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Duke-NUS Medical School student found dead at Biopolis laboratory

Katarina Chlebikova, 26, was pursuing her PhD at the Duke-NUS Medical College. (PHOTO: Claridge-Chang Lab website)
Katarina Chlebikova, 26, was pursuing her PhD at the Duke-NUS Medical College. (PHOTO: Claridge-Chang Lab website)

A PhD student from the Duke-NUS Medical School was found dead in a Biopolis laboratory on Tuesday (16 January) morning.

The body of Slovakian national Katarina Chlebikova, 26, was discovered on the eighth floor of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) at 61 Biopolis Drive.

According to media reports, she is believed to have died from inhaling nitrogen gas and a note allegedly found at the scene suggested that she had killed herself.

The police said that they were notified at 10.44am on Tuesday of a case of unnatural death at the IMCB building. “A 26-year-old woman was found motionless and was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene,” said a police spokesperson.

At the time of her death Chlebikova was pursuing her doctoral studies at the Claridge-Chang Lab, which is located in the IMCB building.

A cached version of the Claridge-Chang Lab website stated that Chlebikova – who graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in biological natural sciences – had also worked at the lab from June to September 2013.

Police are investigating the unnatural death.

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