MedTech firms BD Medical Products and Terumo Asia Holdings have come on board to strengthen Duke-NUS Medical School’s unique innovation programme to address critical unmet healthcare needs. By doing so, these industry partners gain opportunities to collaborate with healthcare institutions, access clinical environments and observe firsthand, the needs of clinicians and patients. In addition, their involvement will help cultivate future MedTech talent and nurture meaningful career pathways.
An investment of S$50,000 from the two organisations will further bolster the academic innovation community and life sciences ecosystem, aligning expertise, resources and funding to translate early-stage ideas into real-world healthcare impact, ultimately benefiting patients.
The school convened a panel discussion on 18 November 2025, bringing together clinicians, academics and industry leaders to explore collaboration models that cultivate market-ready MedTech talent through mentorship and real-world exposure.
The Duke-NUS Health Innovator Programme (DHIP) is a first-of-its-kind, nine-month fellowship in Singapore that assembles multidisciplinary teams to solve healthcare challenges under the guidance of industry mentors.
Senior executives from BD Medical Products and Terumo Asia Holdings will mentor teams from August 2025 to May 2026, providing personalised guidance, industry insights and networking opportunities, not just locally, but regionally and globally. Participants are guided through the entire innovation pipeline by healthcare professionals and doctors from the public and private healthcare sector, from analysing clinical problems and conceptualising solutions to prototyping and pitching their ideas to industry experts.
As well as guiding the teams all the way from idea to prototypes of their inventions, the Programme aims to instil an innovator mindset in students to enrich the local healthcare ecosystem with a diversity of talents. It is also an effective platform for fostering multidisciplinary collaboration, helping participants develop the skills to communicate across science, technology, business and clinical fields to co-develop healthcare solutions.
Led by Assistant Professor Rena Dharmawan, Assistant Dean for Innovation Education and Ecosystem Development at Duke-NUS, who’s also a Senior Consultant Surgeon and Duke-NUS alumnus, DHIP fosters a culture of healthcare innovation by bringing together students from various disciplines, including medicine, engineering and business, to collaborate on breakthrough ideas.
