Inaugural Mrs Tan Shook Fong-PSS Innovation and Scientific Research Award

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The award is presented to an individual or team for a research project that has demonstrated innovation and significant impact on pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences in Singapore. Pharmacy practice is broadly defined including areas such as outcomes, surveys, patient safety, standards validation, discovery of new side effects and incompatibilities and translational science applications. Pharmaceutical sciences combines a wide range of scientific disciplines that are critical to the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies. Pharmaceutical sciences can be broadly classified into the following categories – drug discovery and design, drug delivery, drug action, drug analysis, pharmacoeconomics, clinical sciences, regulatory affairs.

The innovations and discoveries shall not be limited by the above.

Eligibility Criteria

Registered pharmacist with the Singapore Pharmacy Council
Member of Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore
Applicant must be either the Principal or Co-Investigator of the project
Research must be carried out in accordance to ethical standards in Singapore and approved by the Institution Review Board where applicable
Project has financial or patient benefit impact and the project must have been completed not more than 12 months before 30 June of the year of application.

The award review panel will be comprised of Mrs Tan Shook Fong and individuals appointed by the PSS Council.

More about Mrs Tan Shook Fong

Mrs Tan Shook Fong was the former Chief Pharmacist, and Director of the Pharmaceutical Department from 1995 - 2003. She was also the President and Registrar of the then Singapore Pharmacy board. As the Chief Pharmacist, Mrs Tan’s top priorities included raising the standards of medication safety and pharmaceutical care to patients. Mrs Tan made significant contributions to the modernisation of hospital pharmacy which included computerised pharmacy dispensing systems, inpatient medication records, introduction of ready-to-use dispensing packs, customised total parenteral and enteral feeds. She was also instrumental in the set up of a centralised Drug Information Unit.

Mrs Tan was responsible for improving the drug registration process to enable drugs to be registered more quickly for the benefit of patients. Introductions to legislation on smoking control, cosmetics control and chinese proprietary medicine during Mrs Tan's time further enhanced the protection of public health.

In her illustrious career, Mrs Tan published 32 scientific papers and a number of handbooks for use at hospitals and also presented her research papers at international conferences. She was subsequently appointed Special Pharmaceutical Advisor when the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) was formed.

In recognition of her dedicated and exemplary service in her field, Mrs Tan was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2003. In 2009, Mrs Tan was awarded the Distinguished Science Alumni Award by the National University of Singapore.

After her retirement in 2003, Mrs Tan continued to be active in the pharmacy field. She held various positions including Chairperson of the Singapore Pharmacy Board Continuing Pharmacy Education Accreditation Committee, Consultant Pharmacist at Haw Par Healthcare Ltd and Advisor to Singapore Pharmacy Board and Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore. Mrs Tan is also Honorary Secretary to Friends of the Museums Singapore and was a pioneer in setting up a structured programme for the training of Museum Docents for the National Heritage Board.

Application Process

1. The application form with clearly stated outcomes must be submitted by 30 June each year, to the attention of PSS Honorary Secretary at admin@pss.org.sg who will act as the award administrator.

2. The project must be completed by time of award nomination.

3. All applications will be reviewed by members of Award Panel and a decision regarding the award winner will be made known within 90 days of submission. The panel’s decision is final.

Click here for the application form

Award Prize

The recipient of the Mrs Tan Shook Fong - PSS Innovation and Scientific Research Award will receive S$1,000 in cash, free PSS membership for 1 year and a plaque.