Competitive sports vs competitive research By Dr Isaac Chua, Manager, Office of Research, SingHealth

A Manager at the SingHealth Office of Research, Dr Isaac Chua is also an avid mountain climber who has recently trekked to Mount Everest Base Camp and Mount Kailash in Tibet. In this article, he draws parallels between research and sports.

Dr Isaac Chua at the Everest Base Camp in Tibet

Competitive research is similar to competitive sports in what they require from the persons involved as well as the challenges and issues faced. Here are two parallels between research and sports: 1) Talent, passion, discipline – As it is in competitive sports, you need to have a knack for the sport you are in and the passion and discipline to drive yourself to excel, because there will be numerous times, just as in research, that you will face obstacles, hit a wall and just want to give up. In competitive sports, athletes train daily; in Singapore, where most professional or national athletes also have day jobs, their passion and discipline are what push them to do what they do and even more, because they want to excel in what they are passionate about. In research, it is not uncommon to see researchers returning to the lab on weekends to conduct their experiments and leaving the lab at odd hours.

2) Willingness to work as a team and playing your role to the best of your ability – Research is not a one-person show. Many people are involved, not just the researchers themselves, but the technical, research administrative, procurement, human resources and legal staff. Every individual in the workflow is important and has the ability to impact the research project both positively and negatively.

In the singles’ 100m sprint event, there are many people behind the scenes supporting the athlete in the preparation: the coach, nutritionist, as well as physiotherapist and so on; all play critical roles to ensure the athlete is well-prepared for his or her event. If anyone in the team is lacking or not doing his or her best, the athlete might not be able to achieve the best possible outcome. My role in the Collaborations team at SingHealth Office of Research allows me to interact and work with different parties within SingHealth and also from external organisations. To get multi-site collaborations going, my team and I work with departments, such as SingHealth Intellectual Property (SHIP), SingHealth Legal, Research Finance, and many more, to finalise research agreements, proposal papers and budgets. From my experience, research is indeed a team sport, as each of us plays a role in supporting research in the AMC and beyond.

About the Author After graduating with a PhD in Immunology from the National University of Singapore, Dr Isaac Chua joined the SingHealth Office of Research. As a Manager of the Collaborations team, Isaac works closely with various parties to facilitate and support multi-site partnerships. He is also an avid photographer and mountaineering enthusiast. Do you have research stories, photos, or opinions to share?

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Research is not a one-person show, just like in sports, many people work behind the scenes.