Singapore to build skin research institute with 80 mln USD investment

Singapore is committing close to 100 million Singapore dollars (79.7 million US dollars) to skin research with the announcement of the Skin Research Institute of Singapore released on Thursday. The institute is a collaboration between the Agency for Science Technology and Research, National Skin Centre and Nanyang Technological University. It will "harness the expertise of scientists, clinicians and engineers to foster and conduct high impact, inter-disciplinary skin research." According to the joint press release, one in three people worldwide suffers from a skin disorder, while there are also significant differences between how skin diseases present in Asian and Western populations, as well as in how these respond to treatment. Singapore is an ideal place to investigate the diseases partly because of its high-quality biomedical and translational research, as well as its multi-ethnic population, the institutes said. The institute's research will focus on areas including eczema, allergy and inflammation, pigmentary disorders, wound healing, hair conditions and skin ageing. The three organisations will pool their funds, talent and resources on the new institute, which is expected to be ready by end-2015, local media Channel NewsAsia reported.