15 Jan 2021
The Academy of Medicine, Singapore and the College of Clinician Scientists are pleased to announce that Dr Maria Noviani has been awarded the Seah Cheng Siang Memorial Research Award 2020 for her research project entitled “Characterization of Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis in the Scleroderma Cohort in Singapore (SCORE)”.
The annual Seah Cheng Siang Memorial Research Award aims to support clinical or basic research in important areas of medical and dental sciences. The award is capped at SGD$20,000.
“The Academy has assisted my postgraduate medical education. As an Ordinary Member of the Academy,
I have access to regular CME activities and updated practice guidelines.
Through the Seah Cheng Siang Memorial Research Award, I am also able to pursue my research studies
with the long-term goal to advance the science of medicine and improve patient outcomes.
The Award will help fund the proposed research project, in collaboration with SingHealth Translational Immunology Institute.
The findings from the proposed study will serve as an important foundation to provide pilot data for future studies.
My goal is to improve patient care by personalising therapeutic approaches in the management of heterogeneous autoimmune diseases.”
Dr Maria Noviani
Awardee of the Seah Cheng Siang Memorial Research Award 2020
Brief Profile
Dr Maria Noviani is currently a Senior Resident in Rheumatology and Immunology at the Singapore General Hospital. She completed her BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences in 2010 and subsequently MD from Duke-NUS Medical School in 2016. Following which, she obtained her MRCP and MMed (Internal Medicine) in 2018. During her learning journey, she has been involved in various clinical research projects at A*STAR, local tertiary hospitals (Singapore General Hospital, National University Hospital), and Duke University Medical Center. She aspires to be a clinician-scientist, advancing translational research studies to improve the outcome of patients with multi-systemic autoimmune inflammatory diseases.
Research Work
Dr Noviani’s research interests include systemic sclerosis (SSc), which is a connective tissue disease characterised by excessive fibrosis of skin and internal organs. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) develops in up to 80% of patients with SSc and is a leading cause of mortality. The natural history of SSc-ILD is highly variable between individuals. Therefore, it is important to identify the subgroup of SSc-ILD patients with progressive phenotypes for targeted treatment. This has implications in clinical practice to identify patients who need close monitoring and treatment early. She will evaluate specific clinical factors and biologic factors associated with ILD progression that will enable physicians to stratify patients based on prognostic factors. This will pave the way to more personalised care of patients with SSc-ILD and improved clinical outcomes.
For More Information
Please click here for more information on the Seah Cheng Siang Memorial Research Award or contact:
DID: 6593 7804
Email: ccs@ams.edu.sg
