From clinical research coordinator to award-winner

Earlier this year in Chicago, USA, 28-year-old Neo Jialing found herself busy fielding questions from clinicians and researchers about a study on nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) treatment. At that moment, she realised it was a future she would never have dreamed of when she first started work at the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) as a clinical research coordinator to recruit patients for clinical trials. 

NCCS clinical research coordinator Neo Jialing presented results of her award-winning nasopharyngeal study at the ASCO Annual Meeting 2026.

Clinical research coordinator by deduction

In 2021, when Jialing was about to graduate from university she found out about the role of clinical research coordinator (CRC) at a job fair. CRCs serve as the main touch point between patients, doctors and regulatory boards, coordinating the day-to-day running of clinical trials. Having studied life sciences, Jialing already knew from her time in the wet lab that she wanted a job with more human interaction, ideally in a hospital setting, and the role of a CRC seemed to fit the bill.

When she graduated, she joined clinician-scientist Professor Melvin Chua's clinical research team, which focuses on identifying mutations in (NPC) using large datasets to develop new tools and treatments. Her main responsibilities at the time were recruiting patients for NPC clinical trials and performing sample collection.

Data analysis is fun

The early days as a CRC pushed Jialing out of her comfort zone.

"I did not have any experience speaking to strangers, and now it was something I had to do every day! I had to learn how to communicate with patients, navigate both clinical and research environments and adjust to working in a fast-paced team," she said.

On days she worked from home (COVID-19 guidelines were still in place in 2021), she was tasked with reviewing NPC patient datasets and identifying trends. Jialing had learned data analysis tools like R and Python at university and as she reviewed the data, she quickly found that Excel lacked the capabilities needed to uncover meaningful patterns. Before long, she was using R to uncover insights about how patients were responding to treatment or relapsing, which had real implications for how cancer care is delivered.

Over time, Jialing developed a deep understanding of how NPC develops, the treatment pathways available to patients in both clinical and trial settings, and which kinds of data are important in NPC research. Her role in the team gradually shifted toward clinical data analysis and manuscript writing, and she has gone on to present at global conferences such as ESMO Asia in 2022 and 2024, and is the first author of two published studies on NPC in Oral Oncology and the European Journal of Cancer.

The big win: The ASCO Merit Award 2026

Since 2022, Jialing's main project has been RIBBON-UM, a multi-arm platform trial aimed at improving outcomes for NPC patients with Stage 2 to 4 disease. The trial applies personalised treatment strategies based on each patient's Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA levels and disease stage. Patients who still have detectable EBV DNA after completing treatment can then enrol in a clinical trial for a 12-month course of combination therapy.

Working with this dataset, Jialing identified an opportunity to improve the patient selection process for the trial. The team was already collecting PET scan results, which she suspected could meaningfully improve predictions of who would benefit from further treatment. Analysing data from 117 NPC patients, she combined disease stage information and EBV DNA levels with PET scan data taken at baseline and post-treatment. Incorporating PET results significantly improved the accuracy of predicting disease-free survival for up to two years after treatment. The implication was that using this additional data could help doctors identify which patients need more rigorous follow-up or intervention.

Jialing with Dr Therese Mulvey (MD, Fellow of ASCO), a breast oncologist who endowed the ASCO Merit Award.

At the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2026, the world's largest oncology conference, with over 45,000 attendees, Jialing presented a poster on her research and fielded questions from clinicians curious about the study’s findings and how NPC patients are managed at NCCS. There, she received the prestigious Conquer Cancer Merit Award, given to trainees and early-career researchers whose work is recognised for its scientific merit.

"It was such an intense and incredible experience, to be sharing what we do and how NCCS is helping patients with oncologists from all over the world. I felt proud to be representing Singapore at such a large global platform," said Jialing.

What's next for the research — and for Jialing?

Five years into the job, Jialing reflects that what began as a practical career choice, has grown into something she has passion for and finds meaningful. She has become both an expert in patient management and a published, award-winning researcher whose work has the potential to change how NPC is treated.

"The younger me would be shocked to learn that what gives me the most satisfaction is taking a messy dataset and cleaning it to uncover something meaningful. It's especially rewarding when our analysis produces findings that have the potential to change standard of care for patients," she said.

Her contributions to the team have expanded beyond research. Earlier this year, Jialing organised the Nasopharyngeal Cancer Singapore Symposium and her next research project is already in the pipeline: a PET scan-focused analysis that builds on her earlier work.

Jialing is an amateur photographer who takes her camera out on the weekends, and when she travels overseas to places like the United States where she presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting 2026!

With her growth mindset, Jialing is also working towards higher grades in piano and ballet.

The growth mindset she has cultivated at NCCS has influenced her personal life as well. Since joining, she has taken up amateur photography, is working towards higher grades in piano, and trains in ballet at the Intermediate Level at the Royal Academy of Dance. 

"I'm grateful to Prof Chua for pushing me and giving me opportunities to try new things. That and our team culture has spurred me to discover new things that I excel in."

For someone who once saw her career as a default, Jialing has started to build a career she loves!