ntu and oue healthcare partner to integrate western medicine and tcm

The collaboration is timely given that the Health Ministry had previously announced it was exploring integrating TCM into the country’s preventive health initiative Healthier SG, he noted.

Linda Zhong, director of biomedical sciences and Chinese medicine at NTU’s School of Biological Sciences, said the partnership will combine NTU’s expertise in biomedical sciences and Chinese medicine with OUEH’s valuable clinical experience.

“By bringing researchers and clinicians together, we can ensure that research addresses real clinical needs while generating knowledge that contributes to better patient care and advances the practice of integrative medicine,” she said.

NTU has introduced a new master’s degree in Chinese medicine in 2026, the first such postgraduate programme offered by a local university.

The collaboration agreement between NTU and OUEH was inked on Aug 17 at the university’s Nanyang Lake Pavilion and witnessed by Senior Minister of State for Health Tan Kiat How.

The event also saw the launch of the Stephen Riady Professorship in Healthcare and Technology, established with a $3 million endowment from real estate group OUE, the parent company of OUEH.

“The endowment is designed to accelerate early medical interventions, enhance healthcare accessibility and support healthier longevity through interdisciplinary research,” NTU and OUE said in a statement. The professorship aims to “foster new approaches to healthcare that are more personalised, preventive and technology-enabled”, working across disciplines such as biomedical engineering, artificial intelligence and wearable sensors, they added.

NTU deputy president and provost Christian Wolfrum is the inaugural Stephen Riady Professor. He is an expert in metabolic research and also executive chairman of national artificial intelligence initiative AI Singapore.

“By establishing the NTU professorship in healthcare and technology, I hope we can move closer to shaping the future of healthcare by fostering understanding and building connections between technology, medicine, research and clinical practice, as well as integrating modern and traditional medicine to provide holistic patient care,” said OUE executive chairman and group chief executive officer Stephen Riady.

NTU president Ho Teck Hua said the future of healthcare is interdisciplinary, and that the partnerships inked that day will help turn ambition into action. “If we can break down the walls between disciplines, bring the right people together, and invest in the best talent, we can help Singaporeans live not only longer but better,” he said.