Diana Koh Fund
One of the hallmarks of medical education is the legacy it leaves for future practitioners and researchers to uplift and build upon. Young people are the cornerstone of future medical advancements, their enthusiasm as well as their novel ideas should be supported and welcomed in academia.
The Diana Koh Fund, established in memory of the late Ms Diana Koh, made a generous gift of S$500,000 towards cancer research with the purpose to provide support to our junior researchers and graduate students working on cancer research to implement their own independent projects and explore research interests. It allows young researchers more directional control over their learning and provides tangible support to bring these ideas into fruition.
We thank the Diana Koh Fund and Ms Janet Lim, Executor of the Fund and Ms Koh’s cousin, for the kind generosity, and their trust in CSI and NUS Medicine to nurture the next generation of cancer researchers.
Diana Koh Young Innovator Prize
The Diana Koh Fund has established the Diana Koh Young Innovator Prize to recognize outstanding students and postdocs who have made significant breakthroughs in cancer research.
The prize is governed by the following conditions:
- Subject to rule 3 below, a cash prize valued at $1,500 each will be awarded to the PhD student and the postdoctoral fellow with the most outstanding work done in the past three years in their respective field of cancer research.
- Each award is to be given to a single recipient.
- No award will be made unless there is a candidate of sufficient merit.
- This gift shall be governed by the University Statutes and Regulations, specifically, Statute 7 on Gifts to the University and the corresponding Regulation.
Eligibility for PhD Student Prize
- NUS Medicine or CSI PhD graduates who have graduated in the previous calendar year
- Current NUS Medicine or CSI PhD students
- Each shortlisted candidate will have to answer questions related to his/her work to the Selection Committee in a 15-minute interview.
Eligibility for Postdoctoral Fellow Prize
- Current NUS Medicine or CSI postdoctoral fellows, research scientists and senior research scientists
- Each shortlisted candidate will have to answer questions related to his/her work to the Selection Committee in a 15-minute interview.
Application Procedures
Please submit your application form together with supporting documents in a single PDF file to Ms Low Li Si (lowlisi [at] nus.edu.sg) by 17 March 2024 (Sunday).
To ensure that your application is duly received, please indicate ‘Diana Koh Young Innovator Prize 2024’ as the subject title of your email submission.
Prize Presentation
The prize will be presented to the winners at the inaugural Diana Koh Breakthroughs in Cancer Learning Series seminar on 4 May 2024 (Saturday) at Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Diana Koh Young Innovator Grant
The Diana Koh Young Innovator Grant aims to support budding scientists like postdocs and young clinicians in order to kick-start the investigation of key knowledge gaps in cancer biology and treatment as well as create a platform for the cross-fertilization of ideas.
Eligibility and Additional Information
The grant award is governed by the following conditions:
- Proposals should be original basic, translational or clinical cancer science projects that are not currently funded by any internal or external grants.
- Preliminary data is not a requirement.
- If applications are of equal merit, priority will be given to projects on sarcoma.
- Only postdocs (Research fellow, senior research fellow, research scientist, senior research scientist) from NUSMed, CSI and NCIS are eligible to apply.
- Only early-career clinicians (Senior residents and associate consultants) with primary or affiliate appointments with NCIS are eligible to apply.
- Up to SGD$20,000 will be provided for one year for each individual project.
- Up to SGD$30,000 will be provided for one year for each collaborative project.
- The main applicant’s and co-applicant’s supervisor and HOD must indicate support on the application.
- No grants will be awarded unless there are proposals of sufficient merit.
Application Procedures
Please complete the attached grant proposal form and send it to Susan (tngsusan [at] nus.edu.sg) by 17 March 2024 (Sunday).
To ensure that your application is duly received, please indicate ‘Diana Koh Young Innovator Grant 2024’ as the subject title of your email submission.
Award Presentation
The grant awards will be presented at the inaugural Diana Koh Breakthroughs in Cancer Learning Series seminar on 4 May 2024 (Saturday) at Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Diana Koh Breakthroughs in Cancer Learning Series
These learning series will focus on breakthroughs in cancer research, spanning the entire spectrum from basic science to translational and clinical applications. This innovative cancer seminar series aims to bring together junior researchers to collectively nominate internationally-renowned speakers.
An integral aspect of this series is the emphasis on fostering meaningful interactions between our young researchers and the distinguished speakers. After each seminar, students and postdocs will have dedicated sessions to engage in discussions, seek mentorship, and further explore the presented topics.
Beyond the academic sphere, the seminar series holds a second crucial goal: raising public awareness about cancer research. Currently, cancer-related seminars are often limited to the academic community, creating an unmet need for increased awareness among the general population. To address this, all seminars will be made open to the public, as well as recorded and made available on social media platforms, providing a wider audience with insights into cancer risk factors, screening techniques, the importance of early detection, and the latest breakthroughs in research and treatment.
The inaugural “Diana Koh Breakthroughs in Cancer Learning Series” was held on 4 May 2024, 9am – 12 noon. Check out the poster and watch the video recording from the event below:
