STATEMENTBYPATRICKTAN–29July2011

-Whatisyourresponsetoonlinecommentsthatsuggestthatyoumayhavereceived

 preferentialtreatment?

Answer:IamproudtohaveservedSingaporeduringmyNationalService.Itisdeeply

upsettingtomethatrumourshavebeencirculatingthatimpugnmyintegrityandthe

institutionofNationalService.

AftercompletingmyA-levelsin1987,IjoinedmycohortenteringNationalServicein1988.

AftercompletingBasicMilitaryTrainingandOfficerCadetSchool(JuniorTerm),Iwas

awardedaPresident’sScholarshipandaLokeChengKimScholarshiptostudymedicinein

theUnitedStates,wheremedicaltrainingtypicallycomprisesofapre-medicaldegree

followedbyagraduatemedicaldegree.ThisisalongerprocessthaninSingaporeortheUK,

butIchoseitbecauseIbelieveditwasthebesttrainingforamedicalscientist.Imademy

casetotheMinistryofDefenceandwasgrantedpermissiontopursuethiscourseofstudy.

IattendedHarvardUniversity(late1988-1992)forpre-medicalstudiesandmovedon

directlywithoutinterruptiontoStanfordUniversity,whereIcompletedanMD-PhDdegree

underthehighly-selectiveMedicalScientistTrainingProgram(MSTP).Duringmystudies,I

alsoacquiredexperienceinDNAmicroarraytechnology.Thesciencebehindthis

revolutionaryscientifictoolbyStanfordscientistsDrsPatrickBrownandRonDaviswas

developedin1995.Withitsapplicabilityprovenin1997,microarraytechnologywasonly

availableatafewcentersworldwide.IgraduatedwiththeCharlesYanofskyAwardforMost

OutstandingGraduateThesisinBiologyorChemistry.

AftergraduatingfromStanford,IreturnedtoSingaporein2000readytocompletemy

NationalServiceinwhateverpostIwasassigned.IknewthatIhadthisobligationto

complete.MyfatherhadsincebecomeMinisterofDefence,butifanythingthatmadeitall

themoreimportanttocarryoutmyduty.

Atthattime,melioidosis(alsoknownas“soildisease”)wasaseriousconcerntoMINDEFas

ithadbeenaffectingsoldiersinthefieldandisapotentialbio-terrorismthreat(seebelow

formoredetails).IwasattachedtowhatisnowtheDefenceMedicalandEnvironmental

ResearchInstitute(DMERI,thencalledDMRI)toresearchBurkholderiapseudomallei,the

bacteriumthatcausesmelioidosis.ThisresearchinvolvedanorganismcalledC.elegans,

whichhadbeenthesubjectofmyPhDthesis.Ialsoledateamtoestablishoneofthefirst

DNAmicroarrayfacilitiesinSingapore,allowingustoanalyzemelioidosisgeneticvariation

withunprecedentedspeed,resolution,andscale.Asaresultofthiswork,DMERIand

Singaporeisnowregardedasamajorglobalcenterofmelioidosisresearch,whichhas

facilitatedinteractionswithnumerousinternationaluniversitiesanddefenceinstitutes.Our

DMERIresearchteampublishedpeer-reviewedpapersinestablishedscientificjournals(see

referencesbelow).

 

ThroughoutmyNationalService,IreceivedanNSman'ssalaryandfulfilledallrequirements

ofNSincludingIPPTandsubsequentreservistobligationssuchasin-camptrainingatthe

rankof3rdSergeant.

Thecurrentallegations—mostlypostedanonymouslyontheInternet—arefalse.Itseems

clearthatsuchrumoursareintendedtohurtmyfather,whichmakesitallthemorepainful

forme.Iamproudtohaveservedmycountry,andIamproudofallthatmyfatherhasdone

forSingaporealso.

References

GanYH,ChuaKL,ChuaHH,LiuB,HiiCS,ChongHL,TanP.(2002)Characterizationof

Burkholderiapseudomalleiinfectionandidentificationofnovelvirulencefactorsusinga

Caenorhabditiseleganshostsystem.MolecularMicrobiology44(5):1185-97

Patternsoflarge-scalegenomicvariationinvirulentandavirulentBurkholderiaspecies

(2004)OngC,OoiCH,WangD,ChongH,NgKC,RodriguesF,LeeMA,TanP.Genome

Research14(11):2295-307.

-Couldyoutellusmoreaboutmeliodosis,whichyouresearchedduringyourterminDMRI?

Whydidyouchoosethatareaofstudyandwhywasitsoimportantthen?

Answer:Melioidosisisaserious,oftenfatalinfectiousdiseaseofhumanandanimals

causedbythebacteriumBurkholderiapseuodmallei(Bp).BpisfoundinSouthEastAsian

soilsincludingSingapore,andBphasalsobeenofficiallydesignatedapotentialbiowarfare

agentbytheUSCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC),similartoanthrax.In

Singapore,meliodosiscasesarenotuncommon,andina2004outbreak15peopledied

fromthedisease.WithintheSAF,meliodosishasalsooccurredinotherwisehealthy

NationalServicemen,insomecasesresultingindeath.Forthesereasons,aresearch

programwasinitiatedbyDMRIinthe1990stostudyBpandhowitcausesmelioidosis.

WhenIstartedmyNationalServicestintin2000,IwasinstructedtoapplytheknowledgeI

hadobtainedinmyMDPhDtostudymelioidosis.Workingwithothercolleaguesfrom

DMRIandNUS,weperformedresearchtoidentifyimportantgenesusedbyBptocause

disease,usingthesoilnematodeCaenorhabditiselegansasamodelhost(Ganetal.,2002

MolecularMicrobiology).Wealsoappliedthelatestgenomictechnologiesatthattimesuch

asmicroarraystostudygeneticdifferencesbetweendifferentisolatesofBp,anddiscovered

asurprisingamountofmolecularvariation(Ongetal.,2004GenomeResearch).

-Couldyoualsotelluswhatsortofresearchyoudothesedays?Specificallywhatareyou

workingonnow?

Answer:Iamstillextensivelyinvolvedingenomicsandbiomedicalresearch.Asafaculty

memberintheDuke-NUSGraduateMedicalSchoolandCancerSciencesInstituteof

Singapore,wehaveanextensivetranslationalresearchprograminstomachcancer,working

withbothbasicscientistsandclinicians.IalsohaveanappointmentwiththeGenome

InstituteofSingapore,wherewecontinueourresearchonmelioidosisincollaborationwith

DMERI(formallycalledDMRI).