But at Duke-NUS, he is best known and loved as the School’s second dean, taking over from Founding Dean Professor Sandy Williams in 2008. During his time at the helm of Duke-NUS, Prof Krishnan was instrumental in laying the foundations for the School and the broader SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre, joining the SingHealth Board in 2013, a seat he only relinquished earlier this year.
Through these appointments, he helped steer the academic medicine partnership between Duke-NUS and SingHealth so that the AMC could grow into the leader in medical research and education that the centre has become today.
“As our second Dean, Ranga helped establish Duke-NUS as an innovator in medical education and with SingHealth Group CEO Prof Ivy Ng, laid the foundation for our outstanding academic medical centre,” said Professor Thomas Coffman who took over as Dean from Prof Krishnan in 2015.
Prof Krishnan’s influence also led to the establishment of the Centre of Regulatory Excellence at Duke-NUS, the first dedicated centre in Asia targeted to the needs of national health regulators and other stakeholders.
Prof Gubler was—and remains—an inspiration to many young scientists in Singapore, generously sharing his wealth of knowledge and he continues to serve the nation as Chair of the NEA’s Dengue Expert Advisory Panel, which guides the development and piloting of the novel Wolbachia technology that has successfully reduced the risk of dengue in the study sites. He is also a sought-after commentator who regularly shares his insights through expert commentaries, including this commentary on COVID-19 published in the South China Morning Post.
On receiving this recognition, Prof Gubler said: “Words cannot convey how humbled I am to receive Honorary Citizenship from a great country like Singapore.”
“I have watched Singapore evolve into a global public health and economic leader, becoming a model for other countries to emulate. I am proud to have been a part of this evolution but any contribution I may have made must be attributed to the many Singaporean colleagues and friends whom I have worked with over the years,” he added.
Introduced in 2003, the life-long award is the highest form of recognition bestowed by the Singapore government on individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s growth and development in the areas of business, science and technology, information communications, education, health, artist and culture, sports, tourism, community services or security. To date, 23 individuals have received the award.