National University of Singapore (NUS) President Tan Chorh Chuan is to be appointed the first Chief Health Scientist by the Ministry of Health (MOH) from Jan 1 2018.

Professor Tan will concurrently serve as executive director of the new Office for Healthcare Transformation.

Professor Tan's role as Chief Health Scientist is new. In that capacity, he is expected to guide the ministry’s research and development agenda, particularly in the health and biomedical sciences. He will strengthen the translation of research to develop better ways to manage and treat diseases and deliver clinical care.

Together with MOH’s National Medical Research Council, Professor Tan will also guide efforts to discover new knowledge on health and disease, novel therapies and more effective diagnostics.

Professor Tan is also expected to work closely with healthcare clusters, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Economic Development Board, National Research Foundation, SPRING Singapore, as well as the health and biomedical industry.

Professor Tan was president of the National University of Singapore from 2008 to 2017. The former director of medical services at MOH was responsible for leading the public health response to the 2003 SARS epidemic, and was the first Singaporean to be elected an international member of the United States National Academy of Medicine.