dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Social Links
  • zedreviews.com
  • citi.io
  • aster.cloud
  • liwaiwai.com
  • guzz.co.uk
  • atinatin.com
0 Likes
0 Followers
0 Subscribers
dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
  • Lah!
  • Technology

Mapping The Undiscovered

  • August 24, 2021
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

ASTAR_NacroKassoum__1ETC_1000x650

…It is comforting to lead a big, well-coordinated team that you can rely on. Whenever there is a problem, you immediately know who to tap on to get it solved. You are no longer standing alone.

Four continents and 12 years later, Kassoum has found his way from Burkina Faso, through France and the USA to the tiny red dot of Singapore, driving new drug discoveries as Head of Discovery Chemistry and Project Leader at the Experimental Drug Development Center (EDDC)

Kassoum’s first glimpse into Singapore came with an opportunity in 2008 when his previous employer opened a branch here. A year later, Kassoum chanced upon an advertisement, and the rest is history. It was a complete leap of faith. However, the prospect of working with world-renowned scientists such as Prof David Lane and later with accomplished drug discoverers such as Prof Alex Matter was too compelling to ignore.

With a dozen years working in A*STAR, Kassoum has led various projects in drug discovery and saw to their success. He has been involved in numerous endeavours finding new drugs to tackle unmet medical needs, including neuroscience, infectious disease, metabolic disease and cancer. One of his greatest achievements to date is leading the team on the ETC-206 project, a promising anti-cancer drug.

ASTAR_NacroKassoum__lab_1000x650

Now, project design, management and mentoring are what occupies much of Kassoum’s time, but as a research scientist and drug inventor at heart, the lab is never far from his mind.

Asked about his secret sauce, Kassoum remarks that, “Great Science for Great Medicine needs the support of a great and dedicated team to empower the success of A*STAR.”

Having worked with large multidisciplinary teams comprising members hailing from diverse backgrounds, Kassoum shared, “It is about making every member an owner of the project. I highlight a problem and then let them take over. They become more eager to solve the issue.”

These days, Kassoum’s work is also about thinking and simulating different AI models. He has collaborated with experts in machine learning/deep learning from A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) to generate models that will, hopefully, speed up the optimisation of drugs.

“We think that we understand enough now, and we implement these models into drug discovery. The work of optimising compounds could potentially be completed in months, not years, thus shaving years off the entire project lifecycle.”

With consistent and high-quality data generated for the next 5-10 years, Kassoum believes that AI-enabled predictive modelling could put Singapore on the research world map. “This is the future of drug discovery,” he opines.

From the National Institute of Health (NIH)’s labs in Bethesda to AMRI in Albany and now Singapore, Kassoum has this advice for others who are just starting out:

The basis of discoveries in science is to challenge a hypothesis and validate an idea. The key is always to ask the right question.

He added, “Hone your gut instinct and critically evaluate and challenge it. Also, be prepared to notice the unusual. What appears marginal actually may not be trivial.”

ASTAR_NacroKassoum_group_1000x650 ETC-206 Media Briefing in 2017

 

 

 

By Dr. Nacro Kassoum
Source A*STAR

Total
0
Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • A*STAR
  • Experimental Drug Development Center (EDDC)
  • Institute for Infocomm Research
dotlah.com

Previous Article
  • Lah!
  • Science
  • Technology

Increasing The Accuracy Of Mosquito Vector Surveillance

  • August 24, 2021
View Post
Next Article
  • Technology

Paypal Partners IMDA To Create Good Tech Jobs For Singapore

  • August 27, 2021
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Gears
  • Technology

Meet Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Series: Packing Everything You Expect From a Premium Tablet

  • Dean Marc
  • September 4, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

Malaysia’s ‘ASEAN Shenzhen’ needs some significant legal reform to take off — here’s how

  • dotlah.com
  • August 25, 2025
View Post
  • Gears
  • Technology

Samsung Electronics Debuts Odyssey G7 Monitors, Showcasing Top Games on Its Displays at Gamescom 2025

  • Dean Marc
  • August 20, 2025
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Technology

Thoughts on America’s AI Action Plan

  • Dean Marc
  • July 24, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

ESWIN Computing launches the EBC77 Series Single Board Computer with Ubuntu

  • dotlah.com
  • July 17, 2025
View Post
  • Gears
  • Technology

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones

  • Dean Marc
  • July 9, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Technology

Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore

  • dotlah.com
  • June 20, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

Apple services deliver powerful features and intelligent updates to users this autumn

  • Dean Marc
  • June 12, 2025


Trending
  • 1
    • Science
    Ghost Particles: How Galaxies Helped Us Weigh The Lightest Neutrino – And Why It Matters
    • August 27, 2019
  • 2
    • Cities
    • Lah!
    • Technology
    ST Engineering Launches New High Performance AIR+ Reusable Mask With N95-Grade Filtration And Proven Anti-Microbial Protection
    • March 6, 2021
  • 3
    • Cities
    • Lah!
    • Technology
    Singapore Airlines And KrisShop To Launch World’s First In-Flight E-Shopping Experience
    • June 25, 2021
  • First IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe Opens 4
    • Computing
    • Technology
    First IBM Quantum Data Center In Europe Opens; Will Include Ibm’s Most Performant Quantum Systems
    • October 1, 2024
  • CES 2025 social meta 5
    • Technology
    What Not to Miss at CES 2025
    • January 7, 2025
  • covid19-vaccine-julia-koblitz-6u8sbtz0q1c-unsplash 6
    • People
    Five Things To Know About: Mixing And Matching Coronavirus Vaccines
    • May 20, 2021
  • goswifties_la-defensa-arena_900 7
    • Featured
    Feel Pulse Of Paris. An Unmatched Concert Venue In La Défense.
    • May 10, 2024
  • 8
    • Society
    Combating Medical Misinformation And Disinformation Amid Coronavirus Outbreak In Southeast Asia
    • February 8, 2020
  • Panasonic 9
    • Technology
    Panasonic Group showcases innovations under the theme “Well into the future” at CES 2025
    • January 7, 2025
  • harry-baker-impossible-cover 10
    • Features
    • People
    Everything’s Impossible Until It Isn’t – Read A Captivating Poem By Harry Baker
    • May 18, 2023
  • 11
    • Lah!
    Singapore Expands IP Collaborations With Japan, China And Russia
    • November 14, 2019
  • 12
    • People
    How To Efficiently Lead A Healthy Lifestyle
    • September 21, 2020
Trending
  • Kitchen Knives - Best All-Around Picks in 2025 1
    Kitchen Knives : The Surgeons of Cooking – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • September 15, 2025
  • 2
    Apple unveils iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the most powerful and advanced Pro models ever
    • September 9, 2025
  • 3
    Apple debuts iPhone 17
    • September 9, 2025
  • Fruits and vegetables for cooking. For food processors. 4
    Food Processor: The Swiss Army Knife of the Kitchen – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • September 8, 2025
  • 5
    Meet Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Series: Packing Everything You Expect From a Premium Tablet
    • September 4, 2025
  • 6
    Malaysia’s ‘ASEAN Shenzhen’ needs some significant legal reform to take off — here’s how
    • August 25, 2025
  • French Fries 7
    Air Fryer: The One Cooking Appliance to Rule Them All – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • August 22, 2025
  • 8
    Samsung Electronics Debuts Odyssey G7 Monitors, Showcasing Top Games on Its Displays at Gamescom 2025
    • August 20, 2025
  • 9
    HP Cranks Up the Game with Smarter Systems, Cooler Builds, and Gear That Hits Different
    • August 14, 2025
  • 10
    New Trump tariffs: early modelling shows most economies lose – the US more than many
    • August 6, 2025
Social Links
dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Connecting Dots Across Asia's Tech and Urban Landscape

Input your search keywords and press Enter.