Track D1: NUS Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences: Innovating Pharmaceutical Education for the Future of Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry
Saturday, 27 September | 13:30–15:00 | Waterfront Ballroom (Level 2)
As the leading provider of pharmaceutical education in Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences celebrates their 120th year of commitment to excellence in pharmaceutical education, research, and collaboration.
Educators from NUS will speak about how pharmaceutical education has evolved in Singapore, sharing about the integrated curriculum, experiential learning, training of soft skills and interprofessional collaboration, and more.
Presentations
Introduction to the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and to Pharmaceutical Education at NUS by Professor Giorgia PASTORIN
In this presentation, Professor Giorgia Pastorin provides an overview of the Department of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at the National University of Singapore.
The department is the only provider of the BSc degree to become a registered pharmacist in Singapore.
Professor Pastorin will also share the department’s educational initiatives, which aim to increase the students’ learning and to equip them with future-ready competencies.
Distinct Characteristics of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science Education by A/Prof Wai Ping YAU
Since 1905, the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has remained the only tertiary education institution in Singapore that provides pharmacy education to nurture future pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.
This session will introduce the two full-time 4-year degree programmes at undergraduate level that the department offers, namely the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) programme and the Bachelor of Science (Pharmaceutical Science) (Honours) programme.
Preparing Collaborative-Practice–Ready Healthcare Professionals Through a Common Curriculum @ the National University of Singapore by A/Prof Wai Keung CHUI and Dr Pei Shi ONG
The World Health Organization has advocated interprofessional education (IPE) for preparing graduates of healthcare programmes for collaborative practice. At the National University of Singapore, a common curriculum for healthcare professionals was implemented in academic year 2023/24, where students from Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy had to complete five essential courses over their first 2 years. This presented a platform for IPE in which students completed the courses through team-based learning. There is an experiential component, the longitudinal patient experience, that brings students into the home of a patient to better understand how the patient manages a disease state. Collaborative learning in teams made up of different professions has helped to hone competencies for collaborative practice. This presentation will provide comments from students on their readiness for collaborative practice.
Beyond Mnemonics: Strengthening Clinical Reasoning and Patient Care Skills for the Evolving Role of Pharmacists by Dr Kai Zhen YAP
Driven by the rapidly ageing population, growing chronic disease burden, and Singapore’s focus on population health and preventive care, pharmacists are taking on greater roles in community-based chronic disease management and self-care consultations for increasingly complex patients. In order to assess, identify, and refer patients with emerging symptoms relating to chronic disease complications or undiagnosed severe/life-threatening conditions in a timely manner, the use of history-taking mnemonics and clinical decision trees alone are no longer sufficient.
This presentation outlines the transformation of pharmacy education in the National University of Singapore, where clinical reasoning is explicitly embedded in the pharmacy skills curriculum that spans four year-long courses within the Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) programme. The talk will also cover clinical reasoning frameworks, pedagogical strategies, and ongoing curriculum refinement efforts for improving student learning.
Continued Training and Development for Advanced Practice with NUS Postgraduate Programmes by A/Prof Priscilla HOW
This session will explore the evolving landscape of pharmacy practice and education in Singapore, with a focus on advancing professional capabilities of pharmacists. Drawing on the postgraduate education programs at the NUS Department of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, this talk will highlight the continuum of pharmacist training, from foundation-level competencies, through intermediate skill development, to advanced practice. Particular emphasis will be placed on preparing pharmacists to excel both as advanced generalists, capable of delivering broad, high-quality care across diverse settings, and as pharmacy specialists, equipped with expertise in specific clinical domains, to meet the nation’s evolving healthcare needs.
Speakers
Professor Giorgia PASTORIN
Head of Department
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Professor Giorgia Pastorin received her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry in 2004 from the University of Trieste (Italy). She joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) in June 2006 and was promoted to Full Professor in 2024. She is currently the Head of the Department of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at NUS.
Her research interest is focused on drug delivery, with the purpose of enhancing the pharmacological effects of bioactive agents (such as platinum-based anticancer complexes) while minimising undesirable side effects. Her approach to using unconventional yet efficacious nanocarriers has become her signature program, resulting in new invention disclosures, industry engagements, and even international recognitions such as the BioDrone award in 2021 and the ESMEC award in 2025. She has authored more than 170 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. For the work performed by her BioNanoTechnology group in NUS, she has been invited to prestigious international conferences as plenary or keynote speaker.
A/Prof Wai Ping YAU
Associate Professor
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
National University of Singapore
Singapore
A/Prof Wai Ping Yau is Deputy Head (Education – Undergraduate Matters) of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore (NUS). She graduated with BSc (Pharm) (Hons) and PhD from NUS, and received post-doctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health, USA. She is a registered pharmacist with the Singapore Pharmacy Council.
As an educator with more than a decade of teaching experience, she is firmly committed to nurturing the next generation of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. Over the years, she has received multiple faculty- and university-level teaching excellence awards. She is also an elected Fellow of the NUS Teaching Academy, working alongside fellow passionate educators towards making positive contributions to the university’s educational landscape.
She has authored and co-authored papers in the fields of clinical pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenetics, pharmacoepidemiology, public health and pharmacy education. She also serves as invited peer reviewer for various international journals.
A/Prof Wai Keung CHUI
Co-Programme Director of BPharm (Hons) Degree
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Dr Wai Keung Chui is a pharmacist who received his BSc (Pharmacy) (Hons) degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He received a PhD degree, majoring in medicinal chemistry, from Aston University in Birmingham (UK). He headed the Department of Pharmacy at NUS between 2013 and 2015. He was the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore between 2000 and 2003. He is currently the Co-Programme Director of the competency-based BPharm (Hons) degree programme. He was a founding member of the NUS Inter-Professional Education Steering Committee. He is actively involved in scholarship of Learning and Teaching.
Dr Pei Shi ONG
Senior Lecturer
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Dr Pei Shi Ong is a senior lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS). She received her BSc (Pharm) Hons degree from NUS and practiced at Singapore General Hospital after graduation, where she was founding pharmacist, for the pharmacist-lead anticoagulation service in collaboration with haematologists. During this time, she developed a keen interest in research and subsequently pursued PhD, followed by post-doctoral training in clinical pharmacology at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She has also been a board-certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist, USA, since 2009. She is a passionate and versatile educator with expertise to cross-teach in both pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences. She is an active advocate of technology-enhanced education, project-based learning, and interprofessional education, where she is the pharmacy lead for the Longitudinal Patient Experience Program for medical, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing students. Over the years, she has also won several faculty- and university-level teaching excellence awards.
Dr Kai Zhen YAP
Lecturer
Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Dr Kai Zhen Yap is a Lecturer at the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS), where she leads the development and implementation of the clinical reasoning and pharmacy skills curriculum in the integrated Bachelor of Pharmacy programme. She has played a key role in transforming pharmacy education at NUS from a knowledge-based to a competency-driven model that aligns with national healthcare priorities and international best practices.
With a passion in advocating for person-centred care and her background as a community pharmacist, Dr Yap’s research spans pharmacy education and pharmacy practice, with interests in pharmacist-led community-based interventions that promote appropriate prescribing, self-care, medication literacy, and adherence. Dr Yap also advises various pharmacy student-led service-learning outreach initiatives and contributes to national pharmacy workgroups, including PharmForce Workstream 2 on the role and scope of pharmacy practice.
A/Prof Priscilla HOW
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
National University of Singapore
Principal Clinical Pharmacist
Department of Medicine (Nephrology) & Pharmacy
National University Hospital
Singapore
A/Prof Priscilla How received her Pharmacy degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and subsequently completed a PharmD, residency, and nephrology research fellowship training at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is currently an Associate Professor at the NUS Department of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Director of the NUS Master of Pharmacy (Clinical Pharmacy) and Doctor of Pharmacy programmes. Additionally, she is a Principal Clinical Pharmacist and Collaborative Prescribing Pharmacist at the National University Hospital, where she has set up several multidisciplinary clinics focusing on the care and management of chronic kidney disease and dialysis patients. Dr How has authored several original research and review articles, as well as book chapters in Applied Therapeutics – The Clinical Use of Drugs and the Handbook of Dialysis.
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