The A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus is a collaborative space where healthcare innovators and SingHealth clinicians work together to define tomorrow’s medicine.

CHROMA, the acronym for Computational Health Research and Optimisation for Medical Advancements, is a supercomputer capable of processing large amounts of clinical data quickly. For example, it allows clinicians and healthcare innovators to pre-train artificial intelligence (AI) models for large-scale and complex research. It can be used for applications such as developing AI algorithms for disease risk prediction and facilitate personalised medicine.

CHROMA is a key feature of a new facility within the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Campus that officially opened on 22 September 2023.

Hub for commercial partners and clinical experts

The Alice Lee Innovation Centre of Excellence @ SGH Campus (A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus) is purpose-built to accelerate the development and adoption of healthcare innovations such as medical technology and digital healthcare solutions.

“A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus is a resource centre for commercial partners and clinical experts to convene, co-develop and test highly impactful healthcare innovations,” said its Clinical Director, Associate Professor Henry Ho.

“We have dedicated spaces for innovation activities including living lab mock-ups and innovation playpens for our young innovators to explore their creativity and test out new innovations safely. There will also be a germination greenhouse to grow our early projects. Start-ups will also be able to run their pilots and implementation trials.”

The company suites at A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus house commercial partners of SingHealth’s innovation ecosystem, putting multidisciplinary key players within close reach of healthcare innovators. “This gives healthcare innovators easy access to expertise, resources and commercial connections they may need to bring their budding innovation projects to fruition,” said Ms Lee Chen Ee, Group Director, Innovation and Transformation, SingHealth.

Assoc Prof Ho added that A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus actively seeks out partners in different industries and collaborators such as the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, to showcase their works in innovation. These collaborations lead to the exchange of healthcare expertise and assets, domain knowledge and expansion of networks.

It was through such a partner, the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore, that CHROMA was installed in A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus. “This collaboration between NSCC and SingHealth opens new horizons for large-scale and computationally complex healthcare research. We are excited to see the transformative impact it will have on healthcare in Singapore and beyond,” said Associate Professor Tan Tin Wee, Chief Executive, NSCC. CHROMA is equipped with software specific to AI and Deep Learning. “This will aid in doing breakthrough research and developing new AI innovations to address challenges faced by the healthcare system.”

Beyond supercomputers

Besides CHROMA, A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus is also equipped with innovation facilities and tools in Makerspace such as 3D design and simulation software, 3D printers, and space for collaborators to design and develop their proof-ofconcept models.

It empowers and equips healthcare innovators with toolkits by giving them access to innovation spaces, development resources and assets, and professional services developed for innovators. Furthermore, digital sandboxes offer a safe space for innovators to immerse themselves in a conducive environment to test their systems, devices, rehabilitation equipment and innovative ideas from trial to implementation. This provides a holistic experience of clinical adoption without impediment to the healthcare system.

Assoc Prof Ho added that A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus will be a concierge for the wider healthcare innovation ecosystem to connect with healthcare innovators within SingHealth. Working with a wide range of partners also creates opportunities for SingHealth to adopt ready solutions that are implementable, customisable and scalable. This helps the cluster to continually sharpen the way we deliver care for better clinical outcomes and patient experience.

Positive feedback

Despite its infancy, initiatives under A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus has garnered positive feedback from commercial partners and healthcare innovators.

Assistant Professor Yu Na, Senior Dental Surgeon, National Dental Centre Singapore, shares that A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus has helped her pursue her passion for innovation and impact patient care. It provides guidance on grant application, prototyping, product development, as well as ways to push innovation projects towards commercialisation.

Did you know?

The A.L.I.C.E @ SGH Campus:

• is named after Mrs Alice Lee, wife of the Lee Foundation’s founder, the late Lee Kong Chian, in recognition of a transformational $50 million donation from the Lee Foundation empowering doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, researchers and administrators to advance innovation and research across the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre.
• is strategically located within the SGH Campus to be near other SingHealth institutions so as to quickly learn of and solve their unmet clinical needs. 
• has 590 square metres of usable space.