Rate My Professor Patrick Tan

Professor Patrick Tan is a faculty member at Duke-NUS Medical School, a partnership between Duke University and the National University of Singapore (NUS). He earned a B.A. in Biochemistry summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1992 and an M.D./Ph.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine in 2000. Tan serves as Dean of Duke-NUS Medical School effective January 1, 2026, and previously held the position of Senior Vice-Dean for Research at the institution beginning in July 2023. He maintains concurrent roles as Executive Director of Precision Health Research Singapore (PRECISE), coordinating Singapore’s National Precision Medicine program, and Senior Scientific Advisor for Group Research at SingHealth. Additional appointments include Distinguished Principal Scientist at the Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR), Senior Principal Investigator at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (NUS), and Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Physiology at NUS. Tan has been a faculty member in Duke-NUS’s Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Signature Research Program since 2006.

His research focuses on cancer genetics and genomics, with emphasis on cancers prevalent in Asia. Tan has received numerous awards, including the President’s Science Award (Team), the American Association for Cancer Research Team Science Award (first Asian team recipient), and election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He is the recipient of the Exemplary Leader Award at the 2023 Public Sector Transformation Award Ceremony and holds the Provost’s Chair in Cancer and Stem Cell Biology at Duke-NUS.