Academic Profile : Faculty

Laurent Renia1 (1).jpg picture
Prof Laurent Renia
Professor of Infectious Diseases, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
President's Chair in Infectious Diseases
Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
Professor, School of Biological Sciences (Courtesy Appointment)
Laurent Renia is currently a professor of infectious diseases and the director of the respiratory and Infectious Diseases Program at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and in the School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University. He is also a senior fellow and principal investigator of the A*STAR ID Labs.
He has obtained my Ph.D. in 1991 from University Pierre et Marie Curie (now Sorbonne University) in Paris, France, and did my post-doctoral at New York University (1991-1992) under Victor Nussenzweig. He returned to Paris in 1993 where he obtained a permanent position as a research scientist at the French National Institute of Health (INSERM). Between 2001-and 2006, he became research director at INSERM, co-director, and director of the Department of Immunology at the Institut Cochin. he first join A*STAR as a senior principal investigator in the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) in 2007. He became its Executive Director in 2013 from 2020. In 2020, he founded the A*STAR ID Labs (A*STAR) as its Executive director. he holds an adjunct position at the French National Institute of Health (INSERM). His scientific interests cover the immunology of infectious disease, focusing on mosquito-borne and zoonotic diseases, and newly emerging viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. His research focuses on shaping new concepts based on the understanding of molecular and cellular mechanism immunity through the development of animal models and new assays and approaches. He has published more than 450 articles and book chapters.
My scientific interests cover the immunology of infectious diseases (malaria and arboviruses) and newly emerging viruses (SARS-CoV-2) to the development of new immunological assays and animal models that can be used to study communicable and non-communicable diseases (such as cancer).
 
  • A new reticulocyte population: unravelling its origin and role in malaria infection and erythropoietic stress responses
  • Attenuating myeloperoxidase activities to improve outcomes in dengue: A proof of concept
  • Cell based viral reporters for future pandemic preparedness
  • Immunity against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases; coronaviruses and malaria as model pathogens
  • Outbreak response mRNA vaccines against H5Nx and H7Nx
  • President's Chair in Infectious Diseases
  • Tripartile Infectious Disease (TRIDENT)
Awards
• 2009 A*STAR (Singapore) Safety Advocates Award
• 2012 A*STAR (Singapore) Dedicated Service Award
• 2018 Ministry of Health, Singapore, 5-year long service Award
• 2019 Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI, Singapore) awards 2019. Borderless, Bronze award
• 2021 Knight of the Insignia of Merit, France Republic (2021)
• 1991 McArthur Foundation (USA), research fellowship award
• 1992 Stanley Foundation (Switzerland), research fellowship award
• 1994 Institut Electricité et Santé [Electricité de France (EDF) Science Foundation], Research Grant Award)
• 2009 A*STAR (Singapore) Safety Advocates Award
• 2012 A*STAR (Singapore) Dedicated Service Award
• 2018 Ministry of Health, Singapore, 5-year long service Award
• 2019 Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI, Singapore) awards 2019. Borderless, Bronze award
• 2021 Knight of the Insignia of Merit, France Republic (2021)
• 2022 National Awards (COVID-19) to Recognise Contributions in the fight against COVID-19
The Public Administration Medal (Bronze)
2023 COVID resilience medal
- President's Certificate of Commendation (COVID-19) for the Therapeutics and Vaccines Expert Panel - Ministry of Health
- President's Certificate of Commendation (COVID-19) for the Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination (EC19V) - Ministry of Health
 
Fellowships & Other Recognition
1991 McArthur Foundation (USA), research fellowship award
1992 Stanley Foundation (Switzerland), research fellowship award
 
Supervision of PhD Students
Mentored or mentoring 23 post-doctoral fellows, 29 Ph D. students (5 ongoing) as the main or co-supervisor, 57 undergrad (Master/honors/Final year project) students, 13 technicians and 69 interns/attachment students.