Viji Vijayan

Board Member (Singapore)

Dr. Vijayan started her career working in a cancer laboratory after which she took on a managerial role where she provided administrative and operations support for research. In this role, laboratory safety was one of her key responsibilities and this has continued till today.

Dr. VijayanI now holds dual appointment in Duke-NUS Graduate Medical Schools as the Assistant Dean of Safety, Health and Emergency Management and Director Research Operations. She is also chair the School’s safety and crisis management committee which oversees all aspects of safety, security and emergency preparedness in the School. Dr. Vijayan represents Singapore in many national and international initiatives. She is currently an International Expert in a project entitled “Enhancement of CBRN capacities of South East Asia in addressing CBRN risk mitigation concerning CBRN first response, biosafety and biosecurity, awareness raising and legal framework”. She is am also pursuing a Master’s in Human Factors and Systems Safety in Lund University, which has given her amazing insight into how safety is practised in different fields. Her passion lies in making management and workers understand that safety is not an elusive attribute, but simply the way we work every day. Her experience as a laboratory worker and role in upper management gives Dr. Vijayan a unique vantage point to see both the big picture and the local issues faced by the workers. In her remaining years, she hopes to be able to change mindsets and leave a lasting impression on how safety should really be integrated into daily life.