OUR TEAM

Director

Yee Kwang leads BMSIPO with a passion for translating the public research and innovation efforts across Singapore to forge impactful and outcome-driven partnerships with industry.  He has a keen interest in understanding opportunities that future advances in science and technology could bring in disrupting or transforming current industry landscapes.  Yee Kwang also leads business intelligence and development at the Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium.

Previously, he was at the Singapore Economic Development Board, in various industry and policy roles. This included a stint at the Human Capital Leadership Institute, where he was Head of Partnership Development.

He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. His Master’s research focus was on compound semiconductor device modelling. He also holds a Graduate Certificate of Intellectual Property Law from the IP Academy.

Director

Soon Tuck oversees the BioPharma and Ecosystem Development teams at BMSIPO, where he seeks to establish strategic partnerships across the private and public sectors to drive translational research.

In addition, he heads the Business Intelligence and Development Unit of the Cardiovascular Disease National Collaborative Enterprise (CADENCE) national platform.

Previously, Soon Tuck was Head of the Industry Alliance Office of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), A*STAR. He holds a PhD in Cell Biology from the National University of Singapore and a MBA from the Singapore Management University.

Senior Associate

Pearlyn supports the BMSIPO team on administrative matters.

She was previously an Executive Secretary to the Deputy Chief Executive (Academic & Clinical Planning office), at National University Health System. Before that, she was a Senior Secretary and Administration and Facilities Leader at Eli Lilly’s clinical research unit.

Pearlyn holds a Graduate Diploma in Human Resource from the Management Development Institute of Singapore, and a Diploma in Management Studies from SIM Global Education.

Senior Assistant Director

Jabez focuses on developing initiatives and programmes that facilitate industry partnerships within the ecosystem. As part of the National Biotech Working Committee, he works closely with the rest of the HHP community to drive Singapore’s National Biotech Initiative, and plays a key role in other national projects such as Shorten Time to Execution for Multi-party Project Agreements (STEMPA) initiative, and community building through the HHP Placemaking and other Community-of-Practice events.

Jabez spent many years working on in-vitro reconstitution of fully defined biochemical systems, where he specialised in epigenetic readers and writers, and their impact on transcription. He subsequently applied this knowledge in drug design, where he collaborated on the development of a first-in-class inhibitor for PR domain-containing proteins.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then went on to earn a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Rockefeller University.

Senior Manager

Eshu drives biomedical initiatives within the Singapore ecosystem. In addition, he works on several national programmes and supports the BMSIPO’s MedTech team on diagnostics.

Previously, he worked as Chief Scientific Officer of Luminicell as its R&D lead. In that role, he  was instrumental in fostering R&D partnerships with research institutions and key pharmaceutical companies. Prior to his stint at Luminicell, he was a Process Technologist at one of the India’s biggest refinery Reliance Industries Limited.  

Eshu graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from India Institute of Technology Madras. He earned his PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the National University of Singapore.

Manager

Claire works on Singapore’s biomedical ecosystem-wide initiatives.  In addition, she supports the BioPharma team.

Previously, she was Section Managing Editor at an academic publishing institute, focusing on editorial work and engaging with academics internationally.

Claire graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry and a minor in Forensic Science. She further pursued multi-omics research in biomedical applications, graduating with a PhD from the National University of Singapore Graduate School, Integrative Sciences and Engineering Programme.

Senior Assistant Director

Farah focuses on cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine research programmes. In addition, she supports multi-institutional research programs such as the Asian neTwork for Translational Research and Cardiovascular Trials: Human Imaging, Genetics and Biomarkers Study (ATTRaCT).

Prior to joining BMSIPO, Farah was at the A*STAR’s Institute of Bioengineering and Bioimaging, where she was involved in developing and managing various biotech-related academic projects and industry collaborations. Farah has a PhD in Biomedical Applications of In Vitro Systems, and a Bachelor of Life Sciences from the National University of Singapore.

Senior Manager

Kevin manages several key pharmaceutical MNC accounts. He helps these companies to understand the research and clinical ecosystem in Singapore, including providing guidance to match their research needs to local research performers.

In addition, he supports national programmes, such as the Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation Singapore (CRIS) and the National Nucleic Acid Therapeutics (NATi) programme, in their business development strategies.

Prior to joining BMSIPO, Kevin trained as a scientist in the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he worked on structural biology, synthetic biology and enzyme engineering.

He earned his PhD in synthetic biology from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science Degree (Major in Life Sciences) from NUS.

Manager

Pei Ling focuses on building strategic engagements between local research performers and key pharmaceutical MNCs.

Previously, Pei Ling was a scientist at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), where she conducted research in the field of cancer therapeutics. She engages various stakeholders in the startup ecosystem to help in their science communication efforts. Pei Ling is also a published freelance science writer.

Pei Ling obtained her BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Brown University before receiving her PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Cancer Biology) from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Deputy Director

Sarah leads the Local Biotech team at BMSIPO where she spearheads strategic planning and engages with stakeholders in the public and private sectors to foster innovative partnerships for Singapore-based biotech companies to grow. In addition to her role at BMSIPO, she is actively involved in the National Biotech Working Committee, which focuses on enriching the local biotech start-up ecosystem in Singapore.

Previously, Sarah was Head of International Relations and Partnerships at A*STAR, enhancing the agency’s global outreach and network through international engagements and other key initiatives in Southeast Asia. During her time in A*STAR, she also held positions in the Planning and Policy division, as well as in Corporate Communications office.

Sarah has a PhD in Neural Stem Cell Biology, and a Bachelor of Science (with Honours) degree from the National University of Singapore.

Senior Manager

Esther focuses on strategic engagements between Singapore biotech companies and research institutions to develop public-private partnerships.

Before joining BMSIPO, Esther was a Senior Scientist at a local gene therapy biotech company, driving their lead programme to treat dilated cardiomyopathy. Esther received her postdoctoral training as a pre-clinical scientist specialising in antivirals and vaccines against infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School.

She holds a PhD in Integrated Biology and Medicine from Duke-NUS Medical School and a Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Assistant Manager

Germaine works closely with local biotech companies, helping them to establish win-win partnerships with research institutions.

She started as a Research Officer at Professor Giulia Adriani’s laboratory in A*STAR’s Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN). Besides laboratory management, she worked on the development of 3D tumour models using microfluidic devices.

Germaine obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Life Sciences (Honours) from the National University of Singapore.

Senior Assistant Director

Shi Yun leads the Medtech team at BMSIPO where she facilitates research and innovation partnerships in Medtech with strategic industry partners and public sector research, clinical and academic institutions. In addition, she also leads corporate and strategic planning at the Diagnostics Development Hub.

Prior to her role at BMSIPO, Shi Yun was at the A*STAR Biomedical Research Council, where she was involved in the development and support of various Medtech-related grants and research programmes.

Shi Yun holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University and a PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from the National University of Singapore Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering.

Senior Manager

Yu Ying focuses on medical devices such as clinical diagnostic equipment and implants.

She started as a Management Associate at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where she was involved in optimising hospital operations, establishing of new medical facilities and events management. She then went on to ZEISS as a Product Consultant for cataract surgery.

Yu Ying holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Life Sciences from National University of Singapore.

Senior Manager

Mark’s work at BMSIPO is centred around diagnostics. Previously, he was Head of Science and Technology Research Scientist at Cell ID where he was involved in business development, technology transfer, and assay development.

He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University and a PhD in Future Healthcare from the Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Nanyang Technological University.