NTU sets up new S$30m institute of structural biology

NANYANG Technological University (NTU) said on Thursday that it is setting up a new institute to advance research in the life sciences, with a focus on ramping up Singapore's efforts in finding cures for human diseases.

The S$30 million NTU Institute of Structural Biology (NISB) is the first of its kind in Singapore dedicated to structural biology research.

When fully operational in the first quarter of 2016, it will have state-of-the-art imaging instruments, with expertise from over 70 top biomedical scientists and researchers in NTU and Singapore under one roof.

Through multidisciplinary collaborations at the institute, researchers and scientists will have access to an extensive pool of techniques and expertise from multiple disciplines, which promote innovation and breakthroughs in healthcare.

The institute will be led by Daniela Rhodes, an international expert in structural biology who worked with several Nobel Prize winners during her 42 years at Cambridge University's MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

The institute's research projects currently in the pipeline will in part be funded by the S$24 million Tier 3 Ministry of Education research grant won by Professor Rhodes in 2013, NTU added.