SINGAPORE and New Zealand have set up the first joint R&D research fund for heart disease and cancer studies.
The joint research fund, launched on Friday, will gather leading scientists from both countries in the fight against the two leading killer diseases.
It is a partnership between Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).
This is the third collaboration that A*Star has announced this year; and the first ever for HRC, which is responsible for the management of the New Zealand government's investment in public health research.
Each organisation will inject S$1.74 million into the S$3.48 million research fund.
Applications for the grant must comprise at least one principal investigator from each country.
The first grant call will focus on research into heart disease, to be carried out in Christchurch, New Zealand next May. The second, for research in cancer, will be hosted by Singapore in May 2010.
Executive Director of A*Star's Biomedical Research Council, Professor Lee Eng Hin said: 'I am confident that researchers from A*Star and HRC will be able to tap on one another's expertise in areas... which are the two leading causes of death in Singapore.'
HRC's Chief Executive Dr Robin Olds added that the programme will 'benefit the global knowledge base and lead to improved health for everyone.'
