News Story 3: OPEN Patient Voices 2025 – Expanding Patient and Public Roles in Healthcare

By Retna Devi D/O Shanmuga Retnam

Activate and elevate!

This was part of the theme of LKCMedicine’s second Patient Voices Symposium, which was held on 19 November 2025 at the Novena Campus. Building on the momentum of the inaugural Patient Voices Symposium in 2024, the full-day event was designed to activate researchers and educators to elevate patients’ voices and form meaningful and authentic partnerships in medical education and research.

“The second edition of the Symposium marked a significant evolution from the inaugural event. We shifted its focus from the foundational "why" of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) to the practical "how" of PPI. This was integrated into the programme to ensure researchers and educators would leave with concrete examples and actionable tips to effectively engage patient partners,” shared LKCMedicine Office of Patient Engagement (OPEN) Deputy Director Ai Ling Sim-Devadas.

It was this focus that drew over 300 attendees from patient organisations, public healthcare clusters, universities and research organisations in Singapore, all keen to glean valuable insights from 14 experts and patient partners hailing from Singapore, the United Kingdom and Japan.

While the Symposium was packed with useful and practical takeaways, there were two key segments that displayed the growing number of opportunities to develop the vast potential of PPI in Singapore.

Nurturing next generation researchers to involve patients and public

The Symposium’s opening segment included welcome remarks from LKCMedicine Dean Professor Joseph Sung, who laid out the need for PPI. “Deepening patient and public involvement is a strategic priority for LKCMedicine. We are committed to fostering a culture where collaboration with patients is integral, ensuring our research and education are guided by the needs and experience of those we serve,” he explained.

True to the School’s objective of centring patients in research and medical education, OPEN Growth, a dedicated programme that trains LKCMedicine undergraduate and PhD students to include patients and public in medical and healthcare research, was launched at the Symposium.

OPEN Growth comprises workshops to build students’ PPI awareness and the capabilities required to integrate patient partners in their research; immersion opportunities to provide students with first-hand experience of working with patient partners in research; and avenues to seek funding and consultation from OPEN for any research projects that have PPI elements.

On how such  a programme benefits our next generation researchers, LKCMedicine OPEN Faculty Lead Associate Professor Jo-Anne Manski-Nankervis said, “Through OPEN Growth, the students will learn how to incorporate patient partners at different stages of the research cycle, understand the opportunities and barriers to incorporate PPI effectively into their research projects, and how to optimise patient-friendly communication and engagement practices when working with patient partners in research. More importantly, this initiative encourages our students to reframe how they conduct research and the value it brings to patient care.”

At the heart of OPEN Growth is Ms Fung Mei Fong, an OPEN Voices Patient Partner and lymphoma survivor, who is helping to raise funds for the programme through the sale of her self-published book, Hope. It recounts her tumultuous healthcare journey with lymphoma, how she nearly lost hope, but regained it with CAR T-cell therapy. On every page, she shares her vulnerability and hope.

Donors who contributed to OPEN Growth during the Symposium received an autographed copy of book as a token of appreciation*.

For Ms Fung, it is not just about sharing her story. Being a patient partner and a part of this fundraising effort allows her to help other patients and be involved in advancing medical research.

“The moment I got my health back, I told myself that I want to do something more meaningful to give back. As an OPEN Voices Patient Partner, I desire to co-design a research plan with researchers for all types of cancer, and to train students to involve patients in research for the next generation of medicine,” reflected Ms Fung in a video that was screened as part of the programme launch.

Amplifying patient voices

In addition to the panels and break-out sessions that were held throughout the day, the Symposium introduced a new segment: OPEN Voices Gallery Walk.  It offered attendees the unique opportunity of engaging in one-on-one conversations with 11 OPEN Voices Patient Partners. This meant spotlighting firsthand accounts of the patient partners’ involvement in various research and education projects, offering personal perspectives and motivations for their engagement.

This conscious effort to position patients’ lived experiences as the main focus added greater depth to the conversations and reiterated the importance of collaboration in medical and research settings. 

This resonated with Ms Namira Mohamad, an OPEN Voices Patient Partner and endometriosis advocate.

“I was involved in the Gallery Walk and many conversations naturally surfaced the major gaps we need to address, especially for conditions like endometriosis where the living burden is high but local evidence and care pathways are inconsistent. At the same time, there was a strong sense of collective purpose,” she recalled. “Seeing patient partners, clinicians, educators, and researchers listening closely to one another, learning together, and holding each other’s perspectives with care was both affirming and invigorating. It reinforced for me that meaningful progress happens not only through data and policy, but through relationships built on trust, humility, and shared commitment to doing better.”

PPI in Singapore may be at its nascency, but the success of LKCMedicine’s Patient Voices Symposium 2025 is indicative of its strong foundation and transformative impact on Singapore’s healthcare.

*Click here if you would like to donate to OPEN Growth. To receive a copy of Ms Fung Mei Fong’s book, while stocks last, please provide a screenshot of your donation receipt to [email protected].