Professor Barry Halliwell-A radical reformist of NUS

Research landscape

Inside this issue:

Editor’s message 2

Interview with

Professor Barry

Halliwell

2,3

Announcements 3

SFN 2012– A surreal

experience: by Ja-

nani and Yin Yin

4

Glia in Health and

disease 2012: an ex-

perience: by

Parakalan

4

Events and seminars 5,6

SNA Travel Award

details

6

SNA Newsletter

SNA Council (2011-2013)

President

A/Prof ST Dheen

Vice President

A/Prof Ong WY

Secretary

A/Prof Gavin Dawe

Treasurer

A/Prof Liang Fengyi

Committee Members

Prof Charanjit Kaur

Dr Sivakumar V

Dr Karthik Harve

Ms Shweta Jadhav

APRIL 2013 ISSUE 4

Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Ling Eng Ang!

SNA Lifetime Achievement award receipient

(2012) Professor Ling Eng Ang was conferred the

Emeritus Professorship by NUS in 2013.

Congratulations to Professor Ling for achieving

the honor!

Professor Ling Eng Ang was also officially pre-

sented the "International Exchange & Cooperation

Award" by the School of Basic Medical Sciences,

Kunming Medical University, 23rd December

2012.

By Shweta Jadhav and Madhuvika Murugan

Professor Barry Halliwell is a man who constantly trans-

forms the research landscape at the National University of

Singapore where he is rightly placed in the University Hall

as the Deputy President for Research & Technology and as

the Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor of Biochemistry.

He has garnered international attention for his work in the

field of Free Radical Biology in the 90s and at the right

time, was spotted on the radar of NUS which has always

been eyeing for top international talents. NUS‟s decision

was right as he has already helped drive the development

of the Life Sciences/Translational Medicine initiatives at

NUS over the past ten years and is now driving initiatives in ageing research.

In fact, Prof Halliwell started his journey with free radicals research in 1970s and

published a number of articles in internationally reputed journals. Recently, he

was honoured with the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Society for Free

Radical Biology and Medicine in the USA for overall sustained excellence in the

field. His laboratory is also ranked number as 1 worldwide with the highest cita-

tion score in Free Radical Research. Despite his busy schedule, he readily accepted

to meet us when approached him for this interview. Read on to know the story of a

boy from a “working class” background, who went on to become the number 1

scientist in free radical research.

Read more on page 2..

Editor-in Chief:

A/Prof ST Dheen

Associate Editors:

Ms Shweta Jadhav

Mr Parakalan Rangarajan

Professor Barry Halliwell

SNA travel award 2013

SNA has set aside funds to support its members

traveling to and presenting at the Neuroscience

conference held annually by the Society of Neu-

roscience.

Details on page 6..

San Diego, CA Nov 9-13

Prof Ling receiving the SNA Lifetime

Achievement award from Prof Barry

Halliwell at the SNA symposium 2012

SN

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Interview with Professor Barry Halliwell

Page 2 SNA NEWSLETTER

Editor’s message

This issue of SNA Newsletter brings to you the interview of

Deputy President (Research and Technology) and Tan Chin

Tuan Centennial Professor of the Department of Biochemis-

try, NUS: Professor Barry Halliwell. An internationally-

acclaimed biochemist, Professor Halliwell is known especially

for his seminal work on the role of free radicals and antioxi-

dants in biological systems. The current issue of the SNA

newsletter also features the experiences of some young neuro-

scientists showcasing their work in international conferences.

I anticipate that each of these articles would be a source of

inspiration for young researchers and students who are plan-

ning a career in Neuroscience. This newsletter also features

the success of the inaugural Singapore Brain Bee Challenge

organized by SNA to motivate school children to learn about

the brain. We look forward to your suggestions, articles and

comments. -Editor

Modest Beginnings.. Prof Halliwell was born in a small textile town, Preston in

the North of England into a working class family. Although

he came from a “working class” background, he was fortu-

nate to have parents who believed in quality education.

When he was in school, he was always interested

in both humanities and sciences but later chose

Science as his career. He joined St Catherine‟s

College at Oxford University to study biochemis-

try with a scholarship. His 4 year stint in St

Catherine‟s gave him a deep grounding in Chem-

istry and shaped his future career as he states

that “the Oxford course, unlike many Biochem-

istry courses today, had a deep grounding in

Chemistry, which I have found enormously use-

ful in the free radical field. Some knowledge of

Chemistry helps one to challenge the alleged mi-

raculous properties of certain „antioxidants‟ by

showing that they have no chemical basis.”

In his final year at St Catherine‟s, Prof Halliwell

was exposed to Plant Biochemistry which he

enjoyed so much and inspired him to do a

D.Phil in the Botany School under the able su-

pervision of Prof Vernon Butt and Prof Bob

Whatley. He worked on photorespiration, the

pathway that plants use to recycle 2-carbon

compounds accidently sent into the wrong meta-

bolic process when O2 instead of CO2 reacts in the

first step of the Calvin cycle.

Early years in Research In 1974, Prof Halliwell moved to King‟s College, London as

an Assistant Professor with determination to work in the

relatively unexplored field of free radicals and antioxidants.

Prof Halliwell found London and its environs a very enrich-

ing place to conduct fundamental research in free radical

biology along with his long-time colleague, Prof John Gut-

teridge.

In the 1980s‟ during his academic career at King‟s College,

Prof Halliwell spent a year long sabbatical at the University

of California-Davis where he had a chance to interact and

collaborate with Prof Carroll Cross and Prof Bruce Ames‟s

groups on how air pollutants interact with human tissues to

cause oxidative damage. As a result of this fruitful collabora-

tion, the one year sabbatical stretched into five

years!

Upon his return to London, Prof Halliwell contin-

ued to excel in research and climbed up the aca-

demic ladder to become a Professor. In 1998, Prof

Halliwell went on another sabbatical to the Nation-

al University of Singapore (NUS). This time he did

not go back to London and is still in Singapore. “I

am contemplating yet another sabbatical, probably

a dangerous thing to do” quips Prof Halliwell.

Prof Halliwell and National Universi-

ty of Singapore Prof Halliwell came to Singapore as a Visiting Pro-

fessor in the Department of Biochemistry, Yong

Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of

Singapore. He was awarded the prestigious Tan

Chin Tuan Centennial Professorship in July 2006.

Open to local and foreign academic staff of NUS,

the Tan Chin Tuan Professorships at NUS are

amongst the most prestigious professorships at the

University and are bestowed upon academics that

have demonstrated an exceptional level of achievement in

their field of study, and made significant contributions to the

academic policies and programmes of their university.

“I believe Singapore is a remarkable place, dedicated to in-

vestment in education and research, which has helped trans-

form this small country with no natural resources into an eco-

nomic powerhouse” says Prof Halliwell. Currently, Prof Halli-

well‟s laboratory is pursuing research in nutritional antioxi-

dants, mechanisms of neurodegeneration, role of iron and zinc

in atherosclerosis and mechanisms of ageing.

“I believe Singa-

pore is a remarka-

ble place, dedicated

to investment in

education and re-

search, which has

helped transform

this small country

with no natural

resources into an

economic power-

house” says Prof.

Halliwell Tan Chin

Tuan Centennial

Professor of the

Department of Bio-

chemistry and

Deputy President

(Research and

Technology) NUS.

Announcements

Page 3

ISSUE 4

We are proud to announce the achievements of our members.

Neuroscience in Singapore “I feel neuroscience is a key research area in Singapore due to

the significant ageing population here” says Prof Halliwell.

Free radical production increases during neuronal damage

and ageing. Prof Halliwell states that translating free radical

research into drug therapy is tough as animal models have

very low predictive value. “Thus identification of free radical

biomarkers in patients is the need of the hour” says Prof Hal-

liwell.

“My current passions are to find novel and interesting re-

search areas relating to preventing dementia and understand-

ing ageing as well as to develop NUS from a top 40 to a top 20

University”.

Advice to young scientists entering the field According to Prof Halliwell picking a right lab for graduate

studies or post-doc is very important. Apart from a main pro-

ject which would help the student to get good publications, side

-projects related to the ongoing work should also be taken up.

This would help the student broaden his/her horizons. “Equally

important is attending and presenting one‟s work in Interna-

tional Conferences and learn from the suggestions/criticisms

made by the international research community” says Prof Hal-

liwell. Amongst these factors Prof Halliwell also feels it is im-

portant to interact with other students, post-docs and academ-

ics‟ who might be facing similar research problems and some-

times find a solution!

“I have learnt a lot from everywhere I go. It‟s good to move

around. Singapore is an excellent research environment and a

great place to live, but free radicals tend to have a short life-

time in one place and spark chain reactions. I hope to spark a

few more things yet.” With this, Prof Halliwell signs off.

Assoc. Professor Samuel Tay, one of the senior

members of SNA receives the “Distinguished

Neuroscientist Award” for his outstanding

contribution to neuroscience research in Sin-

gapore over the years.

For being one of the fore-

most women in neuroscience

research in Singapore, Pro-

fessor Charanjit Kaur re-

ceives the “Outstanding Woman in Neurosci-

ence Research” award.

Assoc. Professor Ong Wei Yi

and Assoc. Professor Soong

Tuck Wah are being honored

with the “Excellence in Neu-

roscience Research Award”

for their groundbreaking

work in the fields of neuro-

degeneration and ion chan-

nel biology respectively.

Assoc. Professor Sanjay

Khanna and Assoc. Profes-

sor Ng Yee Kong are being

felicitated with the

“Neuroscience Educator

Award” for their excep-

tional contribution to neu-

roscience teaching in the

Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS.

Assoc. Professor Samuel Tay and graduate

students of the Department of Anatomy: Ms Janani Manivan-

nan, Ms Ooi Yin Yin and Ms Yao Linli attended

“Neuroscience 2012” confere-

Assoc Prof Tay,

Dept of Anatomy,

NUS.

-ence organized by the Society for Neu-

roscience in New Orleans, USA.

SNA members Mr

Parakalan Ranga-

rajan and Ms

Shweta Jadhav

received the Fed-

eration of Asian-

Oceanian Neuroscinece Socie-

ties’ (FAONS) student travel award to

attend the “FAONS Symposium 2013, in

association with the 33rd Annual meeting

of the Australian Neuroscience Society

(ANS 2013) at Melbourne, Australia from 3rd

-6th February 2013.

SNA student members Ms Janani Manivan-

nan won the "Best Oral Presentation award

(International Conference Category) Academ-

ic Year 2012-2013" while Ms Shweta Jadhav

won the “Best poster award” at the YLLSoM

3rd Annual Congress 2013.

Assoc. Prof S. T

Dheen (Dept of Anatomy, NUS),

Assoc. Prof Prakash Hande (Dept

of Physiology, NUS) along with

SNA student members Ms Sukanya

Shyamasundar, Ms Shweta Jadhav

Mr Parakalan Rangarajan and Mr

Shriram Venkatesan conducted a

joint workshop with the Universi-

ty of Madras and University of

Singapore on “Epigenetics and

Gene Expression” held in the University of Madras, Chennai,

India during 19th-22nd December 2012. This workshop was

sponsored by NUS-India Research Initiative.

Prof Kaur, Dept of

Anatomy, NUS.

Assoc Prof Ong

Wei Yi, Dept of

Anatomy, NUS. Assoc Prof Soong

Tuck Wah, Dept of

Physiology, NUS.

A/Prof Tay with students at

Sfn 2012

Assoc Prof Sanjay

Khanna Dept of Phys-

iology, NUS. Assoc Prof Ng Yee

Kong Dept of

Anatomy, NUS.

A/Prof Dheen with Para-

kalan and Shweta at

FAONS-ANS 2013

Shweta accepting the award from A/P Fred Wong, Assist Dean, Graduate studies, YLLSoM

A/P Dheen, A/P Hande, graduate students Shweta, Parakalan, Sri-ram and Sukanya along with the workshop participants

SfN 2012: A surreal experience

Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2012

conference is the best place for neu-

roscientists around the globe to

showcase their research work, inter-

act with other peers in the field and

understand current and future

trends in the field of neuroscience.

This event took place last year from

13th-17th October, 2012 in New Or-

leans, USA drawing over 28,500

attendees with more than 16,500

poster presentations. We were excited to be a part of this con-

ference and presented our work under the session titled „omics‟.

The experience we gained while attending several talks, poster

sessions and symposiums was overwhelming. The topics were

covered from molecular, behavioral to clinical aspects, which

Page 4 SNA NEWSLETTER

helped us to foresee new

approaches in neuroscience

research.

On the whole, this confer-

ence gave us new dimen-

sions in neuroscience re-

search and helped forge

new contacts with our

peers from different uni-

versities and research insti-

tutions from around the

world. We are thankful to Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

for awarding the travel grant fellowship in order to share our

work at the SfN 2012.

Janani Manivannan and Ooi Yin Yin

Glia in Health and Disease,

a conference purely devot-

ed to basic and applied

research in glia biology

was organized in the pres-

tigious Cold Spring Harbor

Laboratory (CSHL) in

Long Island, New York

from July 19th- 23rd, 2012.

The highlight of this con-

ference is the venue itself –

a century old laboratory

which is possibly the earliest institution setup for studying

genetics and molecular biology. Further, this lab has an

astounding history of having produced 8 Nobel laureates and

hundreds of ground breaking discoveries that form the basis

for modern day medicine.

I arrived at the CSHL with my supervisor (Assoc Prof ST

Dheen) and colleagues (Ms Sukanya and Ms Shweta) with an

equal mix of anxiety and admiration. I was anxious because I

had to present my work to some of the eminent glia scientists

who had gathered for the meeting from around the world. My

admiration for the venue amplified even more when I got a

chance to see Dr. James Watson (co-discoverer of the DNA

double helix with Dr. Francis Crick) having his breakfast in

the same dining hall.

The research work discussed in this meeting gave truly newer

dimensions to the current glia research. A range of topics in-

cluding glia development, neuron-glia interactions, glia func-

tion at synapses, genetic analysis of glial function, glio-

vascular interactions and the session that I was involved in –

microglia function in health and disease made me understand

the indispensability of glial cells in the nervous system. I

would like to thank my supervisor for giving me this wonder-

ful opportunity of attending and presenting my research work

at this conference.

– Parakalan Rangarajan

Glia in Health and Disease 2012 (CSHL, New York, USA)

Parakalan along with Assoc. Prof Dheen

and colleagues Sukanya and Shweta at

the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, New

York, USA, 2012

Yin Yin at “Neuroscience 2012”,

New Orleans, USA, 2012 Janani at “Neuroscience 2012”, New

Orleans, USA, 2012

Events and seminars

The primary goal of SNA is to promote the exchange of in-

formation among researchers. For this purpose, SNA holds

seminars and workshops throughout the year.

In September 2012, the Department of Anatomy and the

Singapore Neuroscience Association (SNA) jointly hosted a

seminar given by Assoc. Professor Chew Sing Yian from the

School of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering, NTU, Singa-

pore on the roles of Nanofiber Topography and sustained

biochemical signaling in Neural Tissue Engineering.

In may 2012, Professor Seth from the Indian Institute of Tox-

icology research, India was invited to give a talk focusing on

platelets and lymphocytes as neuronal model for selected CNS

disorders.

In April 2013, SNA co-organized a seminar jointly with the

Dept. of Anatomy. The speaker was Professor John W. Mac-

donald, Director of the International Center for Spinal Cord

Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Assoc. Professor, at

the Department of Neurology and PM&R at the Johns Hop-

kins School of Medicine, USA. The talk focused on different

therapies from Stem Cells to Activity-Based Restoration Ther-

apies (ABRT) for repairing the damaged spinal cord.

Events and Seminars

Page 5 SNA NEWSLETTER

The Singapore Neuroscience Association (SNA) has been ac-

tively conducting seminars and workshops to help students

better their scientific knowledge. Towards this end, SNA or-

ganized a DNA microarray workshop supported by the

„Neurobiology and Ageing Research Programme‟, NUS;

„Neurodegeneration Research Group‟, NUHS and the Gradu-

ate Students Committee of the Department of Anatomy on

2nd August 2012 at the Center for Life sciences (CeLS, NUS).

The workshop included an overview of the microarray tech-

nology by Mr. Hidayat Sman from Sciencewerke followed by

demonstration and practical session for RNA extraction and

purification for microarray analysis. A brief account of the

different platforms used for microarrays and the advantages

and disadvantages of each was discussed during this session.

The afternoon session was

focused on microarray data

analysis using the

Genespring software by Mr

Li Zhihui, Applications Man-

ager for Computational Biol-

ogy from Genomax. This was

followed by a practical ses-

sion where the participants

tried using the software to

evaluate experimental da-

tasets. It provided an oppor-

tunity to understand the

concepts of microarray data

analysis which is quite diffi-

cult and time-consuming. It

also familiarized the partici-

pants with the Genespring

software which can make the

data analysis process easier

and faster.

The workshop ended with notes of feedback from A/Prof Ong

Wei Yi, A/Prof Dheen and

A/Prof Gavin Dawe. The

workshop was conducted

very successfully and was

an enlightening course for

the participants looking to

work on microarrays.

-Nandhini Kanagaraj

SNA Microarray Workshop –August 2012

Assoc. Prof Ong Wei Yi with stu-

dents at the SNA workshop 2012

SNA Symposium 2012

The Singapore Neurosci-

ence Association (SNA)

organized the “SNA sym-

posium 2012”, on the 19th

of April, 2012 at the Centre

for Life Sciences auditori-

um, NUS. This symposium

was chaired by Assoc. Pro-

fessor Ong Wei-Yi and co-

chaired by Assoc. Professor

Thameem Dheen. The sym-

posium not only attracted

Singapore based neuroscientists

but also scientists from other

countries such as Australia, Ko-

rea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Tai-

wan. Assoc. Professor Samuel

Tay announced the award for

„Lifetime achievement in Neuro-

science’ to Emeritus Professor

Eng-Ang Ling to honor his im-

mense contribution to microglia re-

search. Professor Barry Halliwell, Dep-

uty President for Research and Tech-

nology, NUS presented this award.

Invited speakers - Prof Nobuhiro Yuki,

National University of Singapore, Sin-

gapore; Dr Sharmili Vidyadaran, Uni-

versiti Putra, Malaysia; Prof Sukumal

Chongthammakun Mahidol University,

Thailand; Prof Kim Hyoung Chun Ka-

ngwon National University, South Ko-

rea; A/Prof Lim Kah Leong National

University of Singapore, Singapore; and Prof Xiao Zhicheng

Monash University, Austral-

ia shared their recent re-

search findings on

„Neuroimmune and Neural

Stem Cell Interactions‟. The

symposium also provided

platform for the students to

share their work through

poster and oral presenta-

tions.

-Guru Girijha

F r o m L t o R , A s s o c

Prof Tay, Assoc Prof Dheen, Prof

Barry Halliwell, Prof Kim Hyoung

Chun and Assoc Prof Ong Wei Yi at

the SNA symposium 2012

SNA Symposium 2012 organizing

team

Assoc. Prof Dawe presenting a

token of appreciation to Prof

Xiao Zhicheng

Assoc. Prof Liang Fengyi

presenting a token of ap-

preciation to Prof Nobuhiro

Yuki

Practical session at the SNA mi-

croarray workshop 2012

Assoc Prof Gavin Dawe with partici-

pants at the SNA workshop 2012

Events and Seminars Page 6 SNA NEWSLETTER

In May 2012, the Singapore Neuroscience Association success-

fully conducted the „Singapore Brain Bee Challenge 2012‟ for

school students (aged 14-19 years) with an aim of teaching

students about the brain and to inspire them to pursue careers

in the field of biomedicine. Currently, there are about 150

Brain Bee coordinators worldwide and Assoc Prof S T Dheen

(Dept of Anatomy, NUS), the President of SNA, was nomi-

nated as the National coordinator for Singapore and Ms.

Madhuvika Murugan (Graduate student, Dept. of Anatomy)

was appointed as the local coordinator.

The Singapore Brain Bee Challenge 2012 was well received

and attracted 140 students from 12 schools nationwide. An

orientation session was held on 11th May 2012, to introduce

students to the field of neuroscience and to facilitate their

understanding. The session included key lectures by Assoc

Prof Ng Yee Kong (Dept. of Anatomy), Assoc Prof Sanjay

Khanna (Dept. of Physiology) Yong Loo Lin School of Medi-

cine, NUS and by graduate students (Ms. Sukanya Shya-

masundar, Ms. Shweta Jadhav and Mr. Parakalan Rangara-

jan) from the Dept. of Anatomy. The written examination

conducted on the 30th of May 2012 was attended by 140 stu-

dents from which the top 14 students were selected for oral

examination. The examiner‟s panel consisted of eminent neu-

roscientists, namely, Professor Ling Eng-Ang, Assoc Prof ST

Dheen, Assoc Prof Ong Wei Yi and Assoc Prof Sanjay Khanna

who examined the top 14 students and selected the winners.

The award ceremony

was held on the 4th of

June 2012 and Mr.

James Alexander

(Raffles Institution

(Junior College) won

“The National Brain

Bee Champion 2012”

award. The Champion

received his trophy and

award from the guest

of honor, Professor

Barry Halliwell, Depu-

ty President (Research

and Technology), Na-

tional University of Singapore.

Singapore Brain Bee Challenge 2012

The champion

was awarded a

cash prize of

S$500 and a

travel award of

S$2000 to partic-

ipate in the In-

ternational

Brain Bee Chal-

lenge held in

Cape Town,

South Africa

between the 22nd

-27th of July

2012. The 1st

runner-up of the

Singapore Brain Bee Challenge 2012

Ms. Carmen Chia Jia Yun (River Val-

ley high School) and the and 2nd run-

ner-up Ms. Yeow Pei Zhuang (Raffles

Institution) were presented with a tro-

phy and cash award of S$200 and

S$100 respectively. The top eleven

students were presented with a Certifi-

cate of merit and cash vouchers. To

inspire and motivate young students,

Professor Bay Boon Huat (Head,

Dept. of Anatomy, YLLSoM) deliv-

ered a talk titled “unleashing your

potential” during the award ceremony.

The department of Anatomy and the

Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS has supported the

activities of SNA and was instrumental for making this event

a successful one. The event was sponsored by the Department

of Anatomy (YLLSoM), The Lee Foundation and Kwang Im

Thong Hood Cho Temple Trust. This mega event was featured

in the NUS Newshub as well as the Singapore Tamil newspaper

“Tamil Murasu”.

- Sukanya Shyamasundar

Images: From L to R, Ms. Yeow Pei Zhuang (Raffles

Institution), Ms. Carmen Chia Jia Yun (River Valley

high School), Ms. Madhuvika Murugan (local co-

ordinator), Assoc Prof S T Dheen (President, SNA),

guest of honor Professor Barry Halliwell, (Deputy

President, Research and Technology, NUS) and Mr.

James Alexander (Raffles Institution (Junior College),

the national brain bee champion 2012.

Article featured in “Tamil Murasu” Images:

From L to R, Ms. Shweta Jadhav, Ms

Sukanya Shyamasundar, Assoc Prof Dheen,

Mr Parakalan Rangarajan, Ms Madhuvika

Murugan, Ms Nimmy Babay, Ms Nandhini

Kanagaraj, Ms Janani Manivannan

Prof Bay encouraging

students at the Singapore

Brain Bee Award ceremo-

ny 2012

SNA Travel Fellowships

Singapore Neuroscience Association is pleased to announce the SNA Travel Fellowships for Young Investigators (Graduate Students and Post-doc Fellows) to attend the “Neuroscience 2013” conference to be held in San Diego, USA from 9th to 13th November 2013. The applicant :

1. Should be a SNA member (for at least 1 year)

2. Should have submitted an abstract as a presenting author

3. Should submit a letter/email of recommendation from his/ her supervisor.

The number of fellowships is limited.

Applicant should submit the abstract to Assoc. Professor Gavin Dawe (phcdgs@nus.edu.sg) on or before 13 May 2013.

The Fellowship recipients will be notified as soon as decision is made.