SINGAPORE EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

the Singapore Eye Research Institute( SERI) was founded 1997, Singapore had one of the highest rates of myopia in the world. In the close-to 30 years since then, the institute has been paving the way for significant improvements in how eye diseases are treated and prevented – not just in Asia, but on a global scale. This has largely been through its landmark research projects and focus on translational medicine – taking basic scientific discoveries into clinical applications to improve patient health.“ In the early days, SERI was really focused on research,” says Professor Jodhbir Mehta, Executive Director of SERI.“ Even back then, myopia was a big risk factor for eye disease within the Southeast Asian population – with over 80 % of adult Singaporeans having myopia.” Over the years this focus has evolved beyond research, says Jodhbir( or Jod to his friends and colleagues).“ I think that the translational side – or the link to clinical outcomes – has always been there,” he says.“ But over the years, it has changed what we’ ve been researching with the introduction of new trends and platforms.“ We now have a separate AI and digital health platform, and we’ ve developed other platforms that we think are vital for translational research.” SERI has a significant preclinical platform, as well as a clinical trials platform – allowing its team to follow the pathway from the laboratory bench to the deployment of clinical solutions.“ For our staff, it shows them a route where they can translate their research work,” Jod says.“ I think that’ s been one of the core functions for SERI over the more recent years.”

Improving patient outcomes For Jod, one of the key advantages to the way SERI operates is the relationship it has built between prioritising clinical outcomes and championing research innovation.“ We see patients every single day from the Singapore National Eye Centre,” he says.“ That really acts as a stimulus for all of us to improve outcomes for the individual.” The goal in this work, Jod explains, is to“ hopefully see the biopharmaceutical or technological device developed to go to patients, so you can try to improve outcomes for individuals – especially for the people with advanced visual loss.” He suggests that promoting a culture of curiosity among employees is essential to best facilitate these positive outcomes for both individual patients and wider research innovations.“ There’ s several things we do to encourage curiosity,” he says.“ One of them is looking at a base level of research, to understand the outcomes and results of what we’ re currently doing – or the status quo at that time period. That

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