Prof Melvin Leow had always embraced innovative ways when tackling medical research as most breakthroughs often occur at the intersection of different scientific disciplines. This explains his approach to solving endocrine mysteries that spanned the continuum from basic sciences to translational and clinical research. His journey exemplifies how perseverance, passion and unconventional thinking catalyzed his research that holds promise for improving the standards of medical practice. At a time when research was not well charted in his hospital 25 years ago, he ventured from a clinical endocrinologist into the life of a clinician scientist, acquiring laboratory bench experimental techniques and also explored mathematical modelling to unravel questions intractable by conventional approaches. This has led to some breakthrough insights that collectively add to the world knowledge base of thyroid homeostasis, adipose tissue biology and metabolic physiology. His humble research achievements include

1) development of the Leow-Goede set point equations of euthyroidism independently proven correct recently by Austrian mathematicians,

2) co-inventing the Thyroid-SPOT and ThyroConvert apps for personalized thyroid treatment,

3) co-discovery of a novel thyroid-brown fat positive feedback loop,

4) co-discovery of an exosomal protein that can become a novel biomarker for brown fat activation,

5) co-discovery of a novel mutation of the CIDEC gene responsible for a rare brown fat disorder hitherto unknown to medicine which may open new possibilities for treating obesity and diabetes.

“When we publish good science, that knowledge can impact lives beyond our shores and our imagination.”