28 January 2015 – Dr Tan Sue Yee, lecturer from the Nutrition and Dietetics Department, International Medical University (IMU) won the Young Investigator Award at the 9th Asia Pacific Conference of Clinical Nutrition (APCCN) 2015. A cash prize of USD700 and a certificate were presented to her by Emeritus Prof Khor Geok Lin, Scientific Chair of the 9th APPCCN 2015 during the closing ceremony of the conference. The Young Investigator Award served as a platform to recognise outstanding achievements and contributions of young nutrition scientists, and was only opened to participants aged 35 years and below. A total of six participants were shortlisted for this year’s Young Investigator Award, but Sue Yee only competed with 3 other participants from Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea respectively, as the remaining 2 participants were not able to be present at the conference. Two categories of prizes were awarded, namely oral and poster presentations.
Sue Yee’s oral presentation was entitled ‘Prediction Equation for the Estimation of Fat-Free Mass among Paediatric Patients with Acute Leukaemia Undergoing Active Chemotherapy’. The presentation summarised the research of validating bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) assessment of fat-free mass against deuterium dilution technique (the gold standard) among paediatric, acute leukaemia patients. In addition, the presentation also highlighted the research methods involved in developing a prediction equation for estimating fat-free mass within the same cohort.
The conference, which was held from 26-29 January 2015, at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, attracted close to 700 delegates, both regionally and internationally. This year, Malaysia became host to this bi-annual scientific meeting, with the theme ‘Prevention and Management of Diseases Through the Life Cycle: The Role of Nutrition and Physical Activity’.
