Respiratory & Infectious Diseases

Laurent RENIA Director NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine

David LYE Co-Director National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID)

Taking the fight to infectious and respiratory diseases 

Respiratory and infectious diseases can be deadly. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – where bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites become resistant to drugs – and the SARS-COV-2 virus behind the Covid-19 pandemic alone have killed millions of people.

Our programme focuses on AMR, emerging infectious diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, zika and zoonotic malaria, and chronic respiratory conditions including asthma, bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to understand how they work, curb their spread and mitigate their long-term impact.

Advancing research from many angles

We are taking a multi-faceted approach, leveraging on microbiology, virology, systems biology and genomics to help produce better diagnostics, treatments and vaccines against the diseases. For instance:

• We are leading initiatives to combat AMR, including international collaborations.

• Our expanding portfolio of projects, concentrating on dengue modelling and climate change impacts, underlines our commitment to data-driven solutions.

• We lead The Academic Respiratory Initiative for Respiratory Medicine (TARIPH) network, partnering clinicians, scientists and patients  to improve treatment for Asian respiratory diseases.
  

Research to drive discovery and find new cures

• TARIPH has secured a highly competitive, $10 million National Medical Research Council Open-Fund Large Collaborative Grant (NMRC OF-LCG) to boost research in Asian respiratory diseases.
  

• We are discovering drugs to treat tuberculosis and Mycobacterium abscessus[ZF2] , and establishing a human challenge study to develop next-generation vaccines to prevent the infection and transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and dengue.
  

• Our scientists are part of an international, multimillion-dollar research effort to develop drugs against viruses that could cause major epidemics and pandemics.

• Our team is also part of the globe-spanning INVEST trial on early oral antibiotics for gram negative bacteraemia, and involved in the world’s largest, SNAP trial on Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia.