biochemistry biochemistr uzz buzza number of recent initiatives will support this valuable...

B I O C H E M I S T RY B U Z Z

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IN THIS ISSUEHOD’s MessageAwardsStudent ConfermentWelcome to the FamilyResearch PublicationsEventsBaby JoyFarewell

B I O C H E M I S T R Y B U Z Z

If we missed any news that you would like to share, please contact: The Editorial Team, Biochemistry: [email protected]: Professor Jean Paul ThieryEditors: Ms Aniza A Wahid & Ms Rebecca JacksonWriter: Ms FatinDesigner: Ms Smita

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These last 3 years of my stay in Singapore have been quite busy and sometimes hectic, spending almost 80% of my time at the Department of Biochemistry.

I feel that the Department is moving in the right direction, with a more obvious emphasis on focussed research themes that will be more easily translated in cooperation with NUSMed.

A number of recent initiatives will support this valuable transition. I am very happy to see that an ambitious program is now launched in Synthetic Biology. This program will undoubtedly impact very positively the Department and position it at the leading edge thanks to the support of world experts. NUSMed and NUS have now provided their strongest support, including substantial funding to promote this very promising initiative.

It remains now to expand and invigorate the two other major themes in Metabolic Disorders and Ageing. Again, for these, I see excellent opportunities to create very strong programs pertaining to major disease burdens in Singapore and beyond.

I am particularly happy to see that A/P Maxey Chung will assume the Acting Headship until a permanent HOD is ready to take over the stewardship of the Department. A/P Maxey Chung is a very senior staff in the Department

who needs no introduction. He is also an extremely dedicated scientist, excellent teacher and an open-minded colleague.

The recommendation for the permanent HOD by the Department Search Committee is now being reviewed by the Dean and hopefully we will know the outcome in due course. I am convinced that you will fully support both A/P Chung’s and the new HOD’s leadership, as this is vital to ensure the success of our Department in the future.

The everyday life at the Department was not always easy but I learned even more about the life of multi-tasking scientists and their challenging missions. I am confident that within a few years’ time, the scientific landscape at NUSMed will become even more attractive to students and young, talented investigators. The future of Singapore critically depends on such initiatives and the maintenance of the highest quality basic research that is still much needed today to benefit the society. The Department can sustain such programs pending appropriate budgeting and international networking. I will return quite frequently to Singapore and spend much time in the Department to help achieve these goals.

I am very thankful to all staff in the Department and, in particular, to the staff in the administration office, without whom I could not have made any significant progress to promote the metamorphosis of the Department.

I would like to personally extend my thanks to A/P Clement, the Deputy Head, A/P Chung, the Education Director and A/P Gan, the Research Director for their support and hardwork.

So, it is basically only an au revoir and à bientôt.

Professor Jean Paul ThieryHead of DepartmentMay 2015

HOD’s MESSAGE


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NUS Office of Corporate Relations arranged a media interview with A/P Caroline Lee on her paper entitled, “Disruption on FAT10-MAD2 binding inhibits tumor progression”.

A/P Markus Wenk received a very prestigious research grant from Human Frontiers Science Program (HSFP). The grant applications to HFSP are extremely competitive internationally and the Department is very proud that A/P Wenk will be part of an international team addressing the molecular patterns of influenza virus envelope adaptation to interspecies transmission.

In addition, A/P Wenk was also awarded the Faculty Outstanding Researcher Award for AY2013/2014.

A/P Deng Lih Wen was awarded the Faculty Young Researcher Award for AY2013/2014.

Grant Awards

Month Grant Call Title Main PI Amount

February 2015

NMRC Cooperative

Basic Research Grant (CBRG 14May045)

Characterization of a Novel Non-Coding RNA Mediated

Signaling Mechanism through hich Myostatin Regulates

Postnatal Muscle Growth and Wasting

A/P Mridula Sharma S$925,603.00

March 2015

ARC (MOE) 2015 (Aug 15

call)

Design, construction and characterisation of a synthetic

chromosome in yeast

A/P Matthew Chang S$808,806.79

» Mrs Kalimuthu Malihay - 30 years » Mrs Long Lee Hua - 25 years » A/P Tan May Chin, Theresa - 15 years » A/P Lee Guat Lay, Caroline - 15 years » A/P Deng Lih Wen - 10 years » A/P Markus R Wenk - 10 years » Ms Tan Weiqi - 10 years

Congratulations to all!

THE DEPARTMENT CELEBRATES YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

Long Service Awards

We salute their tremendous contributions and service to the Department. Thank you!


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BIOCHEMISTRY STUDENT TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP JANUARY 2015 CALL

Name of PhD student Supervisor Travel Period Location

Yu Xinlei Dr Long Yun Chau 19 – 23 March 2015 Huangshan, Anhui, China

Lim Kim Kiat Dr Chen Ee Sin 21 – 26 June 2015 Kobe, Japan

Zhao Wei A/P Deng Lih Wen 12 – 17 July 2015 West Dover, United States

Name Conferred Date SupervisorChua Yee Liu 28-02-15 A/P Thilo Hagen

Daphne Wong Pei Wen 31-01-15 A/P Thilo HagenLiang Junxin 31-12-14 Prof Fu Xin-YuanLim Yi Shan 31-12-14 A/P Tang Bor LuenLin Qifeng 31-12-14 A/P Chung Ching Ming, Maxey

Ma Hui 31-12-14 Dr Wu QiangMa Wei 31-12-14 A/P Han Weiping

Maulana Bachtiar 31-12-14 A/P Caroline Lee

The Department encourages our students to participate in as many international talks/conferences as possible to enhance their research visibility within the international community. Each selected student receives a maximum of $2,500 to fund their accommodation, registration and airfare for the conference. Congratulations to the following students who have successfully won the Department’s Student Travel Fellowship!

STUDENT CONFERMENTCongratulations to all graduating students!

PhD Programme


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WELCOMING OUR NEW STAFF INTO THE DEPARTMENT!

Lee Ming Chong, Ivor RusselResearch Fellow

PI: A/P Gan Yunn HwenDate Joined: 26-01-15

Yu KaiResearch Fellow

PI: Dr Yew Wen Shan Date Joined: 01-01-15

Lin Kaiqi, MichelleResearch Fellow

PI: A/P Markus WenkDate Joined: 15-04-15

Lim Boon KiatResearch Assistant

PI: A/P Matthew ChangDate Joined: 01-03-15

Ng Xiao WeiResearch Assistant


Ramya AmaranathanResearch Assistant


Tan Jun RongResearch Assistant

PI: Prof Jeyaseelan KandiahDate Joined: 16-02-15

Zhuang QiushiResearch AssistantPI: Dr Lim Yoon Pin

Date Joined: 30-03-15

Choi EungyeongResearch Associate


Prameet KaurResearch Fellow

PI: Prof Jeyaseelan KandiahDate Joined: 15-01-15


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WELCOMING OUR NEW STAFF INTO THE DEPARTMENT!

Welcome Postgraduate Students!

PhD Programme

Name SupervisorClement Pierre Marcel Scipion A/P Robert Charles Robinson

Ege Deniz Yildirim Professor Ng Huck HuiCo-Supervisor: Dr Ng Shyh Chang (GIS)

Fong Hei Tung Dr Takao InoueCo-Supervisor: Dr Sudhakar Jha

Hossein Tabatabaeian Dr Lim Yoon PinKim Hye Rim A/P Matthew Chang

Nathan Palmer Dr Yew Wen ShanNg Wenfa A/P Han Weiping

Ong Chengsi

Professor Christiani Jeyakumar Henry Co-Supervisors:

Dr Zudin Amilka Puthucheary (Medicine)Dr Melvin Leow Khee Shing (Medicine)

Dr Lee Jan Hau (Paediatrics)

Sidika TapsinProfessor Ng Huck Hui

Co-Supervisor: Professor Wang Yue (GIS)


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Tang, M Y R, H Guo, T T T Nguyen, L S Low, R A Jackson, T Yamada and E S Chen*, “Two fission yeast high mobility group box proteins in the maintenance of genomic integrity following doxorubicin insult”. Gene, (2015). (Netherlands).

Nguyen, T T T, S L J Lim, M Y R Tang, L Zhang and E S Chen*, “Fitness profiling links topoisomerase II regulation of centromeric integrity to doxorubicin resistance in fission yeast”. Scientific Reports, 5 (2015): 8400. (United Kingdom).

Lim, YT, C Jobichen, J Wong, D Limmathurotsakul, S Li, Y Chen, M Raida, N Srinivasan, P A MacAry, J Sivaraman* and Y H Gan*, “Extended loop region of Hcp1 is critical for the assembly and function of type VI secretion system in Burkholderia pseudomallei”. Scientific Reports, 4; 5:8235 (2015). (United Kingdom).

Man, X, TL Megraw and Y P Lim*, “Cep68 can be regulated by by Nek2 and SCF complex”. European Journal of Cell Biology, 94, no. 3-4 (2015): 162-72. (Germany).

Chua, E L C, A Lim and B L Tang*, “Approaches to analyse the role of Rab GTPases in endocytic trafficking of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)”. Methods in Molecular Biology, 1270 (2015): 239-251. (Germany).

Chua, E L C and B L Tang*, “The role of the small GTPase Rab31 in cancer”. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, 19, no. 1 (2015): 1-10. (Romania).

Tang, B L, “Synthetic mitochondria as therapeutics against systemic aging – a hypothesis”. Cell Biology International, 39, no. 2 (2015): 131-135. (United Kingdom).

Cheng, H, H Zheng, J X Wu, W Xu, L Zhou, KC Leong, EA Fitzgerald, R Rajagopalan, H P Too and W K Choi, “Photo-attachment of biomolecules for miniaturization on wicking”. PLoS One, 10 (2015): 0116539-1-0116539-16. (United States).

Alakbarzade*, Vafa, Abdul Hameed*, Debra Q Y Quek*, Barry A Chioza*, Emma L Baple*,C G Amaury, N L Nguyen, M R Wenk, Arshia Q Ahmad, Ajith Sreekantan-Nair, Michael NWeedon, Phil Rich, Michael A Patton, Thomas T Warner, L S David and Andrew H Crosby,“A partially inactivating mutation in the sodium-dependent lysophosphatidylcholinetransporter MFSD2A causes a non-lethal microcephaly syndrome”. Nature Genetics, 47(2015). (United States).

Guemez-Gamboa*, Alicia, N L Nguyen*, Hongbo Yang*, Maha S Zaki, Majdi Kara, TawfegBen-Omran, Naiara Akizu, Rasim Ozgur Rosti, Basak Rosti, Eric Scott, Jana Schroth, BrettCopeland, Keith K Vaux, C G Amaury, Debra Q Y Quek, Bernice H Wong, B C T Tan, MR Wenk, Murat Gunel, Stacey Gabriel, Neil C Chi, L S David and Joseph G Gleeson,“Inactivating Mutations in MFSD2A, Required for Omega-3 Fatty Acid Transport in Brain,Cause a Lethal Microcephaly Syndrome.”. Nature Genetics, 47 (2015). (United States).

Publications

JANUARY 2015 TO APRIL 2015


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Yoon, CS, IS Rajan-Babu*, HY Law, C G L Lee and S S Chong, “Simplified strategy for rapidfirst-line screening of fragile X syndrome: closed-tube triplet-primed PCR and amplicon meltpeak analysis.”. Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine, 17 (2015): e7. (United Kingdom).

TAN*, G L J, YY Lee, M G S Yap, T Wang, T W Tan and S K Ng*, “Heat shock protein 27overexpression in CHO cells modulates apoptosis pathways and delays activation ofcaspases to improve recombinant monoclonal antibody titre in fed-batch bioreactors”.Biotechnology Journal, 10, no. 5 (2015): 790-800. (Germany).

Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) point-of-care system for rapid multiplexed detection of microR-NAs in human urine specimens. Liu Q, Shin Y, Kee JS, Kim KW, Mohamed Rafei SR, Perera AP, Tu X, Lo GQ, Ricci E, Colombel M, Chiong E, Thiery JP, Park MK. Biosens Bioelectron. 2015 Apr 20;71:365-372.

MEK Inhibition Overcomes Cisplatin Resistance Conferred by SOS/MAPK Pathway Activation in Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Kong LR, Chua KN, Sim WJ, Ng HC, Bi C, Ho J, Nga ME, Pang YH, Ong WR, Soo RA, Huynh H, Chng WJ, Thiery JP, Goh BC. Mol Cancer Ther. 2015 May 4. pii: molcanther.0062.2015.

Highly sensitive and specific novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of transitional bladder carcinoma.Kumar P, Nandi S, Tan TZ, Ler SG, Chia KS, Lim WY, Bütow Z, Vordos D, De laTaille A, Al-Hadd-awi M, Raida M, Beyer B, Ricci E, Colombel M, Chong TW, Chiong E, Soo R, Park MK, Ha HK, Gunaratne J, Thiery JP. Oncotarget. 2015 Apr 15.

Tumour pharmacodynamics and circulating cell free DNA in patients with refractory colorectal carcinoma treated with regorafenib. Wong AL, Lim JS, Sinha A, Gopinathan A, Lim R, Tan CS, Soh T, Venkatesh S, Titin C, Sapari NS, Lee SC, Yong WP, Tan DS, Pang B, Wang TT, Zee YK, Soong R, Trnkova Z, Lathia C, Thiery JP, Wilhelm S, Jeffers M, Goh BC. J Transl Med. 2015 Feb 12;13(1):57.

Molecular portraits of epithelial, mesenchymal, and hybrid States in lung adenocarcinoma and their relevance to survival. Schliekelman MJ, Taguchi A, Zhu J, Dai X, Rodriguez J, Celiktas M, Zhang Q, Chin A, Wong CH, Wang H, McFerrin L, Selamat SA, Yang C, Kroh EM, Garg KS, Behrens C, Gazdar AF, Laird-Offringa IA, Tewari M, Wistuba II, Thiery JP, Hanash SM. Cancer Res. 2015 May 1;75(9):1789-800.

Adhesion glycoprotein CD44 functions as an upstream regulator of a network connecting ERK, AKT and Hippo-YAP pathways in cancer progression. Yu S, Cai X, Wu C, Wu L, Wang Y, Liu Y, Yu Z, Qin S, Ma F, Thiery JP, Chen L. Oncotarget. 2015 Feb 20;6(5):2951-65. 2015 Jan 15.

The clinical role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stem cell markers in advanced-stage ovarian serous carcinoma effusions. Davidson B, Holth A, Hellesylt E, Tan TZ, Huang RY, Tropé C, Nesland JM, Thiery JP. Hum Pathol. 2015 Jan;46(1):1-8.

Tang, B L, eds., Methods in Molecular Biology - Membrane Trafficking, Methods in Molecular Biology, ed. Bor Luen Tang. Netherlands: Springer, 2015.

EDITORIAL WORK ON BOOK


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In conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations, our Staff Welfare Committee organised a traditional “Lo Hei” ceremony together with our Department Lunch. Thank you to the FY2014 staff welfare committee comprising of Dr Sudhakar Jha, Norindah and Safia for successfully organizing this wonderful event. Those who attended feasted on a scrumptious buffet and everyone left with a sure-win prize from the lucky draw.

EVENTS

Thursday, 26 February 2015, 11am – 2pmTiffany Restaurant at Furama City Centre


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The Department of Biochemistry won the Commendation Award to Safety & Health Excellence for the NUS Annual Safety & Health Performance Award (ASHPA) 2014/2015. This year, a total of seven departments were awarded the Commendation Award for implementation of a comprehensive Safety & Health Management System. The award plaque was presented to the Head of Department, Professor Jean Paul Thiery by NUS President, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan at the NUS 10th Annual Safety & Health Performance Ceremony on 15th April 2015. A prize money of $20,000 was also awarded to the Department, which can be used for developing programmes and initiatives that promote safety and health culture among our staff and students.

NUS Annual Safety & Health Performance Award (ASHPA) Ceremony 2014/15

Wednesday, 15 April 2015 @ Shaw Foundation Alumni House

EVENTS


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This symposium was jointly organised by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the British High Commision, Singapore. The NUS-Edinburgh Synthetic Biology Symposium was convened to promote scientific exchange and collaboration between NUS and the University of Edinburgh in the field of Synthetic Biology. The Committee warmly invited graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, fellow biologists and engineers to attend this special event. For more information, do visit our programme’s website at http://synbio.nus.edu.sg/newsnevent.htm.

EVENTS

NUS – Edinburgh Synthetic Biology Symposium 2015

Monday, 4 May 2015 @ 1pm – 5.30pmCeLS Auditorium Level 1


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The Organizing Committee, consisting of A/P Thilo Hagen, Miss Safia Syaqirin, Miss Chua Yee Liu & Mr Chow Kean Pang, was hard at work planning the Sports Day that was held on 25 May 2015. It was heartening to see very good responses from staff and students, and there were 23 teams who participated and had an active fun-filled morning at the NUS Stadium. We also had many PIs who volunteered as referees, and special thanks to the sponsors who contributed generously to the gifts for the winning teams.

Great teamwork and well done to the Organizing Committee!

We look forward to the Sports Day in 2016!

EVENTS

Sports Day Friday, 22 May 2015


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UPCOMING EVENTS

Singapore Microbiome Networking SymposiumTuesday, 28 July 2015

Click here to register: http://tinyurl.com/o3jq87n

http://tinyurl.com/o3jq87n


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The Department welcomes baby boy Ling Xiaoya of Dr Ling Hua & Ms Liu Ruirui from A/P Matthew Chang’s lab, who was born on 6 February 2015. Congratulations!

BABY JOY!


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Karolina Dwi Setyowati

Lam Yuk Man

Laura

Ma Hui

Norazlina Bte Rahmat

Shen Tong

Sugunavathi d/o Sepramaniam

Zhou Yi

Wong Veen Senn

Liang Xu

Liu Fujia

Prameet Kaur

FAREWELL

We bid farewell and convey our deepest thanks to our fellow colleagues who have contributed in their own special ways to the Department. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours!

biochemistry biochemistr uzz buzza number of recent initiatives will support this valuable...

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