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In a world of wicked problems, we must straddle disciplines for answers
Interdisciplinary teaching in universities needs to be encouraged. But first, we must break down some barriers.
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To gradually build the confidence and capability of educators to teach interdisciplinary courses, universities can consider the concept of mini-classes for educators to start small and scale up progressively.
PHOTO ILUSTRATION: PIXABAY
Andy Tay
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My research involves developing immune cells to fight cancer. Although I secretly hope that none of my family members and friends would ever need to benefit from my work, I know that this is self-deceiving because the statistics are unforgiving: One in every five Singaporeans will get cancer over their lifetime.
The mother of my best friend recently was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and, as a form of support, I started reading about the state of immune cell cancer therapy in Singapore should she need it. I was shocked to learn that patients can wait up to two years to get their treatment due to a global manufacturing shortage. There is also no public or private subsidy for this treatment in Singapore which costs about $670,000. This means that access to this advanced therapy is currently limited to affluent patients.
