Joint funding of 4.5 million SGD will support five research teams based
in Singapore and Australia working on research projects that will
address infectious diseases including tuberculosis, dengue fever and
influenza.

The projects will be conducted under research
collaboration between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research
(A*STAR) in Singapore and the National Health and Medical Research
Council in Australia (NHMRC).

A joint press release says that
the A*STAR will contribute 2.2 million SGD to the funding with the
remaining 2.3 million SGD by the NHMRC.

A*STAR Chairman, Lim
Chuan Poh, was quoted as saying that “Our experience in the past decade
with SARS, avian flu and H1N1 has taught us that in an increasingly
connected world, understanding and managing emerging infectious diseases
are a matter of highest priority for all countries. By partnering with
our colleagues from Australia, we will be able to develop new
approaches to better combat these threats to this region and the world.”

Infectious
diseases affect the health and productivity of hundreds and thousands
of people in Australia and around the region each year. This
collaboration demonstrates Australia’s capacity to join other
world-leading research bodies and achieve much more than if countries
tried to tackle these issues individually, said NHMRC CEO, Professor
Warwick Anderson.-VNA