Department

Pharmacy

Head of Department

Shaping Future Talent

The Department of Pharmacy launched our integrated Pharmacy curriculum, the first of its kind in Asia, to train future-ready pharmacists. Despite COVID-19 constraints, our inaugural Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) programme, which accepted its first cohort in August 2020, successfully delivered on its hallmark features: a full system-based integrated curriculum, and an extensive use of team-based learning through individual and team readiness assessment online tools. We also restructured modules in the Pharmaceutical Science programme for closer alignment with NUS’ wider emphasis on blended learning approaches.

We set up the COVID-19 Pharmily United Fund, with the support of our alumni, to help our disadvantaged students during these challenging times.

We launched two new Graduate Certificate (GC) programmes.

The GC in Advanced Pharmacy Practice caters to young pharmacists who are preparing for advanced-level clinical practice in community-based patient care settings.

The GC in Community-based Geriatric Pharmaceutical Care caters to young pharmacists who wish to embark on advanced-level work involving the care of older persons.

Shaping Future Solutions

Our research continues to contribute to improved healthcare and clinical outcomes, through the discovery of new drugs and disease biomarkers, innovative drug delivery and diagnostics.

Boosting long-acting drug delivery with technology

Many proteins or peptides must be injected daily to remain therapeutically active. Depot formulations facilitate the delivery of the same drug over a longer period after one injection only. To develop these formulations, Assoc Prof Matthias G WACKER and his team developed biorelevant performance assays, capable of predicting the clinical performance of tacrolimus-loaded microspheres. This collaborative project between @TheWackerLab and Astellas Pharma was published in the Journal of Controlled Release (January 2021).

Unlocking the secret to healthy ageing

Assoc Prof Victor YU and his team recently discovered that the Bax-binding protein, modulator of apoptosis 1 (MOAP-1), plays a critical role in regulating the p62-mediated antistress response and autophagy to eliminate old or damaged proteins from cells. Interestingly, both p62 and autophagy are involved in regulating the ageing process in multiple organisms. Their recent discovery opens up research avenues to explore the roles of MOAP-1 in the ageing process at the cellular level. This sheds insights into risk factors underlying major human diseases. Their work was published in EMBO Reports (January 2021) and Autophagy (March 2021).

Overcoming cancer therapy resistance

Asst Prof Shruti BHATT and her team found that reduced mitochondrial sensitivity to apoptosis causes resistance to clinically active leukaemia therapy. However, by measuring the ability of cancer cells to undergo cell death using a unique functional tool called dynamic BH3 profiling (DBP), the team identified selective vulnerabilities that persist in resistant tumours. The method of applying DBP in mouse models to identify therapy was published in Cancer Cells (December 2020) and STAR Protocols (June 2021).

Shaping Future Society

Our alumni and students proactively develop and contribute to various initiatives that serve diverse communities.

Supporting the nursing community

“The nurses saw back pain as an occupational hazard they could mitigate by taking painkillers or visiting a chiropractor, but they deserve better.”

Year 4 student Rustam SHARIQ and his team clinched the Grand Prize (Open Category) and the Voters’ Choice Award in the Medical Grand Challenge (2020) for their project ARMAS.

ARMAS is a soft fabric exoskeleton suit which reduces musculoskeletal injuries for nurses taking on physically demanding tasks, such as transferring patients and equipment. The device is also sterilised for healthcare settings.

Contributing to the COVID-19 fight

“Mentor for Hope is living proof of the power of community. Community events are fulfilling in a way that cannot be expressed in words. I encourage people to make time and join when a door opens to help people in need.”

Our alumna Sharon YEO (Pharmacy, 2020) co-organised Mentor for Hope out of a heartfelt desire to help hundreds of startups that were languishing during COVID-19. Along with the founder, a Faculty of Engineering alumna, and other organisers, she has rallied leading names in the enterprise ecosystem in Southeast Asia to support this first-of-its-kind mentoring and fundraising campaign. The initiative has led to about 400 mentorship sessions. It also raised over $30,000 for Willing Hearts Soup Kitchen and Beyond Social Services.