Neil Ferguson awarded Singapore's Public Service Medal for dengue expertise

The Director of Imperial's School of Public Health has been recognised in Singapore's National Awards 2026 for his contribution to the country's efforts to control dengue fever.

Professor Neil Ferguson, Director of the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, has been awarded The Public Service Medal as part of Singapore's National Awards 2026, recognising his work as a member of Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) Dengue Expert Advisory Panel (DEAP).

The Public Service Medal, instituted in 1973, may be awarded to any person who has rendered commendable public service in Singapore, or for achievement in the fields of arts and letters, sports, the sciences, business, the professions and the labour movement. Professor Ferguson’s award is made by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.

Professor Ferguson has served on the DEAP since 2014. The panel brings together leading international specialists in vector-borne disease, entomology and public health to guide Singapore's scientific strategies for controlling dengue. Singapore has pioneered the use of Wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacterium found in more than 60% of insect species, to supress the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes – the primary vector responsible for transmitting dengue.

Dengue fever remains a significant public health challenge across Southeast Asia and beyond, with Singapore investing heavily in evidence-based strategies to manage outbreaks. The DEAP plays a central role in shaping that response, drawing on the expertise of its members to inform national policy.

Responding to the award, Professor Ferguson commented “I’m both pleased and honoured to accept the Public Service Medal. It has been a privilege to advise Singapore on dengue control, and see Project Wolbachia go from early small scale field studies to a successful cluster randomised trial, and now to large-scale roll-out. I hope to remain engaged with both the National Environment Agency team and the wider infectious disease research community in Singapore for many years to come."

Longstanding collaboration

The award reflects a broader and deepening relationship between Imperial’s School of Public Health and Singapore’s NEA. In 2025 the Dengue and Zika Immunology and Genomics Multi-Country Network (DeZi) was launched. This major international research programme led by Professor Nuno Faria  (School of Public Health) a co-led by Professor Ng Lee Ching (Group Director of Environmental Health Institute at the National Environment Agency, Singapore) among 15 other partner organisations. Supported by £5.65 million in core funding from the Wellcome Trust and a £600,000 contribution from the NEA's Environmental Health Institute through UNITEDengue, DeZi brings together research institutions and public health agencies to understand how dengue and Zika viruses spread, interact, and cause disease across Africa and Asia.

Professor Azra Ghani, Academic Director of Imperial Global Singapore and Chair in infectious Disease Epidemiology at the School of Public Health, said: “I want to congratulate Neil on this well-deserved recognition. His work with the NEA’s Dengue Expert Advisory Panel exemplifies the kind of sustained, trust-based collaboration that produces real public health impact. Singapore is a vital partner for Imperial, and through initiatives such as the DeZi network, we are already laying the groundwork for the next generation of research that will help protect people from emerging threats and diseases.”