The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Mar 20, 2011
WOMEN AT THE TOP
A dab hand at all things science
I belong to a lab, says scientist behind famed 'lab-on-chip' flu diagnostic kit
'Can you smell it? Don't you just love the smell of a lab?' she asks and, before you can answer her, declares passionately: 'I love it, I love it!'
The 42-year-old founder and CEO of biotech firm Veredus Laboratories then draws your attention to several prosaic contraptions in various parts of the 70 sq m room.
'These are state-of-the-art real-time PCR instruments; this one costs $65,000,' she says breathily, as she caresses a black gadget the size of a hardcover novel.
PCR refers to polymerase chain reaction, a scientific technique in molecular biology which allows researchers to produce millions of copies of a specific DNA sequence from a single strand of DNA.
It is in this lab where a lot of research for her company's VereFlu chip took place. Launched two years ago in partnership with European semiconductor giant STMicroelectronics, it is the world's first 'lab-on-chip' device which could detect different flu strains - including the H1N1 flu - in a single test.
The molecular diagnostic test - which put Veredus in the global spotlight - is a revolutionary device in more ways than one. It can detect, with high accuracy, infection within two hours and provide genetic information on the infection, which used to take days or weeks to learn.
Veredus has sold tens of thousands of these kits, which are currently used by corporations and international government agencies at places like airports and immigration checkpoints all around the world.
Immaculately groomed and sporting an eye-popping pink sapphire ring on her middle left finger, Dr Tan once seriously nursed ambitions of becoming a Singapore Airlines stewardess because she 'wanted to see the world for free'. But it is not surprising that she became a scientist instead.
'I can talk science for hours and I've always been interested in diseases. I can almost see in my head, and in colour, enzymes, molecules and cells and what will happen if they interact. I understand it; maybe it's a gift,' says the effervescent PhD holder in molecular immuno-logy.
The elder of two children of a businessman and a teacher, she first worked as a marketing executive with a pharmaceutical firm after graduating from the University of Calgary in Canada with a degree in microbiology.
She did well, but realised after a few months that being the middleman between the pharmaceutical company and doctors was not quite her cup of tea.
'I belonged to a lab,' says Dr Tan, who next joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) as a researcher.
The opportunity to do her postgraduate studies came in the form of a scholarship from the Economic Development Board and Japan-based chemical company Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha.
She went to both Osaka University and the Department of Immuno-logy at the medical school in the University of Tokyo, before obtaining her PhD from NUS in 2001.
A 1999 nominee for the National University Hospital-National Medical Research Council Young Scientist Award, for her study of infectious diseases, she worked briefly as a researcher at the National Cancer Centre before restlessness drove her to become an entre-preneur.
In 2001, she used $50,000 of her savings to set up Genecet Biotechnologies to make life-sciences educational kits for schools.
'I was looking around and saw we were always recruiting scientists from overseas. Why didn't we have local talent, and why weren't we grooming a generation of scientists?'
Deciding that education was the answer, she went knocking on the doors of some of the top schools in Singapore.
'My idea was to inspire and challenge youngsters to become scientists by teaching them about life sciences in a very interesting way.
'What is DNA profiling, how do you extract and treat samples from a crime scene, how do you bring it back to the lab?,' she says animatedly.
She designed and wrote more than 70 programmes - comprising experiments, role play and even court scenes - in her lab. Trainers were sent to schools to train teachers how to use the programmes.
Dr Tan started with just two staff. Today, Genecet has about 15 and a client base of more than 100 schools.
A self-confessed 'restless' spirit, she was soon overcome by an itch to 'do something new'.
The sobering episode that was Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003 set her thinking.
'I was asking myself, 'why didn't we detect Sars earlier?' We had all the capabilities, we had all the right technologies, but it was not used and kept in the labs,' she says.
That was when she decided to set up Veredus with three scientists - to license, optimise and commercialise biotechnology from agencies like A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) and NUS.
She started with two DNA-based test kits which could diagnose malaria and dengue in hours instead of days, and hit pay dirt with the world's first commercially available diagnostic kit for the lethal H5N1 bird flu strain in 2005.
The mother of two made the announcement on July 28, one week before she was due to give birth to her second child.
'My phone rang off the hook and hasn't stopped since,' she says, adding that Veredus sold the kits - made based on research by the Genome Institute of Singapore - to more than 40 countries in 21/2 years.
But the scientist knew she had to be one step ahead of competitors.
'There is nothing proprietary about those kits and you can't prevent other people from coming in and doing something similar. I knew I needed an advantage, a platform,' she says.
And her idea of a platform was inspired by sci-fi series Star Trek, of which she is a huge fan.
'In Star Trek, there is a clinic with a scanner which detects diseases in humans and goes 'dng dng dng',' she says animatedly, imitating the sound of an alarm going off.
She needed a technology and engineering partner, and that came in the form of STMicroelectronics, which, as it turned out, was then scouring the world looking for someone to help it develop its 'lab on a chip'.
'They met more than 50 companies, and everyone told them this was going to be a cancer chip. I was apparently the only one who told them that this chip has to go out of hospitals which have big sophisticated machines.'
She suggested it be turned into a flu chip, 'to be used at airports and checkpoints for emerging diseases because we need to be prepared for pandemics'.
And so began Veredus' David-meets-Goliath-and-wins-him-over tale. In 2009, its VereFlu chip became the first in the world which could detect the H1N1 flu virus. The company is now developing chips, one of which can detect biological agents in the air and another which can determine if food has been contaminated with salmonella, E.coli and other agents.
Veredus now employs 30 staff, including scientists and researchers from Italy, Japan and China, many of whom Dr Tan interviewed and picked personally.
'I've never had to fire anyone because I choose my staff very carefully,' she says.
Dr Tan is married to her university sweetheart, a former banker who now helps her run Veredus.
'He talks very little and works very hard,' jokes the mother of two children, aged eight and five.
If there is a glass ceiling in science, she says, she has never seen it.
'Whether you're a man or a woman, you need similar criteria to be a good scientist: discipline, focus and passion,' says Dr Tan.
kimhoh@sph.com.sg
Q & A
You know, I made the press announcement for my H5N1 kits one week before I gave birth to my son, and I was back at work one week after delivering him.
I guess it's a choice. It's my choice to do this, to provide for my family in a way that is different from others. I am very lucky because I have a very supportive family and husband.
But I make sure I spend quality time with them. I play the piano with them, help them with their homework, and we go on regular holidays.
I encourage creativity and free expression; I tell them they don't have to conform to what society wants them to be.
I tell them they are privileged and have a good life, but I want them to step out of their comfort zone and learn different things.
I'm a great believer in learning, and in teaching my children to understand and love what they are doing. When you understand, you will naturally do well.
I am actually very happy doing what I am doing: designing and building chips to help fight against diseases. I have a big brainy team, and we are now ready to do a cancer chip and a heart disease chip.
My focus now is to build up my company and to grow its revenue for the next two years so that I can unlock even better value later on.
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