Research Fellow, Population and Global Health [LKCMedicine]

The Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) trains doctors who put patients at the centre of their exemplary care. The School, which offers both undergraduate and graduate programmes, is named after local philanthropist Tan Sri Dato Lee Kong Chian. Established in 2010 by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in partnership with Imperial College London, LKCMedicine aims to be a model for innovative medical education and a centre for transformative research. The School’s primary clinical partner is the National Healthcare Group, a leader in public healthcare recognised for the quality of its medical expertise, facilities and teaching. The School is transitioning to an NTU medical school ahead of the 2028 successful conclusion of the NTU-Imperial partnership to set up a Joint Medical School. In August 2024, we welcomed our first intake of the NTU MBBS programme, that has been recently enhanced to include themes like precision medicine and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, with an expanded scope in the medical humanities. Graduates from the five-year undergraduate medical degree programme will have a strong understanding of the scientific basis of medicine, with an emphasis on technology, data science and the humanities.

LKCMedicine is seeking to appoint a full-time Research Fellow to work on the Health-Driven Design for Cities (HD4) study. Jointly led by Prof Nick Wareham at University of Cambridge and Prof John Chambers at LKCMedicine, HD4 is a large-scale population study aiming to develop the evidence base for interventions that impact the upstream determinants of health in cities. It exploits a unique opportunity to work synergistically with the SG100K cohort study, augmenting it with data characterising the individual environmental exposures of the cohort participants.

SG100K, spearheaded by Prof. John Chambers, is a landmark population cohort study of 100,000 Singaporeans of diverse ethnic background. The cohort has completed recruitment of >80,000 participants at the point of this posting. With comprehensive behavioral, phenotypic, and multi-omic data, and electronic health record linkage enriched baseline phenotyping and evaluation of prospective outcomes, the study represents a state-of-the art platform for researchers to understand the etiology and pathogenesis of diverse disease outcomes in Asia, and to generate insights that have the potential to improve health outcomes for Asian populations globally.

The appointee is expected to work on a pilot study to recruit participants from the existing SG100K cohort to test the feasibility of various remote assessment techniques that we are considering deploying in the cohort. These include looking at smartphone-based location tracking, dietary assessment, physical activity monitoring, home fitness testing, and home environmental exposures such as temperature, humidity, and air pollution sensors. Overall study plan will be shared once the appointee comes on board.

The appointee shall work under the direction of the LKCMedicine-based and Cambridge-based HD4 teams, e.g., Professor John Chambers, Asst Professor Marie Loh, Professor Nita Forouhi, Assoc Professor Soren Brage, Dr Louise Foley, etc. The Research Fellow will support coordination and integration of activities across themes. The appointee will have a unique opportunity to work with a leading interdisciplinary team of epidemiologists, clinicians, scientists, engineers and architects to investigate how individuals move in space and time in Singapore, their corresponding exposure to risk factors that intersect with urban environments, and how this influences their behaviour and health. There may be opportunities of sponsored travel to University of Cambridge. This role will be based primarily in the Population and Global Health Department NTU LKCMedicine in Singapore.  

The Research Fellow will play a key role in supporting both Professor Chambers’ and the team, mainly in, but not limited to, the following roles:

• Execute this study and work out the details, liaising with the SG100K team to shortlist participants for recruitment

• Run focus groups to get user feedback on procedures and concerns

• Check data flows, analyze the data to inform future large-scale implementation

• Write up and publish results in peer-reviewed journals

• Liaising with researchers from collaborating institutes

Key Competencies and Requirements:

• PhD in behavioural epidemiology, environmental science and / or equivalent experience in a field involving remote health / dietary assessment or location tracking

• Strong communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills, experience working in a large research group is desirable

• Fluent in spoken and written English

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, with a pro-active and motivated mindset, attention to detail

Hiring Institution: LKC