Duke / Duke-NUS Research Collaboration Pilot Projects

Request for Proposals for funding in 2025

Duke University (Duke) and Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) are pleased to announce a call for proposals for collaborative research pilot projects between faculty based in Durham with those based in Singapore. The goal of this program is the development of international research teams that will advance basic, translational, and clinical research. This Request for Application (RFA) will support applications on the research theme “Comparing USA and Singapore Populations Using Novel Technologies and Strategies.”

There are several important disease conditions that differ in incidence, clinical manifestation, prognosis and therapy response between Asian and non-Asian populations. Selected examples include various malignancies (e.g. liver, stomach, EGFR-mutated lung cancer), disease-associated symptoms and sub-symptoms (e.g. “lean” diabetes, diabetic end-stage kidney disease), patient outcomes despite overtly similar standards of clinical and therapeutic management (e.g. mental health). Besides differences in population genetics, Asian and non-Asian populations can also differ significantly in their exposure to infectious agents, environmental challenges (e.g. heat-stress and climate change), and dietary/nutritional intake, all of which can also modify clinical and disease trajectories. Importantly, insights explaining these differences may highlight new therapeutic and intervention strategies in both populations. We seek to leverage the 20-year international partnership between Duke and Duke-NUS to explore such “East-West” differences, leveraging the advanced capabilities of both campuses.

In this RFA, we are seeking applications that will undertake sophisticated analyses of clinical cohorts between Singapore and Durham, using novel technologies (e.g. genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, imaging) and analysis strategies (e.g. artificial intelligence, federated learning) to clarify the basis of these differences. Priority will be given to applications resulting in high-dimensionality, integrated and deidentified Duke/Duke-NUS data sets that can form the seeds of future grant applications and/or that could support future commercialization or industry collaborations in both countries, and ultimately accessed by the larger Duke/Duke-NUS community. Applications where cross-transfer of technologies and capabilities from one country to the other are explicitly stated will be preferred. Funding from this RFA should not be used to recruit and assemble new cohorts, but should focus on already existing cohorts, data sets, and biobanked samples.

For each project, USD $100,000 will be available to the Duke PI and SGD $100,000 to the Duke-NUS PI. Awards are for 2 years, though a single no-cost extension of an additional 6 months may be considered upon request. Applications will be evaluated according to the scientific merit of the proposal, and the strength and clarity of the collaboration between the Duke and Duke-NUS Co-PIs.

For the purpose of this award:

• Duke-NUS faculty are defined as based primarily in Singapore and holding Duke-NUS Tenure/ Research / Educator / Practice Track appointments as Assistant Professor or above, including faculty in SingHealth who hold a Clinical or Adjunct appointment with Duke-NUS.

• Duke faculty are defined as those who hold regular rank Duke appointment at the Assistant Professor level or above.

Further Information Regarding Research at Duke and Duke-NUS:

Duke-NUS

https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/research

https://www.singhealthdukenus.com.sg/

Duke

https://medschool.duke.edu/research

https://research.duke.edu/