The SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (AMC) has announced the launch of a research institute and disease centre that will advance regenerative medicine and introduce cellular therapies to improve patient care.

Launched on 21 May at the inaugural SDCT-REMEDIS Cell Therapy Conference, the SingHealth Duke- NUS Regenerative Medicine Institute of Singapore (REMEDIS) and the SingHealth Duke- NUS Cell Therapy Centre (SDCT) will bring together multidisciplinary expertise and focus efforts in regenerative medicine research and its application for diagnostics and therapies to improve treatment outcomes for patients.

REMEDIS will harness the potential of regenerating diseased cells, tissue and even organs to develop research, regenerative therapies and tools to tackle age-related diseases and chronic conditions.

The focus will be on seven disease areas: musculoskeletal diseases, bone marrow disorders, blood disorders, cardiovascular diseases, acute and chronic wound healing, neuro-sensory diseases and eye diseases. SDCT will bridge the gap by taking these cellular and gene regenerative therapies and tools into clinical trials and translate them into clinical applications that can benefit patients.

With support from the National Research Foundation (NRF), Singapore, REMEDIS will start off with a research study led by clinician-scientists from the SingHealth Duke-NUS AMC to develop cellular therapy products for three disease areas – age-related macular degeneration, ischemic cardiomyopathy and blood cancers. Due to the limitations of existing therapies, the research team is working toward safe and effective treatments for patients affected by these conditions.