Professor Ming-Wei Wang (Director, the National Center for Drug Screening/Chinese National Compound Library and Dean, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University) was invited to attend 2018 Singapore Symposium on Metabolic Diseases (SSMD) held in the Biopolis of Singapore between November 12 and 13, 2018. The event was jointly organized by the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (A*STAR), Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University and Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (A*STAR). In the afternoon of November 13, Dr. Wang delivered the SSMD Special Lecture entitled “Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor: small molecule agonists, 3-dimentional structures and beyond”, reviewing his research achievements in the past 17 plus years and looking ahead of future directions. The lecture was enthusiastically received by the audience and a souvenir was presented by Professor Patrick J. Cozzone, Executive Director of the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, to Dr. Wang as a token of appreciation.

During the two-day meeting, Dr. Wang interacted with several government officials and scientists such as Retired Lieutenant-General Chuan Poh Lim (Chairman of Agency for Science, Technology and Research, A*STAR), Professor Kah Leong Lim (Head, Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore), Professor Pierce K.H. Chow (Senior Consultant, National Cancer Centre Singapore), among others. In the afternoon of November 13, accompanied by Professor Wanjin Hong, Executive Director of Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Dr. Wang made a special trip to National University Hospital to visit his mentor and a 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate, Professor Sydney Brenner, who is presently receiving medical treatment. He brought the dessert made in Tokyo for Dr. Brenner wishing him a speedy recovery. Both of them recalled a lot of fond memories in their Cambridge and Southern California years.