On 27 January 2026, the University of Nottingham Malaysia’s (UNM) Alumni Relations team had attended the Study UK Alumni Awards 2026 ceremony in support of our alumna, Dr Rebecca Tay, who had graduated UNM with a PhD in Pharmacy in 2021. Dr Rebecca is currently the CEO of Global Precision Diagnostics.
The Study UK Alumni Awards is the British Council’s annual flagship global awards programme which recognises the outstanding achievements of UK universities’ alumni—especially those who create positive change in their professions, communities, and industries.
The Awards ceremony was hosted by the British Council at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, bringing together UK alumni, partners, and stakeholders for an evening of recognition and connection.
Dr Rebecca Tay was one of the finalists for the Business and Innovation Award, where, according to the British Council, “Winners in this category have turned creative ideas into tangible solutions and thriving opportunities, setting new benchmarks for growth and impact.”
It was a pleasure and an honour for us to witness Dr Rebecca’s incredible achievement when she walked the stage of the Study UK Alumni Awards 2026 ceremony as the winner of the Business and Innovation Award.
The journey in precision medicine
Dr Rebecca Tay’s journey into precision medicine had begun not in a laboratory, but at home. As a child, her biological mother, only in her 30s, had been diagnosed with colon cancer and passed shortly after chemotherapy. The sudden loss left Dr Rebecca with a haunting question: had cancer or its treatment taken her mother? That grief became fuel for her life’s mission—finding answers that could spare others the same pain.
Driven by this purpose, Dr Rebecca had embarked on an extraordinary academic path, earning dual PhDs: Pharmacy from the University of Nottingham and Molecular Medicine from Universiti Putra Malaysia.
At Nottingham, Dr Rebecca was not only a doctoral student, but also an educator in Pharmacogenomics under the Problem-Based Learning model. This model environment was transformative: it emphasised inquiry-based thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and the application of genomic evidence to real-world clinical cases. Instead of memorising facts, she had learned to ask the right questions—a skill that had later become the cornerstone of her leadership philosophy.
Dr Rebecca believed that precision medicine must move beyond research, must reach every patient. She founded Global Precision Diagnostics to advance precision medicine by collaborating with Malaysia’s Ministry of Health, Oxford University, and Liverpool University on NHS-funded projects to bridge UK expertise with Southeast Asian implementation.
The venture was mission-driven, not commercial-aimed, at making clinically accredited genetic test accessible and affordable. Under her leadership, the service earned recognition as the 1st Clinical-Recommended Genome-Wide Pharmacogenomics, bridging scientific discovery with patient care.
Dr Rebecca had also served as principal investigator with the National University of Singapore (NUS), co-chair with the Commonwealth Medical Association for the 1st Malaysia Pharmacogenomics Summit, which had been officiated by the Director-General of Health, and featured Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed (NHS England Chair of Pharmacogenetics) as keynote speaker.
Winner of the Business and Innovation Award
After the award ceremony on 27 January, we had asked Dr Rebecca regarding her takeaways of winning at the Study UK Alumni Awards 2026 as well as her experience at UNM.
UNM: What does this recognition mean to you, and how does it reflect the mission of Precision Diagnostics in advancing precision medicine through pharmacogenomics?
Dr Rebecca: I am honoured and deeply humbled to receive the Business and Innovation Award as a Pioneer of Entrepreneurship in Precision Medicine. Sharing the stage with fellow finalists and leaders from Microsoft, Shopee, AirAsia, and GCFO was a privilege and a reminder of the power of purpose-driven innovation. This recognition reflects a journey rooted in translating science into real-world clinical impact.
At Precision Diagnostics, our work focuses on using pharmacogenomics to improve medication safety, reduce adverse drug reactions, and support more precise treatment decisions, particularly within public healthcare systems.
UNM: As CEO of Precision Diagnostics, what has been the most significant breakthrough or decision that helped translate pharmacogenomics from research into real-world clinical impact?
Dr Rebecca: A defining breakthrough was collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health Malaysia, the Institute for Medical Research, and the National Institutes of Health to co-launch and publish the National Pharmacogenomics Implementation Strategy. Co-organising the 1st Malaysia Pharmacogenomics Summit with the Commonwealth Medical Association and serving as a Principal Investigator in collaboration with colleagues from NUS helped bridge policy, clinical practice, and implementation precision medicine, ensuring pharmacogenomics moved beyond theory into routine clinical care.
UNM: How did your experience studying Pharmacy at University of Nottingham—both the Malaysia and UK campuses—shape your entrepreneurial mindset or approach to innovation, and what excites you most about the future of precision medicine?
Dr Rebecca: My Pharmacy training at the University of Nottingham had shaped my translational mindset, linking scientific rigour with the responsibility to improve patient outcomes. Nottingham’s Problem-Based Learning (PBL) culture trained me to ask better questions, think clinically, and communicate evidence clearly across disciplines.
A PBL session I facilitated, “Will pharmacogenomics change the field of medicine?” was a defining moment, turning an academic question into a lifelong mission to make personalised prescribing practical, scalable, and equitable.
UNM: What is your most memorable moment from your time with Nottingham?
Dr Rebecca: Being warmly welcomed and supported as the first dual PhD graduate strengthened my belief in interdisciplinary, impact-driven innovation. What excites me most is seeing precision medicine embedded into standard care, especially in cardiology, neurology, oncology, and medication safety, so personalised prescribing becomes a practical standard that improves outcomes for diverse communities.
We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Dr Rebecca Tay on winning the Business and Innovation Award at the Study UK Alumni Awards 2026.
Watch Professor David FitzPatrick, Provost and CEO of University of Nottingham Malaysia, congratulate Dr Rebecca in this video.
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Posted on 5th February 2026