AsianScientist (Sept. 5, 2017) – On 1 January 2018, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan will join Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) as the Executive Director of the new MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation (OHT). As the founding Executive Director, Tan will lead the OHT in spearheading the transformation of healthcare in Singapore to bring about good health outcomes for Singaporeans. He will concurrently be appointed MOH’s Chief Health Scientist.
The OHT will collaborate with healthcare entities, government, industry and community partners to identify and test-bed game-changing, future-oriented concepts and care models that will promote the health and well-being of Singaporeans. It also seeks to enhance the delivery of care to patients, ensuring that healthcare is cost effective and sustainable. By focusing on longer-term issues and taking a broader perspective, the OHT will identify system-wide changes that have the potential to be adopted and scaled up across the public healthcare system.
As the MOH’s Chief Health Scientist, Tan will guide the ministry’s research and development agenda, particularly in the health and biomedical sciences. He will strengthen the translation of research to develop better ways to manage and treat diseases and deliver clinical care.
Together with MOH’s National Medical Research Council, Tan will also guide efforts to enhance Singapore’s thought leadership through the discovery of new knowledge on health and disease, novel therapies and effective diagnostics. He will work closely with the healthcare clusters, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Economic Development Board, National Research Foundation, SPRING Singapore, as well as the health and biomedical industry.
“I am now deeply honoured to have this rare opportunity to contribute to the transformation of our healthcare system for the future. This is linked, in several ways, to the further growth of our strengths in biomedical research and their application to address health issues of greatest relevance and impact for Singapore. In this regard, the concurrent appointments which I will hold in the Ministry of Health will be highly synergistic,” said Tan.
“The OHT will focus on a number of critical areas. For example, it will look at new ways to help Singaporeans adopt health-promoting behaviours that will prevent or delay the onset of chronic conditions. The OHT is also keen to work with primary care providers to make home-based management a viable and effective care model, and in the longer term, the preferred choice for patients with chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and high blood cholesterol.”
During his tenure as President of the National University of Singapore (NUS) from 2008 to 2017, Tan built up NUS into one of the world’s leading universities. He has also contributed to the healthcare system in several leadership capacities, including as Chairman of the National University Health System since 2011. From 2000 to 2004, Tan served as Director of Medical Services at MOH, in which capacity he was responsible for leading the public health response to the 2003 SARS epidemic.
He has also served as Deputy Chairman of A*STAR from 2004 and has been a key leader in Singapore’s biomedical sciences initiative since its inception, for which he was awarded the National Science and Technology Medal in 2008. His contributions have been recognised through numerous national and international awards, and he holds the honour of being the first Singaporean to be elected as an international member of the United States National Academy of Medicine.
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Source: Ministry of Health Singapore; Photo: National University of Singapore.
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