Combining Women’s health, Art and Scientific collaboration with Singapore

On May 10, 11 and 12, three events were held in Singapore, organised by Université Paris Cité’s Institut Santé des Femmes and the Global Centre for Asian Women’s Health (GloW) at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. The aim was to bring together two themes – women’s health and art – and celebrate a scientific partnership launched in October 2023.

These events were an integral part of the vOilah! France-Singapore 2024 festival, organised by the French Embassy in Singapore. We look back on a weekend filled with momentum and hope.

Serendipity: Raising Awareness of Women’s Health through Art

The weekend kicked off with a screening of the documentary “Serendipity” by French artist Prune Nourry. The film explores the role of art as a means of healing and reconstruction following breast cancer treatment. The projection was followed by a discussion with members and alumni of the National University of Singapore.

Moderated by Dr. Mariana Losada, Director of the Paris-NUS programme and Université Paris Cité’s representative in Singapore, featured Dr. Joline Lim, medical oncologist and breast cancer researcher at the National University Cancer Institute, Jessica Lee, director and author, and Dr. Chen Ying, sociologist specializing in modern China, who has worked on the way cancer is received in Chinese society. The discussion focused on patients’ experiences of treatment and the diversity of individual experiences. This event, was supported by NUS College, GloW NUS, Université Paris Cité and ELLE Singapore. It also provided an opportunity to reiterate the importance of regular screening.

Saving Women’s Lives: Transforming Healthcare, By women, For women

The Saving Women’s Lives Gala, held on May 11th at the Shangri-La Singapore, brought together a wide spectrum of personalities from various sectors including research, medicine, arts, media, fashion, industry, all committed to women’s health in France and Singapore. The objective was to encourage meetings and collaborations between the two countries on this topic. The guest of honor, H.E. Minh Di Tang, Ambassador of France to Singapore, welcomed the guests, accompanied by Professors Zhang Cuilin, Director of GloW NUS, Vassilis Tsatsaris, Director of the Institut Santé des Femmes, Matthieu Resche-Rigon, Dean of the Faculty of Health at Université Paris Cité, Chong Yap-Seng, Dean of NUS Medicine, Edouard Kaminski, President of Université Paris Cité, Antoine Kouchner, Vice-President of International Relations at UPCité and Amira Ghouaibi, Director of the Global Alliance for Women’s Health at the World Economic Forum. The message they delivered was resoundingly clear: scientific cooperation is needed to address issues such as the under-diagnosis of heart disease in women, female cancers and the under-representation of Asian women in global scientific research.

This event is a first and an important milestone for the collaboration between the Women’s Health Institute and GloW NUS. More broadly, it marks the scientific cooperation between France and Singapore, offering a unique opportunity for researchers, healthcare professionals, advocates and other stakeholders to embrace new opportunities for collaboration to the benefit of women’s health.

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