Prof Jackie Y. Ying

 

The Passionate Professor

 

In 2003, world-renowned American Prof Jackie Ying left a stellar career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build a bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute in Singapore—the world’s first. She also put in place a youth programme so that the country could nurture its own pool of future scientists.

 

In 2002, Chairman of A*STAR Philip Yeo invited American Professor Jackie Ying to set up the Institute of Bioengineering in Singapore. She made a counter-proposal, asking if the institute could also focus on nanotechnology. “We needed a niche,” said Prof Ying. Yeo agreed and Prof Ying agreed to quit MIT and come to Singapore to head the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN). “My colleagues thought I was crazy,” she said.

Nanotechnology is the study of things at the nanometre scale and is one of the biggest areas in science. This new field that Prof Ying proposed—a combination of bioengineering and nanotechnology—would amplify the sophistication of innovations that could be used to address commercial or medical needs. Today, the IBN is the world’s first centre that integrates bioengineering and nanotechnology research. It conducts interdisciplinary research bridging science, engineering and medicine.

Prof Ying’s ties with Singapore go back to the time when she was seven. In 1973, Prof Ying moved to Singapore when her father came here to teach Chinese Literature at the former Nanyang University. While she was here, she attended Raffles Girls’ School. She has fond memories of her time there and Chemistry was her favourite subject. In Secondary Three, she moved to the US with her family. The close friendships she formed made leaving difficult. She said, “When my father wanted to leave Singapore, I was very reluctant. In an emotional appeal, I wrote a long letter to my father.”

But she soon settled into the US school system and completed her PhD in 1991 at Princeton University at the age of 25. She joined MIT’s Chemical Engineering faculty and within 10 years, became a full professor—the youngest professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering’s history to attain this highest faculty ranking. At MIT, Prof Ying chaired the Molecular Engineering programme under the Singapore-MIT Alliance, which brings together three universities—NUS, NTU and MIT—to collaborate on engineering and scientific research. It was during the course of this programme that she met then-Chairman of A*STAR Philip Yeo, who was looking for talented scientists to lead Singapore’s fledging biotechnology research.

When Prof Ying visited Singapore in 2002, Yeo brought her to the top of the Ministry of Education building, then the tallest building in the Buona Vista area, and pointed to an empty area that would soon be the Biopolis. He said, “This place will work 24 hours every day.” Asked to comment on hers and the IBN’s journey, Prof Ying cited the ease of getting things done in Singapore as a plus point for researchers. The process of filing patents in Singapore is rigorous, but more efficient than the US, she said. To date, she has more than 150 patents issued or pending under her name.

But Prof Ying has had her share of challenges. In the beginning, the IBN faced difficulties finding funds to commercialise its inventions because Singapore lacked venture capitalists then. The IBN now partners MNCs so that inventions can be sold by tapping into the MNCs’ existing market, she said. The institute’s innovations have led to nine spin-off companies working on products for the market. IBN’s latest invention takes the health benefits of green tea to the next level, using a key ingredient in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), to kill breast cancer cells more effectively. “We don’t use green tea by itself. It is formulated into a nano-sized particle,” Prof Ying explained.

When injected into the body, these nano-sized particles act as tiny drug carriers, travelling through the body to track down the tumour before releasing the cancer-destroying drugs when the tumour is found. Unlike existing carrier designs, the IBN’s nano-sized drug carriers display anti-cancer effects and together with the drugs, can actually eradicate more cancer cells. Moreover, they do not accumulate in the vital organs and cause adverse side effects.

This “green tea missile” is one of over 340 patent applications in the IBN’s portfolio, taking up the largest share—37%—of the Biomedical Research Council’s (BMRC) active patent portfolio. The BMRC oversees all A*STAR biomedical research in Singapore. To date, the IBN has licensed 84 patents.

Beyond research, Prof Ying has also focused on recruiting top talent through advertising in scientific journals and through her own network of contacts. Potential candidates are inclined to send her their resumes, given that she is well-known in the field. She also looks out for rising young researchers who are developing strong publication records, and grooms them to lead teams. Of the 170 staff members in IBN, 30 have been with the organisation for more than a decade.

Prof Ying is also aware that Singapore’s push to become a leading biomedical hub would be unsustainable if it does not create a significant pool of local talent, she said. Thus, the IBN set up the Youth Research Program (YRP) in 2003 to pique the interest of Singapore students in the field of bioengineering and nanotechnology. Over 88,000 students from 290 schools have participated in the IBN’s YRP over the past 12 years. Students visit the IBN to learn about what it does, and also have the opportunity to intern with scientists there. “We want the public to know what [research] is and want the young people to join us in this enterprise,” said Prof Ying. IBN scientists, she said with pride, are keen on mentoring students even though it adds on to their workload. “This is an integral part of the institute’s mission,” she said.

In identifying talent, Prof Ying said she looks for passion in science and research. “Researchers are people who are willing to think outside the box. In our system, people who do well academically, score straight As, might not necessarily be people who can innovate or who like to take risks,” said Prof Ying, who dons white sneakers to work. Describing herself as an educator at heart, she added, “It’s one thing to do research very well but we want the younger generation to do better than us and make a major impact on society.”

References

“Jackie Yi-Ru Ying: Award-winning researcher in nanotechnology,” Singapore’s Women Hall of Fame, accessed Janurary 2015, http://www.swhf.sg/the-inductees/21-science-technology/167-jackie-yi-ru-ying

Interview with Prof Jackie Y. Ying in January 2015.

 

 

Prof Jackie Y. Ying
Taiwan, b.1966