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SGH-NKF Renal Research Fund Grant Call
Singapore has come a long way since the first hemodialysis treatment was performed at the old Singapore General Hospital (SGH, then Outram Road General Hospital) in September 1961 for a patient with acute kidney failure.1 Professor Khoo Oon Teik, was instrumental in establishing the nation’s first renal unit that same year and became its first Director, laying the foundation for modern kidney care in Singapore.
In 1968, Prof Khoo spearheaded Singapore’s first chronic haemodialysis programme, operating from a small ten-bedded nurse-assisted unit located in a converted attic at the old SGH. Despite the modest setup, it marked a major step forward in kidney care, and the unit was later moved to its current location in 1981 when SGH was rebuilt.2
On World Health Day (7 April 1969), Prof Khoo went on to establish the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), initiating a nationwide effort to combat kidney disease and improve access to treatment across Singapore.
Today, kidney disease remains a serious health challenge. Singapore ranks 4th globally for number of people living with kidney failure and 5th for newly diagnosed cases each year.3 The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has risen sharply, from 8.7% in 2019-2020 to 13.8% in 2021-2022, placing many Singaporeans at risk of progressing to kidney failure.4
To mark the 50th anniversary of the SGH Department of Renal Medicine, SGH and NKF are once again joining forces in the fight against kidney disease in Singapore. The SGH-NKF Renal Research Fund, established in 2025 with S$11 million in joint funding from NKF and Duke-NUS, is dedicated to advancing research, innovation and programmes that improve patient care and prevent kidney failure.
Areas of Focus
The fund will support annual grant calls in the following areas:
- Prevention and Management of CKD and its complication through screening and timely diagnosis
- Reno-retardation programme to slow down progression of CKD
- Renal Replacement therapies (RRT), with a preference of home-based RRT
- Kidney Transplantation
- Advocacy research on CKD prevention and management
- Psychosocial aspects of patient’s and caregiver’s journey
All researchers will have to abide by the guidelines and the application form must be duly submitted. Areas of research would be clinical and translational research that are of renal or renal-related projects, focusing on prevention of kidney disease/ failure. If the research has relevance to NKF activities, the proposal(s) would be considered as well.
For more information, please download the following forms:
Eligibility Criteria
Each SGH-NKF application must be led by a Clinical Principal Investigator (PI) who has to fulfil the eligibility criteria listed below:
- PI must be clinically qualified (i.e. with MD/MBBS/BDS) and preferably with post-graduate clinical training and experience.
- Nurses and Allied Health Professionals who meet the following conditions may apply:
- Non-medically trained PIs who are nurses, pharmacists, or other allied health professions in clinical practice, doing research in clinical settings or doing research with clinical and healthcare applications/relevance, are eligible to apply.
- Applicants who are working in human clinical research, including epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and whose research is clinically relevant and has potential health impact, will be considered as exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
- Non-medically trained applicants conducting wet laboratory-based research are not eligible.
- Applicants must possess a minimum academic qualification of a PhD or the equivalent training.
- For proposals involving patients, the clinical PI or co-I should be SMC registered; or should be able to demonstrate ability to access patients through SMC registered collaborators.
- Only one PI is allowed per application. The number of applications by an individual (as PI) is capped at 1 grant application per grant type in a grant call.
Additional Eligibility Criteria Includes
- Hold a primary appointment in a local public hospital/public health institutions/national specialty centre/public universities/Academic Medical Centres and salaried by the institution.
- For non-SGH PI applicants, please include a nephrologist from SGH as collaborator/co-investigator in the research team.
- Have a laboratory or clinical research program that carries out research in Singapore.
Grant Call Frequency
There will be one grant call per year in January.
Funding Details
The inaugural SGH-NKF Renal Research Fund Grant Call opens on 12 January 2026. Researchers are invited to submit their proposals by 16 March 2026 (5:00pm), with each successful project eligible for funding of up to S$100,000 for 1 year project duration. Applications will be reviewed, and the grant will be awarded on 1 July 2026.
Review Committee
Submission
Click here to download the application form. Interested applicants are to upload a completed application form to https://for.sg/sghnkf2026. Softcopy of full proposal to be submitted as 1 file including all the annexes, pictures, tables, charts, and various attachments in the relevant section(s). Hardcopy submission is not required. For any enquiries/clarifications, please email to sgh-nkfresearch@sgh.com.sg.
Applications will close on 16 March 2026 at 5:00pm (SGT).
1Pwee, H.S. and Khoo, O.T. (1982) ‘The history of dialysis in Singapore’, Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 11(3), pp. 370–373.
2Choong, H.L. et al. (1991) ‘Maintenance Haemodialysis in Singapore’, Singapore Medical Journal, 32, pp. 133–138.
3United States Renal Data System (USRDS) 2024 Annual Data Report
4National Population Health Survey 2022
