Scientists are closing in on new treatments for a debilitating lung disease that slowly robs patients of their ability to breathe.<\/p>\n
The therapies, originating from a 2017 breakthrough by Duke-NUS Medical School and its Academic Medicine partner SingHealth, were licensed to German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and have since progressed into phase two clinical evaluation, placing the drug development programme among the few discoveries from Singapore to reach this stage. <\/p>\n
The breakthrough showed that interleukin-11 (IL-11), a gene long believed to be protective, was in fact causing damage instead.<\/p>\n
Assistant professor Anissa Widjaja, the molecular biologist who co-led the five-year research, explains: \u201cWe found that IL-11 plays a key role in driving scarring, chronic inflammation and organ injury \u2013 three processes that sit at the heart of many age-related diseases and organ failure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The team eventually found that blocking IL-11 did not only slow disease progression but could also reverse damage and help organs repair themselves.<\/p>\n
This paradigm shift has opened the door to therapies that could potentially restore function to organs such as the liver and kidneys, too \u2013 with potential applications across a range of complex chronic diseases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s less about turning back the clock but about reducing the years people spend in poor health, frailty, weakness and disease,\u201d says Prof Widjaja.<\/p>\n
Prof Widjaja credits the discovery to the school\u2019s support and collaborative culture, saying: \u201cDuke-NUS has played a very critical role in enabling my research and how I think about impact\u201d.<\/p>\n
Competitive grants and internal funding supported her team\u2019s work from its earliest stages, <\/b>alongside expertise in intellectual property, industry engagement, and legal and licensing. These less visible elements often determine whether a scientific idea becomes a viable therapy, she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She adds: \u201cAs an early career scientist at that time, having access to that ecosystem was incredibly formative.\u201d<\/p>\n A collaborative, cross-disciplinary culture underpins research at Duke-NUS Medical School. From left: Associate professor Lena Ho, cardiovascular & metabolic disorders programme; associate professor Chetna Malhotra, research director at the Lien Centre for Palliative Care; professor Patrick Tan, dean; and assistant professor Mart Lamers, emerging infectious diseases programme.<\/p>\n PHOTO: SPH MEDIA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Today, Prof Widjaja\u2019s career spans research and leadership, where she runs her own laboratory while leading the strategic partnerships and industry alliances team to bridge scientific discovery with real-world application.\u00a0<\/p>\n This dual role reflects an environment shaped by the school\u2019s design from the outset.<\/p>\n Says the institution\u2019s dean Professor Patrick Tan: \u201cDuke-NUS was conceived as a bold experiment \u2013 Singapore\u2019s first and still only graduate-entry medical school. This has fostered a culture more open to experimentation, more comfortable with interdisciplinarity, and more willing to challenge established ways of doing things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Since the school\u2019s establishment in 2005, this approach has delivered tangible impact, from contributing to the world\u2019s first FDA-authorised Covid-19 antibody test to developing Singapore\u2019s first locally-created cancer therapeutic.<\/p>\n Says Professor Tan Eng Chye, president of the National University of Singapore (NUS): \u201cDuke-NUS is integral to NUS\u2019 mission in education, research and societal impact.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A key differentiator lies in how research is conducted. Rather than working in isolation, Duke-NUS brings clinicians, industry partners and even investors in early.<\/p>\n \u201cBy involving the right people from the start, we ensure our work addresses real unmet needs,\u201d says Prof Widjaja.<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>