TOYP Singapore 2019

Dr. Li Jingmei

Honouree · Science & Technology

Year

2019

Biography

Dr. Li Jingmei is a Singaporean research scientist and Principal Scientist II at ASTAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), where she leads the Laboratory of Women’s Health & Genetics and currently serves as Assistant Director of Population Health and Director of Graduate Affairs for the Biomedical Research Council.

She graduated as valedictorian of the NUS Faculty of Science in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences (with a minor in Technopreneurship) and participated in the NUS Overseas College (NOC) programme in Silicon Valley, USA, before completing her PhD at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden on an ASTAR Graduate Scholarship.

Her research centres on uncovering the genetic and non-genetic risk factors of breast cancer — particularly among Asian women who remain underrepresented in global genomics studies — with the goal of enabling early detection and preventive intervention. A key initiative she leads is the BREATHE (BREAst screening Tailored for HEr) study, which applies personalised breast cancer risk models in a real-world clinical setting in collaboration with Singapore hospitals.

Beyond the lab, she serves as Co-Lead of ASTAR’s Diversity Working Group, as an Editorial Board Member for ASTAR, and as a passionate advocate for science communication, women in STEM, and breast cancer awareness.

Achievements

Dr. Li has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier international journals, including the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and has contributed to landmark genome-wide association studies involving over 200,000 participants.

Among her most prestigious honours, she received the Singapore Young Scientist Award (2017), presented at the Istana by Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat — one of the highest national honours for research talent in Singapore.

She also won the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Fellowship (2014–2015), the National Research Foundation (NRF) Fellowship (2017) worth SGD $3 million as Principal Investigator, and the Singapore Women’s Weekly Great Women Of Our Time Award in the Science and Technology category (2017).

Additionally, she received a Career Development Award (2013) from the ASTAR Joint Council Office, research grants from the Karolinska Institute Foundation (2016–2017), and was a national finalist for Singapore in the Underwriters Laboratories – ASEAN-U.S. Science Prize for Women 2022 in the AI in Health and Safety (mid-career scientist) category.

She was also recognised as an **AChampion** by A*STAR in 2024 for exemplary contributions to advocacy and science communication, and has been featured as one of Asia’s leading changemakers in breast cancer research by Asian Scientist and other regional platforms.

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