sPAN - Singapore Polytechnic

SPotlight
Saving the world –
by tackling infectious
diseases
Dr Lisa Ng, Senior Scientist at the
Singapore Immunology Network,
has worked with two of Asia’s most
significant infectious diseases in
recent history – SARS and H5N1.
When I first met Dr Lisa Ng at the
Graduation Ceremony on 23 May 2007,
she had just delivered the graduation
address to the fresh graduands from
the School of Chemical Life Sciences.
She really came across as down-toearth
and unassuming despite the many
achievements she had chalked up since
graduating from SP in 1993 with a
Diploma in Biotechnology, just 14 years
ago.
What was really striking was the earnest
manner in which she told the new batch
of graduands that “you have chosen a
path that is not only challenging and
demanding, but one that will enable
you to make a difference not only to
Singapore but also for the betterment
of mankind.” This is the kind of passion
and idealism that came across when
I interviewed her again for this story.
When asked what it is that drives her to
work as hard as she does. She described
it a kind of naïve idealism that she
can really make a difference and that
something good will come out of what
she is doing. When asked if she was an
optimist. Her response was yes and no –
she gave the example of putting up grant
proposals, even though she is never sure
if it would go through, she still needed
to be optimistic enough to push ahead.
Indeed, spoken like a true realist.
After graduating from SP in 1993, Lisa
went on to obtain her BSc (Hons) in
Biochemistry in UK and PhD in Molecular
Virology in Singapore. Lisa currently
holds a joint appointment as a Senior
Scientist at the Singapore Immunology
Network and at the Genome Institute
of Singapore, Agency for Science,
Technology and Research (A*STAR). A
Molecular Virologist by training, Lisa has
worked on diseases such as hepatitis,
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
and influenza. Her contributions included
the development of the SARS Diagnostic
kit with Roche Diagnostics, and the
Avian Influenza H5N1 Diagnostics kit.
Lisa’s current research is on infectious
diseases from the immunological stand
point with specific interests in preventive
and therapeutic vaccines, diagnostics,
and other products. She also serves
as a Scientist in the National Public
Health Laboratory at the Ministry of
Health Singapore. Lisa was awarded
the Singapore Millennium Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2003, and
was voted “Most Inspiring Woman”
in 2005 by Women’s Weekly for her
contributions. More recently, she is a
recipient of the Biovision Next Fellows
2007 in France.
What was life like during her days in
SP?
Lisa admitted that she was not very active
and tended to focus on her studies. So it
was mostly lectures, tutorials, laboratory
and library. She recalls that through her
years in school in Singapore and even
in her university days in UK, she had
seen lecturers who were encouraging
and those who were not. It was the
encouraging teachers who made all
the difference. She shared that she had
the opportunity to visit the new School
of Chemical Life Sciences building after
the Graduation Ceremony this year and
she was really impressed by the spanking
new facilities there. She described the
facilities as being as good as some of
the research institutes and definitely far
better than many overseas universities
which tended to have very old facilities.
Lisa has had the opportunity to work
with fellow researchers in the region.
In fact, soon after this interview, she
had to fly off to Maldives and then
back to Sri Lanka, where she had been
the previous week. She really marvels
at the determination and gumption of
colleagues in lesser developed countries.
Without the top notch facilities available
in Singapore, they still make do with
what they have to do what they must
do. She finds their drive to achieve
despite such overwhelming odds truly
inspiring.
What are the three most important
things in her life (besides career and
research)?
Without hesitation, she responded; first
her parents; second, she loves to travel.
She has gone snow skiing in Bulgaria,
hiking in the UK and explored the deserts
in Egypt and America. She would like
to visit more of the lesser developed
countries. She also loves music and
exercise. She plays the piano and does
ballet as well.
What’s Lisa’s advice to SP students
who aspire to follow in her
footsteps?
“Don’t limit your options. Do whatever
is necessary to keep your options
open.” Lisa mentioned that many of
her previous course mates had stopped
doing laboratory work. She said that it is
necessary to grow oneself and upgrade
to remain in the field.
Borrowing again from Lisa’s graduation
address, she said: “I come from an
ordinary and humble family, and we lead
normal lives like everyone else. It is all
within a person’s reach. If what I have
done is considered extraordinary, then I
am sure it is possible for many people out
there, especially you. I’ll like to share a
favourite quote by Marie Curie which has
helped me gain strength and optimism in
times of difficulties. She said: ‘Life is not
easy for any of us. But what of that? We
must have perseverance and above all
confidence in ourselves. We must believe
that we are gifted for something and
that this thing, at whatever cost, must be
attained.’” ----OTH
9