CRIS honours five years of leadership by Chairperson Prof John Lim, welcome new Chairperson Prof Kenneth Mak

CRIS honours five years of visionary leadership by Chairperson Professor John Lim, welomes Professor Kenneth Mak as new Chairperson

SINGAPORE, 14 May 2025 – The Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation, Singapore (CRIS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Kenneth Mak as our new Chairperson, effective 15 May 2025. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Professor John Lim for his  contributions as our founding Chairperson and visionary leadership. This transition marks an exciting new chapter for CRIS, as the organisation builds on five years of transformative progress under the leadership of outgoing Chairperson, Professor Lim. 

Since its establishment in 2020, CRIS has played a pivotal role in advancing R&D and innovation efforts in the Singapore biomedical sector. The organisation brings together six national programmes to advance Singapore’s clinical trials ecosystem, healthcare innovation, precision medicine, cancer and cardiovascular research, and cell and gene therapy manufacturing.  

CRIS would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Professor John Lim for his contributions in repurposing the Singapore Clinical Research Institute to establish CRIS as a consortium for the Ministry of Health’s national clinical research and translation programmes. Over the past five  years, Professor Lim’s visionary leadership has been instrumental in overseeing the development of CRIS as a unified platform for national clinical research and innovation efforts, as well as the expansion and increasing impact of its six national programmes.  

His strategic vision and unwavering commitment have helped shaped the CRIS identity and foster strong partnerships across public health institutions and industry stakeholders. Professor Lim’s leadership has been crucial in championing key initiatives in health innovation and impactful research, as well as identifying key areas of alignment and collaboration opportunities across CRIS’ six programmes. 

During Professor Lim’s tenure, programmes within CRIS achieved significant milestones:

• Advanced Cell Therapy and Research Institute, Singapore (ACTRIS): Officially set up in 2023 as the national cell and gene therapy facility to support the research, translation and manufacturing of cell, tissue and gene therapy products by bringing together players from research institutes, healthcare institutions and the industry. It has recently received its Manufacturer’s Licence and achieved Good Manufacturing Practice accreditation from the Health Sciences Authority in 2025.

• Cardiovascular Disease National Collaborative Enterprise (CADENCE): Launched the Asia-Pacific Cardiovascular Research Network in 2025, and secured 16 academic and industry collaborations in two years since its set up and incorporation as a national cardiovascular research and translation programme within CRIS in 2023.

• National Health Innovation Centre Singapore (NHIC): Initiated key programmes to identify and smoothen barriers in implementation and adoption of healthcare innovations that could bring benefits across the healthcare ecosystem, such as the Innovation to Adopt scheme, Clinical Advancement and Development for Research, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise, and the Helix Immersion Programme for C-suites executives. Since inception, NHIC has supported over 100 innovation projects, leading to over 70 licences and creation of 27 spinoffs that attracted over $90 million in investments.

• Precision Health Research, Singapore (PRECISE): Together with programme partners, created one of Asia’s most diverse Asian genomic datasets, spearheaded the development of predictive healthcare pathways for selected diseases significant to Asian populations, enhanced public-private enterprise collaborations for 11 companies and powered seven local start-ups in Singapore.

• Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI): Facilitated collaborative clinical research for more than 150 clinical trials, supported 12 disease-focused clinical research networks and launched several talent development initiatives including the National Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) Learning and Development Initiative which has trained over 400 CRCs since 2017.

• Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium (STCC): Strengthened biobanking and cancer research through collaborations with the Victorian Cancer Biobank and Roche to advance precision oncology.

Professor Kenneth Mak is Director-General of Health at the Ministry of Health, where he oversees the organisation and delivery of health services in Singapore. Professor Mak works closely with Singapore’s Regional Health Systems and healthcare institutions on care integration as well as on Singapore’s long-term healthcare transformation strategy.

Professor Mak brings with him a wealth of experience in healthcare leadership. In addition to the new appointment as Board Chairperson for CRIS, Professor Mak serves as Board Chairman for the Communicable Diseases Agency. He also serves on the Governing Board of the National University Health System as well as on the Governing Boards of Nanyang Technological University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and the Duke-NUS Medical School. Professor Mak is Registrar of the Singapore Medical Council, which regulates the practice of medical practitioners in Singapore.

Professor Mak said, “I am honoured to join CRIS at this pivotal juncture and would like to thank Professor John Lim for laying a strong foundation over the past five years. I look forward to working with the team to further strengthen Singapore’s clinical research capabilities to benefit the healthcare ecosystem. Together, we will continue to create synergies and value-add to the healthcare system, bridge the gap between scientific breakthroughs and healthcare impact, and harness the economic benefits of our research and translation efforts.”

As CRIS embarks on our next chapter under Professor Mak’s leadership, the organisation will remain committed to supporting and enabling national-level clinical research and translation programmes to advance Singapore’s healthcare research and innovation capabilities. By fostering collaboration across public and private sectors, CRIS will continue to enable cutting-edge research, accelerate translational efforts, and drive impactful economic value capture and healthcare outcomes.

About the Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation, Singapore (CRIS) 

CRIS was established in 2020 with the goal of strengthening synergies and developing strategies for national-level clinical research and translation programmes that are under the stewardship of  the Ministry of Health. It is a subsidiary of MOH Holdings.  

CRIS brings together six key national-level R&D initiatives, and facilitates synergistic  collaborations among them. These initiatives include: 

1. Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI) ↗ (opens in new tab) 

2. National Health Innovation Centre Singapore (NHIC) ↗ (opens in new tab) 

3. Advanced Cell Therapy and Research Institute, Singapore (ACTRIS) ↗ (opens in new tab) 

4. Precision Health Research, Singapore (PRECISE) ↗ (opens in new tab)

5. Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium (STCC) ↗ (opens in new tab)

6. Cardiovascular Disease National Collaborative Enterprise (CADENCE) ↗ (opens in new tab) 

CRIS aims to make a positive difference to Singapore patients and researchers by ensuring that these clinical research platforms and programmes are at the cutting edge of capability  development and innovation. This will be achieved through facilitated collaborations and enduring partnerships with research and biomedical entities, as well as communities across the public  sector and industry across Singapore. 

For more information, please visit https://www.cris.sg ↗ (opens in new tab)

For media enquiries, please contact:

Charlene Tan
Manager, Corporate Communications
Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation, Singapore
charlene.tan@cris.sg

Yee Shuan Lee
Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications
Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation, Singapore
yeeshuan.lee@cris.sg