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To support research discoveries that can be translated into healthcare solutions, innovative medicines and medical devices that benefit Singapore and Singaporeans, the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s National Medical Research Council (NMRC) has awarded $60 million to three new research projects under the Open Fund-Large Collaborative Grant (OF-LCG) programme.
The three new research projects - each of which were awarded grants of between $10 million and $25 million - target the areas of lung cancer, virus-induced cancer and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a medical condition that causes potential vision loss.
NMRC has also launched the pilot of a Clinician Innovator Award. These initiatives were announced at the NMRC Awards Ceremony and Research Symposium 2018 recently. Close to $1.8 million has been set aside for the pilot scheme, which could fund up to eight Clinician Innovators over the next three years. The first grant call for the pilot scheme will be launched in May 2018.
Once the projects show positive preliminary results, the clinicians can apply for subsequent funding through schemes such as the National Health Innovation Centre (NHIC)’s innovation grants to work towards further commercialisation. NMRC and NHIC will work closely to support the award recipients and guide their progress.