University Awards 2009



OUTSTANDING RESEARCHER AWARD

“ I consider it a privilege to be a clinicianscientist.
Not only do I have the ability to help and treat an individual
patient, but I also have a unique opportunity to
find solutions and cures to thousands more. ”



Prof WONG Tien Yin

MBBS (NUS); PhD (Johns Hopkins University); MMed (NUS);
MPH (Johns Hopkins University); FRCS (Edinburgh);
FRANZCO (Australia)
Department of Ophthalmology
Director, Singapore Eye Research Institute
Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist,
Singapore National Eye Centre and National University Health System

RESEARCH INTERESTS
  • Retinal imaging as a cardiovascular predictive tool
  • Epidemiology of age-related eye diseases

RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS
  • Led groundbreaking research on the role of retinal imaging in furthering understanding of the mechanisms and pathways of diseases such as stroke, diabetes and hypertension
  • Widely credited for retinal examinations becoming increasingly common in international clinical guidelines and their value in identifying risk for diseases
  • Principal investigator of large scale epidemiological studies involving over 100,000 subjects from across Singapore, Australia, Japan and the US
  • Awarded more than US$20 million so far in research funding

RESEARCH STRENGTHS
  • Combines clinical observations (ophthalmology) with traditional research methodology (epidemiology) and novel medical technologies (computer-imaging)
  • Pursues an interdisciplinary approach by studying the eye as a "model" to other organs

PUBLICATION CREDITS
  • Authored over 350 original peer-reviewed papers with over 130 in super tier and top tier journals

INTERNATIONAL STANDING
  • Board Member, Singapore's National Medical Research Council (since 2009)
  • Member, Novartis Advisory Board, Asia Pacific (since 2004)
  • Member, Pfizer Global Advisory Board (since 2004)
  • Executive Editor of the American Journal of Ophthalmology (since 2007) and serves on the editorial boards of top journals such as Diabetes Care (since 2009), Ophthalmic Epidemiology (since 2006) and Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (since 2005)
  • Delivered over 100 invited named, plenary and symposium lectures around the world

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
  • Inaugural Singapore Translational Researcher (STaR) Award (2008)
  • Australian Society of Medical Research AMGEN Medical Research of the Year Award (2007)
  • Novartis Prize (Global, Young Investigator) in Diabetes (2006)
  • Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research (2006)
  • Alcon Research Institute Award (2006)

RESEARCH ASPIRATION
To develop a world-leading research programme in retinal imaging that has broad application in medicine and public health.

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