Helping research take wing with compassion| MEDICUS 2024 Issue 3

Randy Foo: Helping research take wing with compassion
By Tan Ruilin, Writer

Randy Foo at work in the bat facility he maintains, just before entering the bat housing area. // Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

“Once, a baby bat got separated from its mother. We couldn’t reunite them. I stayed back to hand-feed it every night at 11, but after a week, it died. That night, I was driving back in my car, tears streaming down my face.”

Emotional tumult and cutting-edge research? Just a regular Tuesday for Randy Foo, Senior Research Assistant and Bat Facility Manager with Duke-NUS’ Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, where a workday veers often from ordinary to unexpected. The only constant about his day, he said, is that it “always begins with coffee”. Part researcher and part custodian of Duke-NUS’ bat facility, Foo’s work sits at the unique intersection of bat biology and the intricacies of animal husbandry.

And bat biology is an area in which interest has boomed in recent years. As the only mammal capable of flight, bats have long captured human imagination. But what really piqued scientists’ interest is their exceptional ability to host highly dangerous viruses, often without showing any symptoms.

“If we can study their immune responses, we can also find what protects them from diseases. From there, we can find therapeutic targets for controlling and treating human infectious diseases,” said Foo.

But it is not just viruses where bats could have something to teach us. Their ability to control their blood sugar could also be instructive: “Our bats are nectarivores and feed mainly on nectar and pollen for energy. With a diet like that, they need to be able to control their blood sugar!”

But first, you need to get hold of a bat.

Foo drip feeds an Eonycteris spelaea, or cave nectar bat, a special food mixture that replicates their natural diet. // Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

Said Foo, “A lot of fine dexterity is required to handle the bats.” This knowledge did not come easily—when Foo first started in the role, the field of bat biology was so new that he found himself having to research bat care from scratch.

Taking it upon himself to learn from animal care professionals, Foo sought out stints with other veterinarians, including shadowing exotic small mammal specialist Dr Rina Maguire from Beecroft Bird & Exotics Veterinary Clinic. His commitment to becoming a bat expert continues to this day—Foo plans to volunteer with the world’s only accredited bat sanctuary in Texas next year.

“I want to be a stronger voice in bat research and hone my skills further. If I’m not a vet, signs of illness can be hard to diagnose and detect. And if I don’t know how to care for the bats, how can I be an effective manager?”

Bats in the facility emerging from the raised roosting area to feed on fruit and dietary formula in the evening. // Credit: Courtesy of Randy Foo

Foo’s multifarious job scope requires him to plan experiments, assess safety and risks, keep track of consumables, and ensure that the bats are flourishing.

Working on-site also means that Foo constantly thinks about the bats’ needs and how to enhance their living environment. The current cage was custom-designed, in collaboration with fellow bat researcher, Dr Akshamal Gamage, Senior Research Fellow with Professor Wang Linfa’s lab at Duke-NUS, to meet the colony’s needs.

Visit the facility and gleaming floors, a clean, spacious room and meshed wall-to-wall windows greet you. The bulk of the room is taken up by a cage that extends into an aviary of 9 by 4 by 2 metres. Walking around inside the cage, a couple of gregarious bats flutter curiously around your head, though it’s the middle of the day. A cat ladder extends overhead in the event of maintenance work. The rest of the bats roost together in a chirping, lively mass in a raised roosting area, darkened and compartmentalised with sliding doors.

The raised roost with sliding doors was a special design innovation to help Foo and the team capture bats.

“Often, we have to capture bats for both health and experimental work—so we had to optimise the cage for this purpose. By raising the dividing trays and blocking off the aviary, it’s much easier to isolate particular bats.

This bat colony is remarkable—we’re one of the few institutions in the world that have one, and it is, to our knowledge, the first captive breeding bat colony in Asia.”

Foo and his colleague, veterinary technician Rommel Yroy, capture bats for routine examinations. When handling the bats, researchers and technicians wear a complete set of personal protective equipment, as well as thick gloves to prevent accidents or injury. // Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

In one fell swoop: Building a colony

The colony was started in 2015, comprising just 5 E. spelaea bats, that had been caught roosting in large colonies underneath flyovers or highways in Singapore.

So new was the idea of a bat colony that even the team of experts from the National Large Animal Research Facility, led by seasoned veterinarian Dr Edgar Pena, had to formulate and develop their own recipes for the bats’ diets, playing an instrumental role in building the initial colony so that those five bats could thrive. That also included daily care, seven days a week, and assisting with various procedures.

So plentiful was the work that soon Professor Wang Linfa, then-Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases programme, asked Foo whether he’d be interested in dedicating his time to the bats.

For Foo, the opportunity was so left-of-field that he found himself doing a lot of Googling.

“I realised this guy was legit,” Foo laughed. “I took the job eventually because I wanted to do something that would help people.”

A bat having its microchip scanned for identification. // Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

With more than 150 bats in the colony now, the team has turned to technology to help them keep a track of the bats. To identify a caught bat, Foo scans a bat’s microchip, which holds a serial number unique to the bat.

How does one upkeep a colony of 150 individuals? Compassion, Foo said. A self-professed animal lover, his devotion to the bats’ health and happiness informs every facet of how he constructs protocols for their well-being.

“When you love animals, you have compassion towards all of them. You don’t only love your pet dog. You want to make sure these animals have the best environment they can have to thrive, that their welfare isn’t compromised, and that the work is done ethically.

We don’t want to shortchange the bats.”

Foo pipettes food mixture into a vial as he weighs the bats, examines their physique and takes their temperature. // Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

The establishment of this breeding colony has proven to be a cornerstone of the swiftly-developing field of bat biology. In spite of the work with emerging infectious pathogens, much care is taken to ensure that the Duke-NUS bat colony is kept healthy and free of disease—in contrast to wild bats, who often carry many different viruses.

Foo explains why he believes so strongly in the work that the team does. “It’s the causes that the research studies undertake that convince me. Research done here will, if not now, then in the near or far future, contribute to the health of society. It makes me feel that the bat colony matters, and that it’s a valuable resource.”

Interest in bat research has bloomed from initial interest in immunology into a range of topics from infection, to metabolism, to flight dynamics and even ageing, thanks to the pioneering work of scientists such as those at Duke-NUS.

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A delicate balancing act

The distinctive challenges of Foo’s stint as custodian of the bats often come, not from the bats themselves, but from the human-facing aspects of the job.

“In seven years, I’ve learnt to communicate better. I’ve had to know how to come across more firmly and that I know my stuff, particularly when I insist on protecting the welfare of the bats. I need to trust myself.”

Often, Foo finds himself treading between ethics and research. He juggles researchers’ expectations and the reality of bat breeding, such as only being able to start a project eight months after they receive a request for bats, as they take time to reproduce. The key to making sure the whole colony is thriving, and the population numbers are healthy, Foo said, is transparency in his processes.

As bats are not typical laboratory animals, housing and breeding them is considerably different from more commonly encountered species, such as mice or fruit flies. It’s easy for researchers to overlook the practical implications this has on executing their protocol. For Foo, the years of hands-on knowledge he’s accrued, and the laboratory training he’s acquired, all mean little if they’re not underscored by compassion. The research is a bonus.

Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

Given the highly specific nature of the job, one of Foo’s concerns is continuity. To build long lasting foundations, he’s designed and structured the syllabus of a bat-focused course in Responsible Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

“If researchers don’t know how the facility works, they can’t design their protocol. I also observe researchers to ensure that they’re competent in bat handling, and make sure there are trained veterinary technicians around them at all times.”

Apart from education, the longitudinal nature of some of the studies Foo is involved in necessitates great amounts of effort—and a greater inventory of samples. “If anyone takes over this work, they’ll need to sort through seven years of data—and have the same dedication to the project. It would waste years of hard work, otherwise.”

Foo completes some of his administrative tasks in his office on-site. // Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

Up all night? Only the bats, he’s afraid

“My job is quite unique. Before this, many people told me how punishing laboratory work was, but for me, coming to work doesn’t feel like coming to work. A large part of that is my colleagues, and the extremely warm culture we’ve created. Everyone is so helpful—I would say I’ve bonded very closely with the team.”

With famously nocturnal animals to care for, late nights at work might seem par for the course, as with Foo’s experience with the baby bat. But it was the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic that steeply jeopardised Foo’s work-life balance. At the time, the team in Wang’s laboratory had pivoted away from working with bats, turning to the pressing matter of delving into the deadly coronavirus. He recounts, “There were days that started at 2pm and ended at 4am. The samples we were investigating grew from just a hundred, to 1000, then 10,000.

We switched gears from bats to virology, and at that point, I was already Biosafety Level-3 trained, so it was nice that I could do something useful at such an important time.”

Beyond the bats, Foo maintains a vibrant personal life, here seen performing in his band with his instrument of choice, the cajon. // Credit: Courtesy of Randy Foo

In addition, this year also marks a milestone for Foo, who is marrying a fellow researcher—his spouse-to-be is a PhD candidate in microbiology.

“It does make a difference, having someone who understands the demands of laboratory work. Though I will secretly admit to sometimes getting a bit lost… when her complaints get too in-depth.”

Credit: Norfaezah Abdullah, Duke-NUS

Through Foo’s personal and professional ambitions, there runs a common thread of valuing work that is productive—and lends itself well to serving others.

With the daily grind of overseeing a bat colony, however, Foo’s motivations lie in taking pride in seeing the bats thrive—especially when they are in much better condition than bats in the wild, which often are missing fur in patches or riddled with parasites. Clearly, each and every bat in the colony is prized.

“It’s in your best interests to be compassionate. If someone is solely focused on research, they’ll miss something, they won’t conduct the best research they can. It’s always about being fair to the animals.”