What’s the hubbub?

SINGAPORE—Late summer brought news that the National University of Singapore (NUS), Agilent Technologies and National University Hospital (NUH) had established Singapore’s first integrated translational R&D hub that leverages biochemical innovation and research data analytics to develop new methods of translating clinical research into clinical diagnostics.

The NUS-Agilent Hub for Translation & Capture, which comprises laboratories located in NUS and NUH, provides 1,000 square meters of research space to facilitate multidisciplinary collaborations among scientists, clinicians and industry partners to translate biochemical research into clinical applications. Through research in areas such as lipidomics and synthetic biology—and supported by data analytics—NUS and Agilent hope to develop innovative ways to enhance the accuracy of clinical diagnostics based on data obtained from patients’ blood samples. The initial research focus areas are cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which are major causes of morbidity and mortality in Singapore.

The NUS-Agilent Hub aims to be a global premier one-stop research center for informing clinical testing through the use of emerging technologies and translational studies to provide greater insight and accuracy to clinical biochemistry testing.

Said NUS President Prof. Tan Eng Chye: “This partnership with Agilent and NUH builds on NUS’ strengths and focus in biomedical sciences and translational medicine, the state-of-art mass spectrometry technology at Agilent, and clinical expertise at NUH. We are excited about this unique opportunity to further extend our longstanding collaborative relationship with Agilent and NUH into the area of clinical diagnostics, which could bring about positive societal and economic impact to Singapore.”

“We’re extremely honored to be working with one of the world’s top research universities and world-renowned principal investigators in developing the next generation of scientific discovery for societal benefit in life sciences,” added Mike McMullen, CEO and president of Agilent Technologies. “This type of innovative collaboration will not only deliver significant benefit to Agilent and our global customers, but importantly also to the university, the people of Singapore and eventually people around the world who will benefit as a result of the work that will be conducted at NUS.”

The NUS-Agilent Hub is a continuation of an established and significant partnership that has existed for many years between NUS and Agilent. By extending its substantial investments in R&D with Agilent’s work alongside top universities like NUS, Agilent says it is better able “to accelerate its mission of improving the human condition.”