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Leadership transition at SNEC and SERI

​A new chapter unfolds for SNEC and SERI as these changes take place:

PROF WONG TIEN
After seven impactful years as SNEC’s Medical Director (MD), Prof Wong is moving on to new endeavours. Other appointments that he is relinquishing include:

  • Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer (Research & Education), SingHealth
  • Vice-Dean, Office of Academic and Clinical Development, Duke-NUS
  • Academic Chair, SingHealth Duke-NUS Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Programme (EYE ACP)

FROM 1 JANUARY 2022

  • Senior Advisor, SingHealth Board of Advisors
​PROF AUNG TIN
Under Prof Aung’s leadership as Executive Director (ED), SERI has grown to be the largest eye research institute in Asia-Pacific, with excellent track records in garnering research grants, publishing scientific papers, winning international awards, and generating patents and spin-offs. Promoted from the role of SNEC’s Deputy MD (Research) to our new MD, Prof Aung will continue to push the boundaries of ophthalmic care in the pursuit of quality clinical services and patient outcomes.

FROM 1 JANUARY 2022

  • Medical Director, SNEC
  • Academic Chair, SingHealth Duke-NUS EYE ACP
PROF JODHBIR MEHTA
Since 2018, Prof Mehta’s various leadership roles — SNEC Distinguished Professor in Clinical Innovation, Head of SNEC’s Corneal & External Eye Disease Department, SERI’s Deputy ED, and Head of SERI’s Tissue Engineering and Stem Cells Group — have boosted the institutions’ development. He has played a major part in securing key funding to support research endeavours, and implementing high-impact projects and programmes, such as regenerative
therapy, corneal transplant, and refractive surgery. His passion for research and novel innovations will elevate us to greater heights following his new appointments.

FROM 1 JANUARY 2022

  • Executive Director, SERI
  • Deputy Medical Director (Research), SNEC
  • Academic Vice-Chair (Research), SingHealth Duke-NUS EYE ACP


THANK YOU, PROF WONG
Upon relinquishing his appointments, Prof Wong will assume the position of Founding Head of Tsinghua Medicine, a new medical academy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Before he departs our shores, we would like to express our gratitude to Prof Wong for his exemplary leadership and vision, both of which have cemented SNEC’s position as a global leader in eye care delivery, research and education.

At the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (AMC), Prof Wong made significant contributions to realise numerous joint initiatives with both local and international partners to advance and transform research. He also championed the continual upskilling and development of future-ready healthcare professionals by leveraging innovative learning technology and accelerating digital capabilities of the AMC, which is now home to half of Singapore’s nationally funded clinician-scientists.

A believer in community care, Prof Wong advocated the use of teleophthalmology, and setting up of virtual observation clinics and medication delivery service. He also spearheaded the establishment of Singapore’s first Myopia Centre in 2019 and the VisionSave Mobile Eye Bus, which made eye screening more accessible for everyone.

Among the many innovative solutions pioneered by Prof Wong, the most prominent ones are the Singapore Integrated Diabetic Retinopathy Programme (SiDRP), and the subsequent implementation of SELENA+ (Singapore Eye Lesion Analyser Plus). To date, SELENA+ is the sole healthcare use case under the Smart Nation and
Digital Government Office. During his tenure, Prof Wong also set up the SNEC Digital Transformation Office to drive digital solutions for the optimisation of clinical and research processes.

Prof Wong’s instrumental role in advancing clinical and care outcomes has laid strong foundations that SNEC and SERI will build on to shape a better future of healthcare.

We are going to miss you and your forward-looking ideas, Prof Wong. Thank you, and all the best in your new endeavours!


Click here to check out other articles in SINGVISION Issue 2/2021.