The Centre for Holistic Initiatives for Learning and Development (CHILD), established with a generous gift of S$30 million from the Lien Foundation will provide a multi-disciplinary approach to translating critical research to intervention, to improve the health and developmental outcomes of children in Singapore and beyond.

The first of its kind in Asia, CHILD will build on an unmatched reservoir of clinical data on mothers and children in Singapore, provided by a much-cited research study - the GUSTO1 (Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes) cohort.

The GUSTO study is a major collaborative research effort involving the National University Health System, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and A*STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences as well as international researchers in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

CHILD is an inclusive, multi-collaborative effort, whose founding partners include the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), Lien Foundation, Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI), and A*STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), and aims to work with multiple partners in the local early childhood and family services space.

The work of CHILD supports the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plans on ‘human health and potential’ which aims to realise the full potential of every child through improving prenatal and early childhood development,