Health & Well-being

The project aims to understand and improve the delivery and uptake of preventative screening practices for breast cancer, particularly for those at higher genetic risk for the disease. The potential impact of the project would be the successful implementation that bridges end-user needs and what the system can provide puts “the tiny red dot” on the world map as one of the pioneers in integrating state-of-the-art breast cancer risk prediction tools in breast cancer screening, with a real potential to transform breast cancer screening in Singapore.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Li Jingmei (Women's Health and Genetics Lab; GIS)

This project aims to investigate the neurodevelopmental risks for human offspring exposed to gestational diabetes and explore the protective factors to help children exposed to hyperglycemia during pregnancy.  There is a translational potential with the identification of modifiable factors that could be targeted to minimize the offspring neurodevelopmental risks associated with gestational diabetes.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Zhang Han (Human Development; SICS)

The objective of this project is to understand the core features of positive mental health in adolescents. We seek to understand how the different dimensions are interconnected, which dimensions are more important to the maintenance of adolescents’ positive mental health, and how these dimensions fluctuate over time.​ 

Principal Investigator: Dr. Desiree Phua (Translational Neurosciences; SICS)

The project introduces a proposed study to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment and psychosocial functioning, trust behaviors, interpersonal distance, and social touch preferences in young people, as well as to explore how maltreatment affects neural processes related to trust, interpersonal distance, and touch. This study is considered innovative as it combines behavioral and neuroimaging approaches to understand the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying childhood maltreatment-related abnormalities in psychosocial functioning.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Lena Lim (Translational Neuroscience; SICS)

The project emphasizes the significance of dementia in the elderly population as a growing public health challenge. The need for early interventions to identify and modify risk factors for dementia is highlighted, as traditional clinical assessments are costly and time-consuming. The project aims to use a mixed-methods approach to explore how digital health interventions, can impact elderly adoption of preventive measures and health-related self-regulation behavior for dementia prevention in the context of Singapore. The goal is to create a dementia risk screening index for self-administration and personalized interventions, shedding light on the use of digital health interventions for dementia prevention and health promotion.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Jason Yue Yanzhen (Social and Cognitive Computing; IHPC)

The project highlights concerns about online gaming and gambling in Singapore, with a focus on the increasing popularity of products offering random rewards for purchase. Current efforts to control such addictions have been limited and ineffective, possibly because they target specific aspects rather than taking a holistic approach. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the links between purchasing random rewards and problem gaming or gambling behaviors to develop more effective interventions. The success of the project aims to provide insights for policymakers and game developers in Singapore to formulate effective policies and interventions to safeguard the well-being of young adults. These insights may also have relevance on an international scale.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Serenella Tolomeo (SST HTCO/Social and Cognitive Computing; IHPC)