Newswise — The President of the National University of Singapore Professor Tan Chorh Chuan has been elected to the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM) as the organisation’s first Singaporean member. The NAM announced 70 new regular members and 10 international members in conjunction with its annual meeting on 19 October 2015. Membership to the NAM is for a lifetime.

The NAM, established in 1970 under the name Institute of Medicine (IOM), is an independent US organisation of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine, as well as the natural, social, and behavioural sciences. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as adviser to the US and the global community.

Members of the academy, elected on the basis of their professional achievement and commitment to service, serve without compensation in the conduct of studies and other activities on matters of significance to health. Each year, new members are elected based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in a relevant field, as well as for their willingness to contribute.

Said President of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr Victor J Dzau: “Our newly elected members represent the brightest, most influential, and passionate people in health, science, and medicine in our nation and internationally. They are at the top of their fields and are committed to service. The expertise they bring to the organisation will help us respond to today’s most pressing health-related challenges and inform the future of health, science, and medicine. It is my privilege to welcome these distinguished individuals to the National Academy of Medicine.”

Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, who is also the Chairman of the National University Health System and Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, said: “This honour is a wonderful surprise. To be elected into this illustrious group of distinguished scholars who have made such an impact on the information and policies we have today in the world of biomedicine, medicine and health is an incredible privilege.

It is a strong recognition of the contributions made by Singapore and the National University of Singapore to the study of medicine and health in Asia, and particularly meaningful in the 50th year of Singapore’s independence and 110th year of the University’s founding as a modest medical school.

I am deeply humbled, honoured, and appreciative of the opportunity to contribute to global medicine and health through the National Academy of Medicine.”

The NAM is part of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, established by an Act of Congress, signed by US President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863. It operates under a formal peer-review system to provide unbiased, evidence-based, and authoritative information and advice on health and science policy to policy-makers, professionals, leaders in every sector of society, and the public at large. To find out more about the National Academy of Medicine, please visit: http://nam.edu/

For Prof Tan Chorh Chuan's biography, please visit: http://www.nus.edu.sg/about/management/36-tan-chorh-chuan

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