SCIEX Recognizes the Protein and Proteomics Centre as Regional Centre of Distinction

SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, recently honored the Protein and Proteomics Centre (PPC) under the Department of Biological Sciences of the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Science, as a Regional Centre of Distinction. The first of its kind core facility set up in Southeast Asia since the early 2000s, the centre is specialized in proteomics particularly for cancer biomarker discovery and development.
 
The scientists at PPC use one of the latest liquid chromatography and mass spectrometers to analyze samples such as blood, gastric juices, body fluids and tissues to identify biomarkers that can improve cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
 
The recent MOU endorsement will see the start of more intimate collaborations between SCIEX and PPC in clinical translational research.
 
SCIEX executives, Jean-Paul Mangeolle, President and Johnson Ho, Vice President, Asia Pacific, and NUS Faculty of Science representatives, Professor Paul Matsudaira, Head of Department of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor Peter Ho, Vice Dean for Research, and Associate Professor Ganesh Srinivasan Anand, Director, PPC, led the signing ceremony.
 
Soundbites from the Ceremony
 
On Choosing Singapore and NUS Faculty of Science’s PPC
Jean-Paul Mangeolle, President, SCIEX
 
Singapore has grown tremendously in the last two decades, from making small investments in life sciences, to attracting the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry to set up offices here today. That is remarkable and the reason why SCIEX has chosen to invest heavily in building a centre of excellence - our global manufacturing hub, R&D and customer training and support centre in the country.
 
The PPC is a natural choice for SCIEX as a Regional Centre of Distinction as it is housed at one of the top ranking universities in the world with a good reputation and a strong pool of scientists. We have three main criteria for choosing the ‘right partner’ - one that has great scientific abilities, faculties and government support; SCIEX found all those in the PPC.
 
The collaboration aims to support work with our scientists, co-host workshops during which people are trained and developed to participate in the centre, and take part in programmes around cancer projects and biomarkers. Through the use of our instruments, we hope to continue to improve the quality of the products we put in the market as we develop our brains in the region to be known and recognized as a strong scientific partner and bring SCIEX to universities, research, academia and also manufacturing customers.
 
Unique Attributes of PPC
Ganesh Srinivasan Anand, Professor and Director, PPC, NUS Faculty of Science
 
The PPC hosted at the NUS Faculty of Science is one of the first, oldest and most visible core facilities in the region for proteomics, and especially in the area of cancer biomarkers discovery using mass spectrometry.
 
Being recognized as a “Regional SCIEX Centre of Distinction” brings in the vision and background that SCIEX has made strides in the evolving world of mass spectrometry, and allows that to interface with PPC’s core strengths in proteomics. While the PPC team of principal investigators brings a university perspective into multi-disciplinary science, the Centre of Distinction provides them access to different kinds of new emerging problems from the industrial partnership side. Through this collaboration, PPC effectively becomes a new meeting point for mass spectrometry makers and scientific collaborators in interactions and samples. The PPC also benefits and learns from SCIEX on the latest technological trends that can help address ongoing and future scientific questions.
 
Sentiments on the SCIEX – PPC Collaboration
Paul Matsudaira, Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Science, NUS Faculty of Science
 
To be recognized as a Regional Centre of Distinction is indeed a special honour for NUS and the Department of Biological Sciences for our facility, the Protein and Proteomics Centre (PPC). I understand that NUS is the first in the region and globally to receive this recognition. It’s a tribute to the faculty at the PPC to be recognized in this way because as early as 2000, we saw that mass spectrometry was the future of the department, and determined to keep our commitment to mass spec-enable research. With PPC and the other mass spec centres here at NUS, we collectively put NUS on the map, for mass spectrometry.
 
Ganesh Srinivasan Anand, Professor and Director, PPC and Lin Qingsong, Associate Director, PPC
 
We are really excited about partnering with SCIEX; they are at the forefront of technological advances in mass spectrometry, and also closely tied to the newest applications being demanded of them. We thus have access to these new challenges and tough questions in biological mass spectrometry as they will be an interface for us through the technology transcribed. On our side, we hope to bring the in-depth analysis of samples, and facilitate SCIEX’s learning about our clinician, academic and industrial partners.
 
Future Plans for the Protein and Proteomics Centre
Peter Ho, Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Research, NUS Faculty of Science 
 
Singapore, together with the rest of the developed world, relies on technology and enterprise to achieve new economic growth. One way to achieve this is to move more aggressively into translational research, technology and markets. This is best done through intensive collaboration with our partners, professors and the industry that will mutually enhance each other’s work.
 
The Regional SCIEX Centre of Distinction awarded to the PPC signifies an important step in building closer collaborations in this direction to advance translational research in life sciences. The PPC was set up under the aegis of the Department of Biological Sciences in 2000 as a core facility to provide services in protein separation, purification, identification, cultivation as well as biomarker discovery, qualitative proteomics and bioinformatics research, based on mass spectrometry techniques. With this platform, the PPC had made many advances in the last couple of years in cancer biomarker discovery and cancer biology. The centre has now become a powerful resource for researchers both locally and regionally. I am pleased to note that the mutually beneficial relationship between SCIEX and the PPC has taken off, from when the PPC was first founded. 
 
Ganesh Srinivasan Anand, Professor and Director of PPC, Department of Biomedical Science, NUS Faculty of Science
 
Mass spectrometry represents diverse kinds of information such as molecules, IDs, and images. We want to make the PPC a repository of multiple types of cancer biomarker and other ID information from our SCIEX instruments. We want this database to be made accessible to other research partners such as clinicians.
 
Our goal for the future is to be able to establish the PPC as a repository of mass spectrometry data, which can help develop personalized medicine. This will be enable, for example, a local hospital to access our database if they are tracking a certain disease, and want to know all the relevant mass spectrometry data related to that disease.

Photos from the Ceremony 

 Photo caption: Jean-Paul Mangeolle, President, SCIEX, delivered a message during the Centre of Distinction launch ceremony.

 
Photo caption: Jean-Paul Mangeolle, President, SCIEX, and Professor Paul Matsudaira, Head of Department of Biomedical Sciences, NUS Faculty of Science, signed the plaque of recognition.
 

Photo caption: VIPs from SCIEX and NUS participated in the ceremonial signing for the appointment of PPC as a Centre of Distinction for SCIEX. From the left: Johnson Ho, VP of Sales, APAC, SCIEX, Jean-Paul Mangeolle, President, SCIEX, Professor Paul Matsudaira, Head of Department of Biomedical Sciences, NUS Faculty of Science, Associate Professor Peter Ho, Vice Dean for Research,  NUS Faculty of Science.