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Two academicians honored with Singapore’s Honorary Citizen Award!

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Singapore (CU)_ The Singapore government honored two academic professionals with the highly prestigious Honorary Citizen Award for their services and contributions to Singapore. President Halimah Yacob presented the award to Professor K Ranga Rama Krishnan and Professor Duane J Gubler during the event organized at the Istana. The Honorary Citizen Award is the highest national honor a non-Singaporean may receive.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA), the Singapore Government has been presenting the award since 2003 to recognize and honor the efforts of foreigners who have offered significant and valued services to Singapore and its citizens. The award of Honorary Citizen is bestowed for life. MOH and NEA said, “Thanks to this effort, Singapore’s COVID-19 response has been lauded by many around the world for its high level of readiness and efficiency”.

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The first honorary is Prof Krishnan, who is the head of the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) of the Ministry of Health. He also serves as the chief executive officer of the Rush University System for Health in the USA. From 2008 to 2015, he worked as dean of Duke-NUS and played a key role in laying the foundation for the school and the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Center. In addition, he was on the SingHealth Board from 2013 to 2022.

Upon receiving the highest honor, Prof Krishnan expressed delight. He said, “I am humbled and deeply grateful to receive the Honorary Citizen Award and to join a very respected group of recipients. Singapore gave me a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of building a new medical school, and a truly outstanding academic health system”. He added, “I am thankful for that opportunity and for the chance to participate in the transformation of Singapore’s health system and biotech sector to be a true global leader.”

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The second honorary is Prof. Gubler, who is an Emeritus Professor and the founding director of the Duke-NUS Medical School’s Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme. He is also the head of NEA’s Dengue Expert Advisory Panel, which assists the organization’s research team in the development and testing of the Wolbachia technology. Moreover, Prof. Gubler’s recommendations form the basis of Singapore’s dengue management program today.

According to a media statement, the relationship between Singapore and Professor Gubler dates back to the 1970s. Since then, he has served on various expert advisory panels for MOH and NEA, playing a crucial role in formulating Singapore’s public health strategy. In addition to dengue control, Prof. Gubler also managed the EID programme at Duke-NUS and institutionalized the lessons learnt from Singapore’s past encounters with SARS in 2003 and H1N1 influenza in 2009.

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On receiving the great honor, Prof Gubler expressed gladness. He said, “Words cannot convey how humbled I am to receive Honorary Citizenship from a great country like Singapore. I am deeply, greatly honored to receive this award. I have watched Singapore evolve into a global public health and economic leader, becoming a model for other countries to emulate”. He added, “I am proud to have been a part of this evolution, but any contribution I may have made must be attributed to the many Singaporean colleagues and friends whom I have worked with over the years. I humbly thank them for making this award possible and will do my best to live up to the honor conferred on me today.”

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