Assoc Prof Louis Tong

Professor Louis Tong graduated in 1993 with basic medical degree from the National University of Singapore, registered as a medical practitioner in 1994 and achieved accreditation as an ophthalmologist by the Singapore Medical Council in November 2004. He completed training in ophthalmology at various centres in England (1996-2000) and in Singapore (2000-2004). He completed a 2 year overseas cornea research fellowship at the Ocular Surface Centre, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, as part of A*STAR national science scholarship.

Professor Tong holds a tenured Professor appointment at the Duke-NUS Medical School and several appointments at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) including Principal Clinician Scientist and Head of Ocular Surface Research Group. He is represented in International expert panels like the international meibomian gland dysfunction workshop and Dry Eye Workshop II and III, is vice president of Asia Dry Eye Society, ambassador of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society and member of International Ocular Surface Society. He is a frequent invited speaker at industry events, has been awarded NMRC clinician-scientist award for senior investigator three times, and authored 300 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles. He runs a dedicated dry eye clinic at Singapore National Eye Centre, performs pre-clinical translational research and clinical trials.

• ​PhD (NUS) (2009)
  
• FRCOphth (2004)
  
• DM (Nott) (2002)
  
• FRCS(Ed) (1998)
  
• MBBS (1993)

• Scientific Advisory Board member, Bausch and Lomb (2024 – present)
• Member, Academic Medicine Grant Review (clinical) AGRC committee (2023 – present)
• Adjunct Clinical Teacher, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University (2022 to present)
• Lead, Faculty Development Committee, Eye-ACP (2020 – present)
• Fellow, Academy of Asia-Pacific Professor of Ophthalmology (AAPPO) (2019 – present)
• Clinical Physician Faculty member, Singhealth Residency (2019 to present)
• Editorial Board Member, The Ocular Surface (2019 – present)
• Faculty member, Santen Front of the Eye group, Santen Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Inflammation Task Force, and Santen Vision Academy (2018 – present)
• Editorial board member, Current Eye Research (2017 - present)
• Associate Editor, Acta Ophthalmologica (2017 - present)
• Member, Scientific Review, Research Committee, Singapore National Eye Centre (2017 - present)
  
• Fellow, College of Clinician-scientist, College of Ophthalmologists, Academy of Medicine, Singapore (2014 to present)
• Member, Editorial Board, American Journal of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Columbia International Publishing (CIP) (2014 - present)
  
• Advisor, Editorial Board, Ophthalmology and Therapy, Springer Healthcare (Advisory Board Member) (2014 - present)
  
• Member, SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medicine Education Institute (2014 - present)
  
• Co-Chair, National Medical Research Council Scientific Review Panel (SRP) 1 for new investigator grants (CS-NIG) (2014 - 2016)
• Member, Alcon-Novartis Advisory Board (2012 - present)

• ​Silver Fellow, Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (2025)
• Clinician Scientist Award (SI), National Medical Research Council (2024)
• Asia-Pacific Academy Ophthalmology (APAO) 100 Most Influential Ophthalmologists from Asia Pacific Region (2023)
• Top 2% researchers in Ophthalmology and Optometry (Elsevier Stanford list) (2023-2024)
• National Award (COVID-19) Commendation Medal (2022)
• Singhealth Health Quality Service Awards Gold (2022)
• Singapore Health Quality Service Awards Healthcare COVID 19 Hero (2021)
• APAO Prevention of Blindness Award (2020)
• APAO Achievement award (2019)
• Elseiver Reviewer of the Year Award (2017)
• Clinician Scientist Award (SI), National Medical Research Council (2017)
  
• Clinician Scientist Award (SI), National Medical Research Council (2012)
  
• Clinician Scientist Award (Inv), National Medical Research Council (2009)
  
• Publish! Award (Medical Research), SingHealth (2014)
  
• Outstanding Mentor Award, Wong Hock Boon Society - Singapore Medical Association (2013)
  
• Mentorship Program Grant Award, SingHealth (2008)
  
• Award for Clinicians, NUS-Exxon Mobil (2007)
  
• Agency of Science Technology and Research National Science Scholarship (2004-2006)
  
• Travel Award, The Association of Vision and Research in Ophthalmology (ARVO) (2006)
  
• Travel Award, The Association of Vision and Research in Ophthalmology (ARVO) (2004)
  

• Inflammation, dry eye, and ocular surface disease

• Biomarkers and medical devices

• Translational drug development

• Clinical trials

• Health-service research

• International collaboration on Sjogren syndrome (2016 - 2017)
• Conjunctival microbiome (2015 - 2017)
• Lipids and eicosanoids (2013 - 2017)
• Ocular surface inflammation and immunology (2010 – 2017)
• Tear proteomics and cytokines (2010 - 2017)

1. Jones L, Craig JP, Markoulli M, Karpecki P, Akpek EK, Basu S, Dhaliwal DK, Gomes JAP, Koehler M, Mehta JS, Perez VL, Tauber J, Tong L, Travé-Huarte S, Wolffsohn JS, TFOS Management and Therapy Report. Am J Ophthalmology, In press 2025.
   
   
2. Liu C, Lin MTY, Lee IXY, Mehta JS, Lei Z, Tong L, Liu YC. Neuropathic corneal pain: Tear proteomic and neuromediator profiles, imaging features, and clinical manifestations. Am J Ophthalmology, 2024, 265, 6-20.
   
   
3. Paik B, Ngai NTY, Rhee J, Shih KC, Alam K, Tong L. Effectiveness of simulation models and digital alternatives in training ophthalmoscopy: a systematic review. Medical Teacher, 2024: 1-16.
   
   
4. Galor A, Britten-Jones AC, Feng Y, Ferrari G, Goldblum D, Gupta PK, Merayo-Lloves J, Na KS, Naroo SA, Nichols KK, Rocha Em, Tong L, Wang MTM, Craig Jp. TFOS A Lifestye: Impact of lifestyle challenges on the ocular surface. The Ocular Surface 2023, 28: 262-303.
   
   
5. Hou AH, Ali SM, Png E, Hunziker W, Tong L. Transglutaminase-2 is critical for corneal epithelial barrier function via positive regulation of Claudin-1. The Ocul Surface 2023, 28: 155-164.
   
   
6. Bu Y, Shih KC, Wong HL, Kwok SS, Lo ACY, Yau-Kei J, Ng ALK, Chan T, Jhanji V, Tong L. The association between altered intestinal microbiome, impaired systemic and ocular surface immunity and impaired wound healing response after alkali-chemical injury in diabetic mice. Front Immunol, 2023, 14:1063069.

7. Wolffsohn JS, Arita R, Chalmers R, Djalilian A, Dogru M, Dumbleton K, Gupta P, Karpecki P, Lazreg S, Pult H, Sullivan BD, Tomlinson A, Tong L, Villani E, Yoon KC, Jones L, Craig J. TFOS DEWS II Diagnostic Methodology Report. The ocular surface published online, 20 Jul 2017

8. Bose T, Hou AH, Lee R, Tong L, Chandy GS. Tissue resident memory T cells in the human conjunctiva and immune signatures in human dry eye disease. Scientific Reports. 2017. 7:45312

9. Bose T, Hou AH, Chandy GS, Tong L. A chronic autoimmune dry eye rat model with increase in effector T cells in eyeball tissue. J. Vis. Exp. (124), e55592, doi:10.3791/55592 (2017)

10. Lim A, Wenk MR, Tong L, CORIM. Lipid-based therapy for ocular surface inflammation and disease. Trends in Molecular Medicine. Volume 21, Issue 12, December 2015, 736–748

11. Yawata N, Selva KJ, Liu YC, Siak JK, Lan WW, Tong L, Yawata M, Mehta JS. Dynamic change in natural killer cell type in the human ocular mucosa in situ as means of immune evasion by adenovirus infection. Mucosal Immunol 2015 Jun 17. doi: 10.1038/mi.2015.47. [Epub ahead of print]

12. Lan WW, Chen SL, Tong L. MicroRNA-215 Regulates Fibroblast Function: Insights from a Human Fibrotic Disease. Cell Cycle. Cell Cycle. 2015 Jun 18;14(12):1973-84. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2014.998077

13. Lam SM, Tong L, Duan XR, Acharya UR, Tan JH, Petznick A, Wenk MR, Shui GH. Longitudinal changes in the levels of tear fluid lysophospholipids and O-acyl-omega-hydroxy fatty acids brought about by eyelid warming treatment in a cohort of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction patients. J Lipid Res. 2014. P051185

14. Tong L, Zhou XY, Jylha A, Aapola U, Liu DN, Koh SK, Tian D, Uusitalo H, Beuerman RW, Zhou L. Quantification of 47 Human Tear Proteins using High Resolution Multiple Reaction Monitoring (HR-MRM) Based-Mass Spectrometry. J Proteomics. 2015 Feb 6;115:36-48. doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2014.12.002. Epub 2014 Dec 19

15. Tong L, Thumboo J, Tan YK, Wong TY, Albani S. The eye: A window of opportunity in rheumatoid arthritis? Nature Reviews Rheumato. 2014 Jun 10. doi: 10.1038/nrrheum.2014.85. [Epub ahead of print]

16. Gong L, Sun XH, Ma ZZ, et al, Tong L. A Randomized, Parallel-Group Comparison Study of Diquafosol Ophthalmic Solution in Patients with Dry Eye (Comparison with 0.1% sodium hyaluronate ophthalmic solution) in China and Singapore. Br J Ophthalmol. BJO Online published on January 28, 2015 as 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2014-306084

17. Tong L, Seow G, Tan J, Thumboo J. Dry eye. BMJ 2012;345:e7533

18. Tong L, Png E, Hou AH, Yong SS, Yeo HL, Riau A, Mendoz E, Chaurasia SS, Lim CT, Yiu TW, Lismaa SE. Molecular mechanism of transglutaminase-2 in corneal epithelial migration and adhesion. Biochim Biophys Acta 2013;1833:1304-1315 epub 25 Feb 2013

19. DA Schaumberg, JJ Nichols, EB Papas, L Tong, M Uchino, KK Nichols. The international workshop on meibomian gland dysfunction: Report of the subcommittee on the epidemiology of, and associated risk factors for, MGD. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2011, 52 (4): 1994-2005

20. Husain R, Tong L, Fong A, Cheng JF, How A, Chua WH, Gazzard G. Prevalence of cataract in rural Indonesia. Ophthalmology 2005: 122: 1255-1262