Igor Cima, PhD

​Dr. Sima is a biomedical scientist dedicated to translational cancer research. His primary goal is to understand the causes for cancer progression, decipher its vulnerabilities and find new approaches for detecting aggressive cancer earlier. He works on projects at the crossroad of cell biology, systems biology, engineering and medicine.​

• I. Cima, S.L. Kong, D. Sengupta, I.B. Tan, W.M. Phyo, D. Lee, M. Hu, C. Iliescu, I. Alexander, W.L. Goh, M. Rahmani, N.A.M. Suhaimi, J.H. Vo, J.A. Tai, J.H. Tan, C. Chua, R. Ten, W. J. Lim, M.H. Chew, C.A.E. Hauser, R.M. van Dam, W.Y. Lim, S. Prabhakar, B. Lim, P.K. Koh, P. Robson, J.Y. Ying, A.M. Hillmer, M.H. Tan. (2016). Tumor-derived circulating endothelial cell clusters in colorectal cancer. ​Science Translational Medicine 8, 345ra89.


• I. Cima, C.W. Yee, F.S. Iliescu, W.M. Phyo, K.H. Lim, C. Iliescu,M.H. Tan (2013). Label-free isolation of circulating tumor cells in microfluidic devices: Current research and perspectives. Biomicrofluidics 7, 11810.


• Cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 108, 33


• I. Cima, A. Fuhrer, T. Brunner (2006). Antagonistic and synergistic effects of glucocorticoids and IL-7 on CD4+ T cell activation. Immunol Lett. 106, 99-100.


• J Exp Med, 200, 1635-1646.​​​

• Ph.D, Immunology, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland (2005)

• M.Sc., Biology, University of Bern, Berne, Switzerland (2000)

• Since 2016: Research scientist, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

• 2012 – 2015: Research scientist, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, A*STAR, Singapore

• 2005 – 2010: Postdoctoral fellow, Institute of Cell Biology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland​​

• ​Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division