Mr Arun Prasath Shanmugam

Affiliations

• Cancer Databases & Tissue Banks Platform Lead, Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium

• Director, Research Office, NUH Tissue Repository, National University Health System (NUHS)

Profile

Arun Prasath Shanmugam is a senior healthcare executive with nearly two decades of experience in cellular therapy, biobanking, and research operations. He currently serves as Director of the NUH Tissue Repository, driving biobanking excellence, digitalisation, and automation to support NUHS’s research and clinical missions.

Arun has a strong track record in organisational transformation, establishing internationally accredited quality systems, and delivering enterprise-scale transformation. Prior to his current role, he was Director of the Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB), where he led strategic initiatives to enhance business operations, quality management, and regulatory compliance. Under his leadership, SCBB achieved four international accreditations (AABB, FACT, CAP, WMDA), placing it among the most comprehensively accredited banks globally.

Beyond his organisational roles, Arun contributes extensively to the global cellular therapy and stem cell banking community. He serves as an Accreditation Assessor for the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) and an Inspector for the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). He is also an active member of multiple committees under World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA), shaping standards and best practices for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy.

His research contributions span stem cell transplantation, cord blood banking, and cellular therapy, with publications in leading journals.

Selected Publications

 Wong CM, Tan CS, Riard N, Padmini YS, Daniel LM, Prasath A, Tan AM, Tan TC, Sultana R, Lam JCM. Autologous umbilical cord blood infusion for the treatment of autism in young children: A within-subjects open label study on safety (assessed via caregiver report) and efficacy. Autism Res. 2024 Aug;17(8):1721-1734.

Wong J, Govindasamy G, Prasath A, Hwang W, Ho A, Yeo S, Tong L. Allogeneic Umbilical Cord Plasma Eyedrops for the Treatment of Recalcitrant Dry Eye Disease Patients. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2023;12(21):6750.

Ng AY-J, Moshi GB, Arun Prasath, Chan M, Michelle PL, Loh CKC, Cho L, Voon V, Jing SZ, Yen PC, Ho AYL. Human leukocyte antigen allele and haplotype frequencies in Singapore bone marrow donors and cord blood units. Blood Cell Therapy. 2022;5(4):99-106.

Trépanier P, Fournier D, Simard C, Fontaine MJ, Stroncek D, Takanashi M, McKenna D, Schwartz J, Tanhehco YC, Reems JA, Torrents S, Kogler G, Liedtke S, Giroux M, Holovati JL, Louis I, Prasath A, Pineault N, Bazin R; BEST Collaborative. Multicenter evaluation of the IL-3-pSTAT5 assay to assess the potency of cryopreserved stem cells from cord blood units. Transfusion. 2022 Jun 30. 

Prasath A, Ho A, Ng J, Lin PY, Yang KL. Discovery of a novel HLA-A*02 variant, HLA-A*02:402, in a Singaporean cord blood unit. HLA. 2020 Aug;96(2):205-206.

Fournier D, Lewin A, Simard C, Trépanier P, Néron S, Ballerini L, Codinach M, Elmoazzen H, Halpenny M, Kogler G, Liedtke S, Louis I, Molluna CA, Pineault N, Prasath A, Querol S, Saccardi R, Sutherland DR, Thérien C, Urbani S. Multi-laboratory assay for harmonization of enumeration of viable CD34+ and CD45+ cells in frozen cord blood units. Cytotherapy. 2020;22(1):44-51. 

Chu PPY, Arun Prasath, Li Z, Bari S, Ang JML, Fan X, Zhang C, Lodish HF, Hwang WYK. Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Co-Culture Enhances IGFBP2-augmented ex vivo cultures of human cord blood via viability-supporting, contact-dependent rescue from early apoptosis. Blood. 2008;112(11):211.

Feng Q, Chow PK, Frassoni F, Phua CM, Tan PK, Prasath A, Khee Hwang WY. Nonhuman primate allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation by intraosseous vs intravenous injection: Engraftment, donor cell distribution, and mechanistic basis. Exp Hematol. 2008;36(11):1556-66.