About A*STAR IHDP
The A*STAR Institute for Human Development and Potential (A*STAR IHDP) – formerly known as the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) – is host to a range of research activities that emphasise human potential and opportunities to improve health and well-being across the life course. We enable this through our research, as well as the support and participation of multiple ecosystem partners within and beyond A*STAR.
Through our work, we hope to enable communities and societies to be better versions of themselves, through opportunities to understand and access ladders for improved health and well-being. These include observational studies, pilot interventions, and evidence recommendations to practitioners and policy makers.
Our aim is to be a lead institute contributing to Singapore's vision to build human capital and potential, as part of the Human Health and Potential domain in RIE2025. Our strong foundational capabilities in translational research, renewed focus areas and commitment to supporting Singapore’s needs in population health will help advance human potential, health and well-being.
A Message from Our Executive Director
Professor Johan Eriksson
Executive Director
A*STAR Institute for Human Development and Potential
Our History
Internationally acclaimed physician-scientist Professor Judith Swain was invited by A*STAR in the early noughties to spearhead Singapore’s clinical and translational research efforts. A year before SICS (now A*STAR IHDP) was founded, she met with the late Nobel Laureate Dr Sydney Brenner – the then Chairman of A*STAR’s Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) – in La Jolla, California, to discuss what opportunities laid ahead with the imminent launch of A*STAR’s first research institute devoted to developing translational and clinical research programmes. Towards the second bottle of wine, the scientists had a light-bulb moment that gave rise to the institute's moniker.
On 20 April 2007, the research institute was officially launched with Professor Swain as its Founding Executive Director. The same year, Sir Peter Gluckman was appointed Programme Director for Growth, Development and Metabolism and is now the institute’s Chief Scientific Officer. Professor Chong Yap Seng was Executive Director from 2015 to 2020. Professor Johan Eriksson took over the reins in 2020 and has been A*STAR IHDP's Executive Director since.
A*STAR IHDP is strategically located within the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) medical campus to maximise the synergistic opportunities offered through proximity to clinician-investigators and patient/participant populations. Since its inception in 2007, the institute has developed programmes that have contributed significantly to Singapore’s international scientific reputation and economic development. The bottle [of wine] that was partly responsible for the institute’s name was autographed by Professor Swain and Dr Brenner, and now sits in a display cabinet at the Brenner Centre for Molecular Medicine where A*STAR IHDP is housed – a light-hearted reminder of the institute’s earnest beginnings.
Previously known as the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), the research institute was relaunched as the A*STAR Institute for Human Development and Potential (A*STAR IHDP) on 7 August 2024. This milestone moment marks the beginning of our next chapter that reflects an expanded ambition to address national priorities and health needs surrounding adolescence well-being, mental health, and healthy ageing.
From SICS to A*STAR IHDP
In the following video, our leadership – past and present – and collaborators share how SICS' evolution into the A*STAR IHDP continues to advance human potential, health and well-being in Singapore.
Meet Our People
Discover the leaders and researchers driving our scientific programmes and advancing human development, health and well-being.