OPENING SPEECH BY MR LIM CHUAN POH, CHAIRMAN A*STAR AT THE
6TH SCIENTIFIC MEETING OF ASIA PACIFIC DIABETES OBESITY (APDO)
STUDY GROUP
FRIDAY, 27 AUGUST 2008
EXPLORATION THEATRETTE, MATRIX BUILDING, BIOPOLIS
Distinguished speakers
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good morning to all of you.
It is my pleasure to join you for the opening of the 6th Scientific Meeting of AsiaPacific Diabetes and Obesity Study Group.
Let me first extend a very warm welcome to all of you, especially to our overseas
speakers and participants.
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore
Bioimaging Consortium is proud to host this event.
An event that brings together renowned experts in the region to discuss diabetes
and obesity, one of the most prevalent and debilitating diseases in the world, and
increasingly in the Asia Pacific region.
Indeed, the Study Group had come a long way since the idea was
conceptualised in 1999 and eventually made possible in 2004.
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It is generally agreed that Asia Pacific, and in particular Asia is the major site of a
rapidly emerging epidemic of diabetes 1 .
Since the mid-1990s, the diabetes rates have mirrored that of the rapid economic
growth in Asia - Taiwan reported a prevalence of 9.2% in 1996, up from 4.9% in
1985;
Korea from less than 1% in 1960 to 6.9% in 1997;
and India reported an overall prevalence of 4.3% in 2002.
In Singapore, diabetes prevalence rose from 2% when first measured in 1975 to
9% of adults in 1998.
Diabetes is now the 7th most common cause of death in Singapore.
Besides the increasing prevalence, the disease also appears to manifest
differently in Asian population.
For example, there is a growing incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Asian
children and teenagers.
Hence what appears to affect the minority of youth in the world is becoming a
problem of the majority in Asia.
It also appears that certain ethnic groups are at greater risk than others:
Malay and Indian women with rates of over 14% and Indian men at 17% had a
much higher prevalence compared with the US average prevalence rate of 7%. 2
1
King H, Aubert RE, Herman WH. Global burden of diabetes, 1995-2025. Diabetes Care
1998;21:1414-31
2
http://www.diabetesatlas.org/content/economic-impacts-diabetes
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As Asia Pacific countries grapple with the rising disease burden, we hope that
this Asia Pacific Study Group Meeting would facilitate a more focused look at the
disease with an Asian perspective that could allow our community to better
understand and manage the problem.
With this in mind, A*STAR and the local research community have initiated a set
of programmes to better understand the molecular basis and disease biology of
diabetes and obesity and I will briefly describe some of them.
For example, in the Singapore Bio-imaging Consortium, cutting-edge imaging
techniques are used along with modern biological methods to study molecular
control of insulin and glucagon secretion;
and to investigate how hormones regulate animal feeding behavior via their
actions on the central nervous system.
In addition, SBIC has joined force with the Graduate Medical School of DukeNUS to establish a close partnership in metabolic disease research.
In another of A*STAR’s institute, the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences or
SICS, they are in partnership with the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute to
develop a comprehensive research programme in Metabolic Disease in
Singapore.
The programme aims to address the role of epigenetic and developmental
factors in the pathology pathway to such metabolic diseases.
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In addition, Prof Judith Swain, Executive Director of SICS, and Dr Han Weiping
co-founded a Metabolic Diseases Interest Group (MIG) to serve as a forum for
metabolic diseases experts in Singapore to interact and to initiate new
interdisciplinary research collaborations.
Researchers from A*STAR’s Institute of Medical Biology and NUS are also now
able to develop an unlimited number of pure insulin-producing cells from mouse
embryonic stem cells (ESCs).
These pure insulin-producing cells have the same sub-cellular structures as the
insulin-producing cells found in the pancreas and are highly effective in treating
diabetes.
This is a breakthrough which will pave the way for using stem cells to treat
diabetes.
A*STAR is also actively involved in national metabolic disease research
programmes.
Researchers from SICS and A*STAR’s Genome Institute or GIS are part of the
study team led by Prof Chong Yap Seng of the Singapore’s National University
Health System.
This study team is trying to find out whether Type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity
starts in the womb, and if so what can best be done to prevent it.
More than 1000 pregnant women have been recruited in a study that follows their
infants during the pregnancy to 3 years after their births.
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The aim is to identify epigenetic causes of the disease and how targeted
intervention can reduce metabolic disease development in childhood and
likewise, reduce the risk of later disease development.
Prof Chong’s project is supported by a $25m research grant under the
Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship Programme.
Besides the strong academic linkages that have been formed, industry has also
taken a strong interest in the metabolic disease research carried out here.
For example, we have major research collaborations with pharmaceutical
companies such as Abbott Nutrition and Lilly Singapore Centre for Drug
Discovery.
We expect to see more such collaborations with industry on diabetes treatment
and obesity control as we continue to expand our scope and delve deeper into
the subject.
All these programmes taken together will enable Singapore to make a useful
contribution to the APDO study group.
At the same time, they are also useful platforms for the research community in
Singapore to build collaborations with the wider research community in the Asia
Pacific region.
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On that note, let me take this opportunity to commend Dr Han Weiping (Head,
Lab of Metabolic Medicine, SBIC) and the APDO Organising Committee for their
hard work and commitment in organising and bringing this event to Singapore.
I am confident that all of you would benefit greatly from these two days of
presentations by some of the most outstanding researchers in this region and the
interactions.
It leaves me therefore to wish everyone a productive 2 days at the Biopolis and
also some delightful moments outside of the Biopolis.
Thank you.
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