Interview with Prof. Dr. Swee Hin Teoh—Editorial Board Member of Biomedicines

We had the pleasure of speaking with Prof. Dr. Swee Hin Teoh, Editorial Board Member of Biomedicines (ISSN: 2227-9059), to discuss his experience with Biomedicines and the recent research trends in the field.

Prof. Dr. Swee-Hin Teoh graduated with a BEng and Ph.D. from Monash University, Australia, in 1978 and 1981, respectively. He then worked at the National University of Singapore from 1982 to 2022. He is presently an Emeritus Professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Engineers Singapore. Prof. Dr. Teoh is one of a few scientists who has brought research from the lab to the clinic and to public listing. He was at the Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) from 2012 to 2022 and was honored with the President’s Chair School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, and was jointly appointed Professor of bioengineering at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, NTU Singapore. Recently, he was listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by scholars from Stanford University. The Stanford rankings reflect the significant influence and research excellence of Prof. Dr. Teoh, who is committed to furthering knowledge for the benefit of society.

Prof. Dr. Teoh is known for the clinical translation of 3D-printed bioresorbable scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. This device has FDA approval and has been implanted in more than 60,000 patients globally, and the company Osteopore successfully went public in Australia in 2019. His pioneering work in fracture and wear of biomaterials is well recognized and highly cited. He has won a number of major awards, such as the Golden Innovation Award from Far East Economic Review, and the Institute of Engineers Singapore’s Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award in 2004. Majoring in materials engineering at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, his research journey focused on translating materials research to biomedical benefits. He has over 260 research publications and 22 patents. He was the Founding Chief Engineer of the Skin Research Institute of Singapore, a unique entity that is highly interdisciplinary and involves NTU, A*Star and Singapore Hospital (TTSH). He undertook pioneering work to develop a unique bioreactor with electromagnetic energy to study bone growth and organ biocompatibility in chick embryos. His Web of Science citation record is 11,382, and he has an h-index of 51. His Google Scholar citations equal 91334, and his h-index is 136. He has also won numerous Excellent Teaching Awards. Presently he is the Designate Director at the Centre for Advanced Materials Engineering in Medicine (CAMEM) and Distinguished Cheung Kong Professor at the School of Materials and Engineering, Hunan University, People’s Republic of China.

We hope you enjoy the interview.

1. Why did you decide to work for Biomedicines? Tell us about the journal and your role there.
Biomedicines reminds me of the great scientist Louis Pasteur, a chemist-turned-microbiologist who became the father of modern medicine; a legendary man who inspired me. The multidisciplinary nature of Biomedicines, the focus on disease research to benefit and impact society and the rapid speed of publication of original work and the assistance of able editorial managers are some of the reasons why I chose the journal. I started as a Guest Editor in the Special Issue “Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering”, a topic I have researched for more than 20 years. Bone diseases are important problems to solve, especially for the aging population experienced worldwide.

2. Why should scientists submit their manuscripts in Biomedicines? And how do you think open access impacts authors?
A survey where Nobel Laureates published their works will show that it is not just the numerical high impact factor of a journal based on citation but on other factors such as the impact on society, commonly measured by Alternative (A) index in social media, news, web, YouTube, and also the Composite (C) index based on an interdisciplinary team, resilience in pursuing details, especially in experimentation, as opposed to just discovering something novel which sometimes depends on serendipity. I think Biomedicines has some of these qualities that attract scientists who are seeking a mature audience, especially in translational medicine with good science. This is also of interest to industries. Open access is attractive as it allows a larger audience to quickly read the published works.

3. Tell us more about your first publishing experience. How do you begin the process of writing a paper?
I always begin by asking why anyone would be interested in reading my paper if it does not address a compelling issue in medicine. After identifying the issue, I would ask myself whether I have assembled a credible multidisciplinary team to look at the solution and whether we have demonstrated a repeatable science-based experimental technique. One also needs to ask are the results based on a sound statistical analysis and are the conclusions moderated, which otherwise may seem overenthusiastic, blind to other shortcomings.

4. What are some current challenges in this field?
Some current challenges in bone tissue engineering are the cocktail of stem cells that need to be packed in the 3D printed scaffolds to address long-term viability in vascularization and tissue remodeling, which is dependent on the biomechanics and electromagnetic stimulation of the new bone construct from the surrounding environment.

5. Finally, do you have any advice for young researchers?
Before embarking on a Ph.D. topic please do a detailed problem-based study with a team of interdisciplinary researchers. Do as much content learning via the internet and seek experts’ opinions on various issues, especially if you are pursuing biomedical research. Formulating the right questions is an important first step. It would be great if a young researcher would meditate on the words of wisdom of the great scientist Louis Pasteur—“Chance favors a prepared mind”—and spend time studying his autobiography and capture his passion for standing up for truths in science through experimentation and prove skeptics wrong no matter where they are placed in the hierarchy of their profession.

We are thankful for Prof. Dr. Teoh’s time and his support for Biomedicines.

Prof. Dr. Swee Hin Teoh’s contact information:
E-mail: teohsh@ntu.edu.sg