{"id":4045,"date":"2024-01-18T17:23:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T17:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-alumn-nus.pantheonsite.io\/alumnus\/?p=4045"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:07:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:07:57","slug":"from-loss-to-legacy-a-researchers-path-to-global-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2024\/01\/18\/from-loss-to-legacy-a-researchers-path-to-global-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"From Loss to Legacy: A Researcher’s Path to Global Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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When his mother died of cancer, Dr Izzuddin Aris, who was then nine years old, did not understand why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there and then, the youngest of three children became determined to set himself on a path to a career in science. He said, \u201cMy mother\u2019s death fuelled my desire to learn more about health and disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Bedok View Secondary, Dr Izzuddin chose to study Biology. He went on to the Science stream in Temasek Junior College, where he aimed to enter medical school. Although he did not get in, he was offered a place in the National University of Singapore\u2019s (NUS) Biomedical Sciences programme, which transformed his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PASSION IN DOHaD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Izzuddin has fond memories of his time at NUS. For the accomplished guitar player, he relished hanging out and jamming with friends at the Cultural Activities Club\u2019s Guitar Club room at the Yusof Ishak House, and performing gigs at the University Cultural Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But more importantly, NUS was where the window to the world of scientific research was opened for Dr Izzuddin. His fascination with the \u201cDevelopmental Origins of Health and Disease,\u201d propelled him through a PhD programme, where he found guidance from his mentor, Dr Michael S. Kramer, a visiting NUS professor from McGill University in Canada.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mentorship not only refined his research skills but also paved the way for his connection to Harvard Medical School, marking a significant turning point in his academic journey. Dr Izzuddin joined the institution in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GLOBAL RENOWN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Dr Izzuddin stands as an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute<\/a>, and is widely recognised as an award-winning global expert in obesity. His contributions place him in the top 0.1 percent of published authors in his field worldwide, and he has won multiple local and global research awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his achievements, Dr Izzuddin was bestowed the prestigious Outstanding Young Alumni Award at the NUS Alumni Awards in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his global recognition, Dr Izzuddin remains committed to education. As a faculty instructor and Co-Director of the Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health course at Harvard Medical School, he actively works with colleagues to shape the course curriculum.  His commitment to teaching is further reflected in his receipt of the Young Mentor Award by Harvard Medical School in 2022.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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When it comes to teaching, my approach is to always go in with an open mind. It\u2019s not just me teaching them, my students are also teaching me, and I learn from them. In that sense, classes are a partnership.<\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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SALESMANSHIP IN SCIENCE<\/strong>

Dr Izzuddin does not just celebrate his successes; he is also a firm believer of learning from failure. He openly acknowledges the challenges he faced in securing research grants. Reflecting on his experiences, he emphasised the importance of not only writing but also \u201cselling\u201d scientific proposals. This resilience has enabled him to secure grants from prestigious institutions like the American Heart Association and US National Institutes of Health to fund his research on social determinants of children\u2019s cardiovascular health.

By exploring uncharted territory, such as the impact of environmental factors on cardiovascular health in children, his research has the potential to shape policies that address social determinants, such as access to parks, air pollution, and neighbourhood safety, with implications for the well-being of future generations.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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I am most grateful for my supportive family and friends, who are all back in Singapore, as I pursue my academic career thousands of miles away.<\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Behind Dr Izzuddin’s success is a supportive family, especially his late father, an accountant, who inspired him to pursue a career in science. \u201cHe constantly supported me, and he is the reason for who I am today,” he said.

Dr Izzuddin’s journey from loss to legacy exemplifies the transformative power of resilience, determination, and a passion for knowledge. His story serves as an inspiration for aspiring researchers and underscores the profound impact that an individual can have on global health through dedication, mentorship, and groundbreaking research.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His mother died when he was young and growing up, he did not attend Singapore\u2019s conventional top schools. But today, NUS alumnus Dr Izzuddin Aris (Science \u201910) is a Harvard-based academic and researcher of global renown. He sheds light on his journey to success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4045"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7974,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4045\/revisions\/7974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}