Singapore public healthcare strengthens AI foundations with institute launch
By James Yau
An agreement was signed between Singhealth and the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) during the AI Health World Summit 2025 as Singapore continues to invest in its AI capabilities and partnerships.
The SingHealth Duke-NUS AI in Medicine Institute (AIMI) was launched on March 19. Image: SingHealth
SingHealth and Duke-NUS Medical School have launched the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Institute (AIMI), which is aimed at advancing knowledge about the foundations of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare.
AIMI will operate under the umbrella of SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (AMC), which houses nine similar joint institutes that range from cancer to dental research.
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Responsible AI
While AI has the power to revolutionise healthcare, its adoption must be responsible and patient-centred, said Associate Professor Liu Nan, Co-Director of AIMI and Director of the Duke-NUS AI + Medical Sciences Initiative (DAISI).
“AIMI brings together expertise from healthcare, engineering and data science to transform data into vital intelligence that can be used to make critical care decisions faster at the patients’ bedside,” he said.
Speaking to GovInsider, AIMI’s Co-Director and Associate Professor Daniel Ting, added that healthcare professionals should be educated about the potential risks of AI – with the institution helping to build the foundations to best utilise the technology in a safe manner.
“A safe and responsible car user doesn’t need to understand every single part that's in the car. But the moment that you put your hands on the steering wheel, you need to make sure that you stick to a lane and not exceed the speed limit,” he said.
Institute will cover both foundational and advanced AI
As AIMI begins staffing with its first batch of scientists and researchers, the institute will be guided by four focus areas.
These include promoting bench-to-bedside AI research that meets evolving healthcare needs; promoting safe and responsible AI in the healthcare community; supporting local and global commercialisation of AI health innovations; and nurturing the future pipeline of healthcare professionals.
The AI101 online course offered by AIMI comprises 10 modules on foundational AI topics that is tailored for the everyday layman, according to Associate Professor Ting.
He added that AIMI hopes to investigate several key areas such as AI screening, diagnostics, drug discovery and agentic AI for workforce optimisation over the next five years.
Referencing Singapore’s Healthier SG blueprint, he pointed to AI’s potential to be integrated across early warning systems into mobile apps and programmes for preventative health.
SingHealth’s MoU with CHAI
Separately, SingHealth and the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) have signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance responsible use AI in healthcare.
CHAI is a non-profit organisation in the US that is dedicated to establishing guidelines and best practices for the responsible use of AI in healthcare.
Founded in 2021, CHAI member network features over 3000 public and private organisations, including major technology vendors, who are committed to driving the development, evaluation, and appropriate use of AI in healthcare.
CHAI’s partnership with SingHealth is its first international collaboration and is aimed at strengthening Singapore’s position as a global hub for AI in healthcare while promoting ethical AI deployment worldwide.
The two organisations will collaborate on formulating AI guidelines and policy recommendations, and this will give Singapore a key role in shaping global AI standards in healthcare.
CHAI’s CEO Dr Brian Anderson stressed the importance of trust and transparency as global stakeholders navigate the constant developments in the AI sector.
“There's an urgent need to bring together again the regulatory community and the innovators to build this science, to have an objective way of measuring consequential things like bias and performance in generative AI,” he said.
SingHealth will also partner with CHAI to co-host a Global Summit in Singapore within the next two years.
Singapore’s growing AI scene
The AI Health World Summit is organised biennially by the SingHealth Duke-NUS AMC with A*STAR as co-organiser.
Its 2025 edition returned with an expanded programme held across three days from March 19 to 21, growing from one day conference since its debut.
Notable speakers like Professor Nigam Shah, Chief Data Scientist for Stanford Health Care, and Dr Rupa Sarkar, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet Digital Health, were present as the summit explored the latest advancements and applications of AI in healthcare.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How highlighted how healthcare’s early embrace of AI reflected Singapore’s need to remain competitive in new technologies.