Doing the heavy lifting beyond surgery

He shares: “There is often a misconception that when patients are waiting for surgery, they should just rest and not do anything… But we know that muscles are actually the first stores of protein and energy that the body utilises whenever it is being stressed. We also know that for every three days of lying sedentary in a hospital bed, a patient can lose around 15% of muscle mass.

This got me thinking whether if by getting patients to exercise and bulk up through nutrition, we could improve their recovery after surgery.”

A/Prof Koh’s introduction to the theme of “sarcopenia in surgical patients”, came about almost by accident. One day, while thinking about what PhD topic he should pursue, his mentor made a casual comment about some knee pain he was experiencing.

“He then mused about how good it would be if there was a magic tablet that could prevent muscle or cartilage loss. This followed with a question about how much muscle I was able to obtain from surgery.

When I responded that it was about a 2-cm3, his eyes lit up, because he recognised that I was in a unique position to access a valuable resource to accelerate discovery in this area. That was a Eureka moment for me, because for the first time I could see a real alignment between my clinical work and my research interest.”

When asked what his biggest challenge as a clinician/surgeon-scientist was, A/Prof Koh replies emphatically, “Time… There is only 24 hours in a day. And, on top of my clinical duties and research work, I also have young kids at home. So, prioritising my time becomes paramount.”

On top of having good time management, he also acknowledges the support that he has received from Duke-NUS in helping him to pursue his research interests.

“I have been the fortunate recipient of several research awards from the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. The first was the Nurturing Clinician Scientist Award in 2021, which falls under the Nurturing Clinician Researcher Scheme as part of the ACP Programme Grants. This award provided me with start-up funding, which allowed me to hire staff to continue tasks in the lab even while I am busy with clinical work.”

More recently, in 2024, Dr Frederick also received the Clinical Investigator Advancement Award (CIVA), which he says has really helped him to dedicate time towards his research pursuits.

“Besides providing me with protected time of 0.2 FTE, CIVA also serves to formalise what I’m doing by shining a spotlight on my research work. And that’s why I would encourage other clinicians who might be on the fence about pursuing research to take a look at the resources available. You can start by speaking to someone who has gone through the process. I think you will find yourself pleasantly surprised at how much support one can really get from the environment around.”

Learn how the Nurturing Clinician Researcher Scheme (NCRS) and Clinical Investigator Advancement Award (CIVA) can help you in your clinical research journey today.