Google is establishing a research hub in Singapore and expanding its healthcare AI work with National University Health System (NUHS) and NHG Health. The initiatives cover clinical decision support, population health risk prediction and AI training for healthcare professionals.
Announced at the inaugural Google for Health Summit, the projects build on the National AI Partnership established with the Singapore Government in May. They bring together researchers, clinicians and public agencies to develop AI applications for healthcare and scientific research, with Google aiming to establish Singapore as a regional base for wider deployment.
Research hub to focus on AI efficiency and local talent
The new Google Research hub will begin with a local team of research scientists and software engineers working alongside Google’s global research teams. Their work will focus on improving the efficiency of foundational AI systems, including efforts to make advanced AI models easier to deploy. Google also plans to collaborate with local academic institutions, including the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), to develop scientific talent and provide targeted research support.
At the same time, the company intends to expand its existing healthcare research in Singapore, including the application of open AI models such as MedGemma in frontline care settings. Google says these models could help local healthcare organisations develop secure, customised applications while maintaining full data sovereignty.
Separately, Google.org and Google DeepMind have joined the Philanthropy Asia Alliance’s Health for Human Potential Coalition with a US$7 million funding contribution. As part of this commitment, US$1 million from the alliance will support PathGen, an AI-enabled public health intelligence platform developed through the Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative to help countries detect, understand and respond to communicable disease threats more quickly and securely. The funding will support research into genomic embeddings, which use compact AI representations of genomic information to enable data sharing for public health intelligence while protecting in-country data sovereignty.
NUHS to evaluate AI decision support for clinicians
Under its global research initiative, Google DeepMind is working with NUHS to initiate trusted tester evaluations of an AI co-clinician tool. Designed to assist doctors with clinical questions during routine outpatient practice, the tool synthesises information from existing clinical guidelines and medical literature. Its responses will undergo independent evaluation by clinicians, who will assess their accuracy, safety and usefulness against established clinical criteria. The research will also explore how AI can augment clinicians’ capabilities, with a longer-term aim of supporting new approaches to care under clinician oversight.
Accompanying the clinical research, Google is expanding its Google Career Certificates portfolio with the Google AI for Healthcare Professionals Certificate. The online programme will equip healthcare workers to use AI for administrative tasks and continuous learning, addressing how professionals can apply AI in their daily responsibilities. Rollout will take place through Google’s existing scholarship partners, while the company explores additional collaborations with local healthcare organisations.
NHG Health to use predictive AI for preventive care
Google Cloud and NHG Health are collaborating on a Population Health Digital Transformation Programme that combines AI-driven health risk prediction with personalised preventive guidance for Singapore residents. The programme centres on two connected systems, beginning with a predictive model that pairs NHG Health’s de-identified population health database with Google’s geospatial tools and solutions. By aggregating non-personally identifiable information covering climate, environmental conditions, search activity and behavioural patterns over time, the model is designed to forecast risks such as chronic diseases and frailty across smaller population groups. These predictions are intended to support preventive healthcare efforts by helping NHG Health identify groups that may benefit from earlier intervention.
The second component, an AI-enabled Health Coach delivered through NHG HealthBot, uses Google’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience platform to draw on predictive insights, providing residents with contextual lifestyle advice and preventive health guidance. Continuous, anonymised interactions with the Health Coach will be used to refine the predictive models over time. Initial efforts will focus on encouraging residents to attend health screenings and supporting frailty prevention, while integration with national health platforms remains a longer-term aspiration.
NHG Health Group CEO Professor Joe Sim linked the collaboration to Singapore’s preventive healthcare efforts under Healthier SG, Age Well SG and Grow Well SG. The programme aims to help NHG Health better understand residents’ needs, identify potential health concerns earlier and provide more targeted support to communities in Central and North Singapore.
