The Mrs Lee Choon Guan Endowed Research Fund was launched officially on 10 April 2017. Some 176 participants attended the event, with most of them having a keen interest in practice research and the Fund. The launch began with an opening address by NUS President, Prof Tan Chorh Chuan. It was followed by the donor's address, made by Mr Keith Chua, the co-trustee of Mrs Lee Choon Guan Trust Fund.

The launch was followed by the very first of a series of public lectures on Social Work Practice Research, conducted by Prof Jill Manthorpe, who is a Professor of Social Work at King's College London. Prof Jill Manthorpe shared with the participants on the concept of practice research, as well as the importance of practice research, in relation to the social work sector.

Following a short tea break, Assoc Prof Esther Goh, Head of Department of Social Work shared with the participants on the governance and the future plans of the fund. She also emphasised on the collaboration between the social work practitioners and academics.

The last programme segment is the dialogue session with Dr Rosaleen Ow as the chair of the session, joined with Prof Jill Manthorpe, Assoc Prof Corinne Ghoh, and Dr Crystal Lim (Master Medical Social Worker, Singapore General Hospital). The panel shared their own practice research experiences and exchanged their views on the challenges faced in conducting social work practice research.

The participants were also given the opportunity to interact and pose their questions to the panel. The event ended off with a networking lunch.