KUCHING, Oct 6: The Sarawak Infectious Disease Centre (SIDC) has signed memoranda understanding (MoUs) and memoranda of agreement (MoAs) with six international partners for collaboration in the areas of biomedical sciences and human capital development.
The six partners are Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC), Amili (Asian Microbiome Library) Private & Limited Singapore, Monash University Malaysia (MUM), Pacific Biosciences USA (PacBio), Numares AG (Germany) and Agilent Technologies Malaysia (United States of America).
Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, who is also Sarawak Research Development Council (SRDC) chairman, witnessed the document exchange ceremony held at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here today.
SIDC chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Ivan Yap Kok Seng said the Centre will leverage on the facilities and capabilities of her partners for capacity building both in research programmes and human capital training as it prepares for the eventual completion and operation of its facility by December 2025.
“We need to ensure smooth and effective transition of operation by 2025, hence the significance of this event goes beyond just building linkages but more importantly, addressing our state of preparedness sustainably,” he said in a statement.
With the partnerships, SIDC will establish capability in the areas of phenomics, disease diagnostic and theranostics, vaccine and therapeutic discoveries, future sustainable nutrition and data analytics.
The event is timely as the SIDC had recently inked an MoU with the National Institute of Health (Malaysia) to collaborate in research and human capital development in medical science particularly in disease epidemiology and surveillance.
The event is also a starting point for Sarawak to establish a biomedical science ecosystem and position Sarawak as a major contributor in the region. — DayakDaily
