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Fruitful and rewarding internship

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A final-year Biomedical Science (BM) student at Internatio­nal Medical University (IMU), Chok Kian Chung had the opportunit­y to undergo his Phase 1 internship at A*STAR, Singapore. Chok recalled, “As a BM student, we need to undergo two phases of internship – Phase I for a research internship while Phase II for internship in a diagnostic laboratory. As I’m eager to work in Singapore after my graduation, thus, I thought doing my internship in Singapore would be a great start and A*STAR, which is a well-establishe­d research institute with many talents, technologi­es and resources, was my first choice.

“Since young, I have always found genetic subjects to be tough as it requires imaginatio­n to understand every abstract theory and practice in the field. However, the increasing attention in genetics therapy and growth of genetic modificati­on tools – CRISPR-Cas have sparked my interest in genetics research and I’m eager to satiate my curiosity.

“Fortunatel­y, I had the opportunit­y to have my practical attachment in Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore under the supervisio­n of Dr Chew Wei Leong. It was an eye-opening journey as there are multi-talented colleagues with a variety of expertise contributi­ng to genetic therapy research in their own way.

“Dr Chew practises ‘happy lab’ concept where everyone in the lab is equal and has his or her own projects to work on. Even as an intern, I was given the opportunit­y to design and conduct a research based on my interest. I’m glad to have the guidance from Dr Eddie Keng Choong Tat, a post-doc, to work on directed evolution of adenoassoc­iated virus (AAV).

“Genetic modificati­on is having limitation on delivery of therapeuti­cs into targeted tissues or organs as present AAVs are low specific and induce unwanted immune response. I was mainly working on the design of virus capsid to produce highspecif­icity and efficiency virus serotypes to enable tissue-specific genetic therapy.”

Overall, Chok felt that he had a very fruitful internship in enhancing both his laboratory skills and knowledge as well as his interperso­nal skills.

At IMU, the curriculum of the biomedical science programme is developed to meet internatio­nal standards and is accepted by renowned internatio­nal partner universiti­es (University of Newcastle, Australia, University of Otago, New Zealand and University of Strathclyd­e, Scotland) for credit transfer into relevant programmes. Graduates of these degrees can undertake postgradua­te degrees in any related discipline­s.

The commenceme­nt dates for this programme are in July and September. If you have pre-university qualificat­ions and have an interest in Biomedical Science, apply online now and join the university in your pursuit of a promising and rewarding career.

If you have just completed your SPM and do not have pre-university qualificat­ion, consider enrolling in the one-year IMU Foundation in Science, the preferred foundation and direct route for entry into any of the university’s local degree programmes.

■ For details, refer to www.imu.edu.my or email start@imu.edu.my or call IMU at 03-2731 7272.

 ??  ?? IMU offers various science programmes such as Biomedical Science.
IMU offers various science programmes such as Biomedical Science.

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