Symposium 2

Clinical Associate Professor Tan Hiang Khoon is the Director of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI), and the Group Director of the International Collaboration Office (ICO), SingHealth. He is also the Deputy CEO, Future Health System, Singapore General Hospital. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Academic Chair, Surgery Academic Clinical Program, SingHealth, and Chairman, Division of Surgery & Surgical Oncology, Singapore General Hospital and National Cancer Centre Singapore. Tan received his medical degree from the National University Singapore School of Medicine in 1991 and completed his specialist training in the Department of General Surgery at the Singapore General Hospital. He studied his Ph.D. in the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. He joined the Head and Neck Service at National Cancer Centre Singapore in 2005 and subsequently underwent his Advanced Training in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology in Institute Gustave Roussy, Paris. He specialises in resection of complex head and neck malignancies and has pioneered the development of endoscopic and robotic Head and Neck & thyroid surgery in Singapore.

As a clinician leader, Dr Tan excels in articulating compelling visions and establishing strong sustainable collaborations and partnerships across different departments, disciplines and institutions. He was instrumental in the formation of the Head and Neck SDDC in 2013, the first of its kind in SingHealth, and implemented a new model of care that harnessed the diverse talent and strength of SingHealth institutions. In 2019, he led the integration of the Division of Surgery in SGH and the Division of Surgical Oncology in NCCS to form a unified Division of Surgery and Surgical Oncology. This restructuring facilitated co-elevation of clinical care and academic peaks. In the recent pandemic, Dr Tan led a cluster-wide team to set up and manage a 3700 bed Community Care Facility at Singapore Expo and D’Resort. The successful execution of this operation within a very short timeline ensured that the capacities of acute hospitals are not overwhelmed in this unprecedented crisis.

Dr Tan is passionate about Global Health and has established the Global Surgery Programme in Surgery ACP with a clear vision anchored by strong academic principles. He co-led a Temasek funded project "Quality Assurance for Healthcare in Sri Lanka" focusing on building capacity and management expertise in the Health system. He collaborated widely with international partners including Ariadne Lab, Duke Health and regional hospitals. His Global Health project with Duke, titled: ‘Partnership to establish a practice-based network to assess for head and neck cancers using a low-cost portable flexible nasopharyngoscope" won a $3.5M RO1 grant. He has recently initiated a pan-Asia surgical leaders’ network to study the response and impact of COVID-19 pandemic to the surgical health system. Aptly named ‘COVID-IMPACTS: COVID-19 IMPact and ACtion Taken in Surgery’, 36 surgical leaders from 25 Asian hospitals in 11 countries have thus far accepted the invitation to participate in this collaboration.

Dr Tan was the founding Chairman of the Children’s Cancer Foundation (Singapore) and was awarded the Singapore Youth Award to recognise his pivotal role in setting up the charity. He believes in the enabling power of Philanthropic donation. In his tenure as the inaugural Director of the Division of Community Outreach and Philanthropy in NCCS (2010-2018), he helped built a sustainable fund-raising model in Oncology ACP. In the last few years, Surgery ACP, under his leadership as Academic Chair, raised more than $7.8 million including for various academic programs including two Surgical Chairs (Colorectal and Urology), Global Health/Surgery initiatives and Academic Fund for Nurses, Allied Health Professionals and Administrators.