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NUS Medicine Launches New Clinical Trial Centre






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Spanning 350 square metres, the new Centre brings together state-of-the art facilities within an integrated multidisciplinary framework to enable clinical research and implementation of gerodiagnostics and gerotherapeutics, enhancing and optimising healthspan throughout the adult lifespan and setting new benchmarks for healthy longevity research and innovation.

Singapore, 10 October 2025 — The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), today launched a new Clinical Trial Centre under its Academy for Healthy Longevity, a pioneering hub to advance clinical research and catalyse educational excellence in precision geromedicine. Spanning 350 square meters, the new Centre is poised to enhance research capabilities and accelerate the clinical translation of geroscience into real-world solutions.

Precision geromedicine entails the application of personalised, biomarker-driven strategies to optimise health, extend healthspan, prevent age-related diseases, and tailor interventions to an individual’s unique genetic, molecular, clinical, social, environmental, and behavioural profile. By integrating multi-omics data, digital health monitoring, and systems biology, precision geromedicine can predict ageing trajectories, detect early deviations from healthy ageing, and implement gerotherapeutics that enhance resilience and promote longevity throughout the adult lifespan.

The new Centre is purpose-built to accelerate precision geromedicine research. It supports multiple clinical trials in parallel, and enables on-site collection and immediate processing of biological samples, streamlining operations, and enhancing reproducibility. It houses a comprehensive suite of assessments to measure organ health across all physiological systems under one roof. New capabilities include advanced skin and scalp, ophthalmological and dental evaluations, as well as full-body bone mineral density scanning using Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA), sleep and behaviour monitoring, and an on-site investigative product repository. Together, these capabilities enable the most comprehensive evaluations available for healthy longevity clinical trials setting new benchmarks in global healthcare innovation.

Beyond clinical research, aligning with the highest standards of education, the Centre acts as the training ground for budding scientists, healthcare professionals, and educators. It anchors the Academy’s educational mission through programmes and courses that provide specific knowledge and skillsets for healthcare professionals looking to embark on their Healthy Longevity journey. New initiatives, that are currently in the planning phase, will immerse learners in real-world clinical trials by directly engaging with a team of multidisciplinary professionals and researchers, offering hands-on exposure to data collection, clinical assessments, and translational research processes designed to enhance expertise in this vital field. This integrated training model is essential for bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.

Professor Andrea Maier, Oon Chiew Seng Professor in Medicine, Healthy Ageing and Dementia Research at NUS Medicine and Director of the NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity at NUS Medicine, explained, “At the core of the Academy’s approach is an interdisciplinary gerodiagnostics framework that assesses biological age and the function of multiple physiological and organ systems. The framework enables standardised evaluations across different levels, from molecular, clinical, psychological, behavioural, to social biomarkers of ageing, providing comprehensive, system wide analyses of participant health and intervention impact. With the Centre, we aim to generate high-quality evidence needed to extend healthspan, while training a new cadre of clinician-scientists to translate geroscience from bench to bedside.”

Pioneering multimodal clinical trials to optimise healthspan

Traditional clinical trials focus on a one factor (intervention, therapy, measurement method) to isolate the effect of that single modality on the targeted outcome. While that approach can yield important insights, it often fails to capture the complexity of ageing, where multiple biological systems interact and influence one another.

“Our approach to move towards multimodal trials combining interventions and measurements across multiple organ systems simultaneously allow us to understand and tailor interventions to achieve synergistic outcomes,” Professor Maier added.

Among the ongoing trials at the Academy is PROMETHEUS (PRecision gerOMedicinE: Tailored Healthy agEing with lifestyle, sUpplements and drugS), a Singapore-based feasibility trial that won the Milestone 1 Semi-finalist Award in the global XPRIZE Healthspan in May 2025. This 8-week programme, involving 20 participants aged 50 to 80 years, tests a personalised regimen that combines exercise, targeted supplements, and lifestyle coaching, with completion expected in March 2026. Its findings will guide Singapore’s submission to the XPRIZE Healthspan Finals in April 2026.

XPRIZE Healthspan, widely regarded as the world’s largest competition to restore years of health in ageing adults, offers a combined US$101 million in prize funding to identify accessible therapies that reverse aspects of ageing by restoring physical function, cognitive performance, and immune resilience in people aged 50 to 80. https://www.xprize.org/prizes/healthspan

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Other ongoing trials include the CEDIRA trial, a 12-month, double-blind study that investigates the impact of daily multivitamin and mineral supplementation on biological age in 400 relatively healthy adults aged 40 to 60 years whose biological age exceeds chronological age. The SIRT6 Activator trial examines the potential of Fucoidan, a natural compound extracted from brown seaweed that activates the SIRT6 protein to enhance DNA repair and improve markers of biological age. Initiated in September 2025, the trial involves 60 pre-frail adults aged 50-80 years and will continue until October 2026.

The 3-in-1 multi-nutrient trial is a 12-week exploratory study evaluating the synergistic effects of a novel synbiotics nutritional formulation combined with structured exercise in 40 pre-frail adults aged 50 to 80 years. It investigates the effects of the intervention on gut microbiome composition, muscle strength, immune and cognitive function, and biological age as measured by epigenetic clocks. Initiated in October 2025, the first phase of the trial will be completed by February 2026.

Collectively, these trials showcase Singapore’s leadership in real-world clinical integration of advanced diagnostics and personalised interventions to optimise healthspan. Professor Chong Yap Seng, Dean, NUS Medicine, added, “Ageing is one of the greatest challenges confronting the world today. While Singaporeans are living longer, the last 10 years of life are often spent in ill health. The Clinical Trial Centre strengthens our ability to translate our research into real-world solutions that improve care, policy, and population health. By integrating geroscience research and education into one facility, we are building the talent and the evidence base required to benefit our ageing communities here and around the world.”

Forging global partnerships to accelerate healthy longevity research

In tandem with the launch of the Clinical Trial Centre, the Academy also announced the signing of three new strategic partnerships; it formalised collaborations with the State University of Makassar in Indonesia to advance education in healthy longevity; with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) to foster cross-border academic and research initiatives; and with the Alliance of Patients’ Organisations Singapore (APOS) to strengthen patient-powered collaboration in healthy longevity medicine.

The Academy also engages in research collaboration with global leaders such as Abbott, Haleon, L’Oréal, and Danone, alongside national and international start-ups like AMILI and DoNotAge. Its multi-trial partnership with L’Oréal underscores the role of skin as both a shield and signal of ageing for innovations that advance healthy longevity. The Academy’s partnerships extend to organisations including IQVIA for healthcare data technology in clinical trials, the Lifespan Research Institute for scientific communication and public engagement, and Science Exploration Press for publishing Geromedicine, an open-access journal advancing precision geromedicine.

The Academy also spearheads the Global Epigenetic Age Systematic Review Consortium, a pioneering effort to rigorously evaluate the validity and real-world application of epigenetic clocks, and the HELO Survey Consortium, a multi-nation study examining public awareness and motivation toward healthy longevity.

“The launch of the Centre marks a pivotal step forward in the pursuit of sustainable solutions for advancing precision geromedicine. Recognising that extending healthspan requires coordinated efforts across diverse fields, the Academy brings together the expertise of geroscientists, innovative industry partners, public and patient advocacy organisations, regulatory bodies, and healthcare professionals. This collaborative synergy underscores the Academy’s leadership in establishing new standards for geroscience and precision medicine. By fostering a global network dedicated to advancing clinical research and integrating comprehensive educational approaches, the Academy is well positioned to shape the future of healthy longevity worldwide,” added Professor Chong.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Shaun YEE

Executive, Communications

Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

National University of Singapore

DID: +65 9012 1928

Email: medv3719@partner.nus.edu.sg

About National University of Singapore (NUS)

The National University of Singapore (NUS) is Singapore’s flagship university, which offers a global approach to education, research and entrepreneurship, with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise. We have 15 colleges, faculties and schools across three campuses in Singapore, with more than 40,000 students from 100 countries enriching our vibrant and diverse campus community. We have also established more than 20 NUS Overseas Colleges entrepreneurial hubs around the world.

Our multidisciplinary and real-world approach to education, research and entrepreneurship enables us to work closely with industry, governments and academia to address crucial and complex issues relevant to Asia and the world. Researchers in our faculties, research centres of excellence, corporate labs and more than 30 university-level research institutes focus on themes that include energy; environmental and urban sustainability; treatment and prevention of diseases; active ageing; advanced materials; risk management and resilience of financial systems; Asian studies; and Smart Nation capabilities such as artificial intelligence, data science, operations research and cybersecurity.

For more information on NUS, please visit http://www.nus.edu.sg/

About the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine)

The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine is Singapore’s first and largest medical school. Our enduring mission centres on nurturing highly competent, values-driven and inspired healthcare professionals to transform the practice of medicine and improve health around the world.

Through a dynamic and future-oriented five-year curriculum that is inter-disciplinary and inter-professional in nature, our students undergo a holistic learning experience that exposes them to multiple facets of healthcare and prepares them to become visionary leaders and compassionate doctors and nurses of tomorrow. Since the School’s founding in 1905, more than 12,000 graduates have passed through our doors.

In our pursuit of health for all, our strategic research programmes focus on innovative, cutting- edge biomedical research with collaborators around the world to deliver high impact solutions to benefit human lives. The School is the oldest institution of higher learning in the National University of Singapore and a founding institutional member of the National University Health System. It is one of the leading medical schools in Asia and ranks among the best in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 by subject and the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by subject 2025).

For more information about NUS Medicine, please visit https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/

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