National lung tissue repository aims to speed vaccines, treatments and personalised care.

Learning from Covid-19 delays, Singapore is building Asia’s first national lung tissue repository to fast-track research, vaccines and therapies before the next major outbreak hits.

Covid 19 Lessons Spark New Strategy
During Covid-19, research on how the virus affected lung disease patients in Singapore took about two years to be published, arriving too late to shape real-time treatment, recalled Associate Professor Sanjay Chotirmall, vice-dean of research at Nanyang Technological University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine). That experience drove the idea of a dedicated lung tissue collection to inform rapid responses when the next major outbreak, often dubbed Disease X, strikes. Beyond pandemic use, he said such a repository could support personalised treatments, drug screening and broader lung disease research.

Building Asia’s First National Lung Repository
The Academic Respiratory Initiative for Pulmonary Health (TARIPH), a centre under LKCMedicine, is developing a national repository of advanced respiratory tissue models over three years. About 200 samples will be collected across ethnicities and age groups, including higher risk groups such as children and the elderly. LKCMedicine will lead collection, processing and analysis of human lung samples, while the national Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and REsponse (PREPARE) will oversee long-term housing, quality control and alignment with Singapore’s wider pandemic preparedness needs. Samples will eventually be accessible to local and international researchers for academic purposes.

Asian Focus And Multi Ethnic Data
According to Prof Chotirmall, this is Singapore’s first lung tissue repository and the first national-scale facility of its kind in an Asian country. Existing repositories overseas largely represent non-Asian populations, which may not reflect how Disease X or other respiratory illnesses behave in Asian patients. Given Singapore’s multi-ethnic make-up, he said the collection can generate data that are more relevant to populations across Asia, improving understanding of disease mechanisms, treatment responses and vaccine performance in diverse Asian groups.

From ‘Mini Lungs’ To Real Time Testing
PREPARE is providing about $2 million in funding, matched by $2 million from a $10 million Open Fund-Large Collaborative Grant awarded to TARIPH in July 2024 by the National Research Foundation and administered by the National Medical Research Council. Senior principal scientific officer Dr Conrad Chan said the project has already begun banking samples and is now focusing on growing them into the desired lung tissue models. These include lung organoids, or “mini lungs” that mimic real lung structure and function, air-liquid interface cultures grown like nasal swab cells exposed to air, and precision-cut lung slices from surgery patients that preserve natural lung architecture for detailed drug and immune response studies.

Faster Vaccines, Therapies And Public Health Decisions
Once established, researchers will be able to infect these tissue models with different viruses to observe how they respond, well before large numbers of people fall ill. Prof Chotirmall said this can accelerate vaccine and therapy development, while also guiding public health strategies during an outbreak. Dr Chan noted that the repository allows scientists to study infection, healing and treatment effects without waiting for patients to become sick in hospital. Multiple organoids grown from a single sample can be followed over time, making it easier to compare drugs, tailor therapies to individuals and refine responses to future respiratory threats.

Singapore’s national lung tissue repository marks a significant step in shifting from reactive to proactive pandemic preparedness, grounded in Asian-specific data and advanced tissue models. For Indonesians and Singaporeans, the initiative promises faster access to effective vaccines and treatments, while strengthening the region’s collective capacity to understand and counter emerging respiratory threats before they overwhelm hospitals and economies.

Sources: Straits Times (2026) , Magzter (2026)

Keywords: Advanced Respiratory Tissue Models, Lung Organoids, Precision Cut Lung Slices, Disease X Preparedness, Covid 19 Lessons, Singapore Biomedical Hub