Laboratory Medicine Conference: Emerging &

Future Skills in Laboratory Medicine

9:00am – 2:30pm, Friday, 3 August 2018,

Auditorium 1, Temasek Polytechnic

Temasek Polytechnic (TP) will see its first intake of Medical Biotechnology students in April 2019, to meet the healthcare industry’s demand for an evolving role of medical technologists as well as emerging and future skills needed in this area. The curriculum will include knowledge and skills in areas such as cell therapy, which has the potential to treat previously incurable diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular, autoimmune, neurological, and skeletal diseases.

Cell therapy is fast developing with significant breakthroughs being made not only at the research front but also at the regulatory level which will trigger rapid growth in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing sectors. In addition, the demand from the healthcare sector will drive even greater need for workers with these specialised skillsets. 

The new diploma, along with other sharings on emerging skills and career pathways for future medical technologists will be discussed at the Laboratory Medicine Conference on Friday, 3 August 2018 at Temasek Polytechnic Auditorium 1. 

Graduates of the new diploma are expected to be employed in careers such as R&D technologists in biotechnology companies/research institutes and Medical Laboratory Technologists in clinical laboratories. 

Please see Annex A for more details on the new Diploma in Medical Biotechnology. 

MOU with NexTech BioPharma for cell-based therapy skills development

TP recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NexTech BioPharma, a Singapore-based biotechnological company which focuses on cell-based therapies. Set up by Rohto Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a Japanese public-listed multinational corporation that manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and functional foods, the partnership will include the establishment of one of Singapore’s first cell processing facilities next year. Housed within TP, the facility will serve as a platform for research collaborations and training of workers in the emerging cell-based therapies industry. Under the training agreement, NexTech BioPharma will also offer overseas industrial attachment to TP staff, as well as study trip and internship opportunities for TP students at Rohto’s cell processing facility in Japan.