Foo-Lab

Roger trained with the late Professor David de Bono (British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiology, Leicester, UK). 

Roger subsequently moved to the Clinical Pharmacology Unit, Cambridge, UK, working under the tutelage of Professor Morris Brown MD, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS.

Upon being awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship Roger moved to Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYC with Professor Rick Kitsis where he delved into the molecular regulation of heart failure and cardiomyocyte apoptosis.

Roger returned to Cambridge in 2006 and started the Foo-Lab 1.0 at the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, funded by the British Heart Foundation and Wellcome Trust, exploring the mechanisms that regulate gene expression and cardiac epigenomics in Heart Failure. 

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The Foo-Lab 2.0 was established in Singapore in 2013 at both NUS CVRI and the Genome Institute of Singapore, A*STAR. Since returning to his roots in Singapore, the lab has widened its exploration further into new molecular mechanisms of Heart Failure, adopting new technologies to explore gene expression control, cell states transitions and cardiac function. 

Using clinical samples, in vitro reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), and a variety of in vivo models, Foo Lab applies cutting edge advanced technologies in science to better understand cardiac biology and disease. Recently Roger has taken on several leadership roles at NUS and the lab has expanded into clinical and population health, driving “closer to the patient” in full concerted effort towards heart disease prevention and tackling the looming cardiometabolic crisis in Southeast Asia. At NUS and NUHS, he started the clinical service for Inherited Cardiac Conditions at the National University Heart Hospital upon his return to Singapore 2013, and was founding head of the NUHS Clinician Scientist Academy in 2019. At a national level, he is chair of the Ministry of Health Clinician Scientist Residency Research Panel, and current President of the College of Clinician Scientist, Academy of Medicine Singapore.