Dr Mitchell Lai received a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Alberta, Canada; and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Sydney, Australia, where he studied dementia neurochemistry under Prof Ian Spence. Thereafter, he did stints of visiting post-doctoral work at Kings College London with Prof Paul Francis; at Oxford University with Prof Margaret Esiri; and at University of California, Los Angeles with Profs Jeff Cummings and Harry Vinters, while also starting an appointment as Research Scientist with the Department of Clinical Research, Singapore General Hospital, eventually moving on to the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore where he is now Senior Lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology. 

As a Biomedical Educator, Dr Lai is the departmental Education Director for Dentistry, Life Science and Postgraduate studies, and is actively involved in the curriculum design and teaching of general and specialized pharmacology to medical, nursing, dental, and postgraduate students. Dr Lai is also interested in extending outreach efforts of the Department, serving as Director of the Youth Programme in Pharmacological and Biomedical Sciences. In this capacity, Dr Lai designs and coordinates vacation short courses for visiting international students, as well as act as liaison between overseas institutions interested in exchange and partnerships with the Department.  

As a Biomedical Researcher, Dr Lai manages to continue focusing on the devastating condition that is dementia, a topic which fascinates him and compels his research efforts throughout his career. Dr Lai is currently Principal Investigator with the Memory, Aging and Cognition Centre (MACC) at NUS, where he leads the fluid biomarkers, neurochemistry and animal model research efforts of the group. He is also fortunate to have established many longstanding collaborations, including with MACC Director Prof Christopher Chen; Prof Thiruma "Garrie" Arumugam, La Trobe University; Prof Dong-Gyu Jo, Sungkyunkwan University; Prof Deron Herr, Indiana University; Prof Dag Aarsland, Kings College London; Prof Michelle Tan, Singapore General Hospital; and Profs Paul Francis and Clive Ballard, University of Exeter, among others.