrafish liver that play a key role in tumorigenesis and generate a transgenic liver tumour model using the zebrafish for further investigation of the molecular mechanisms of liver cancers.

 

The release noted that all grant recipients are required to obtain ethics approval from the appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for their research. They must also conform to the highest standards and strict scientific and ethical guidelines governing biomedical sciences research issued by the Ministry of Health in Singapore and the Bioethics Advisory Committee. The 7th BMRC grant call is expected to open for application on May 2 this year.