| 4TH ISOS CONFERENCE SPEAKERS 2025 | |
 Adj Prof Mark Edward Puhaindran |
Adj Prof Mark Puhaindran graduated from the National University of Singapore, and did his specialty training in Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery at the National University Hospital, leading to his specialist accreditation in Hand Surgery. Following this, he was awarded the Health Manpower Development (HMDP) Award and did a fellowship in Musculoskeletal Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, USA. Adj Prof Puhaindran practices Hand Surgery and Musculoskeletal Oncology at the National University Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and has written several papers and book chapters on tumours of the musculoskeletal system. He is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate orthopaedic and hand surgery teaching, and has been an invited speaker at both local and regional conferences.
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| Asst Prof Nga received his medical degree from the National University of Singapore in 2007. He underwent basic General Surgical training and then advanced Neurosurgical training at the National University Hospital of Singapore. In 2014, he received the Academic Medicine Development Award 2014 for which he underwent 2 years of further training at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom. At Cambridge, he was trained in paediatric neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, neurovascular, neurotrauma and complex spinal surgery. In 2015, he was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Surgical Neurology). Subsequently, he completed a Clinical Fellowship in Paediatric Neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Canada. |
 Prof Jimmy So |
After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1991, Prof So received his surgical training at National University Hospital, Singapore. He trained in upper gastrointestinal surgery, surgical oncology, bariatric surgery, therapeutic endoscopy and minimally invasive surgery, before progressing to fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA and was later appointed as visiting consultant surgeon in Esophageal and Gastric Surgery at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He also received fellowship training in gastric and esophageal cancer surgery in Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. He is the pioneer in endoscopic surgery for early esophageal and gastric cancers, robotic surgery and Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) for Achalasia in Singapore. Prof So's special interests are in gastric and esophageal cancers. To this end, he established a multidisciplinary programme for esophageal and gastric cancers (Upper GI Tumour Group) in 2005. He is also a founding member of Asia-Pacific Bariatric Surgery Society. Prof So is a member of editorial board of medical journals such as Gastric Cancer, Journal of Gastric Cancer and Translational Medicine. |
 Prof Leah Backhus Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University | Leah Backhus trained in general surgery at the University of Southern California and cardiothoracic surgery at the University of California Los Angeles. She practices at Stanford Hospital and is Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the VA Palo Alto. Her surgical practice consists of general thoracic surgery with special emphasis on thoracic oncology and minimally invasive surgical techniques. She also has special clinical expertise in adult chest wall surgery (including pectus excavated) and hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy or HITHOC (used to treat mesothelioma and other pleural tumors). She is Co-Director of the Thoracic Surgery Clinical Research Program, and has grant funding through the Veterans Affairs Administration and NIH. Her current research interests are in imaging surveillance following treatment for lung cancer and cancer survivorship. She is a member of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable of the American Cancer Society and the Task Group on Health Equity. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. As an educator, Dr. Backhus is the Associate Program Director for the Thoracic Track Residency and is former Chair of the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery. |
 Prof Too Heng-Phon Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS Founder, MiRXES Pte LTD | HP Too received his undergraduate training in Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science & Technology, UK. He then continued with his PhD training in a joint research project in Imperial College, Institute of Ophthalmology and West Minister Hospital, London. Thereafter, he received further training in the Medical Research Council, Cambridge (UK), where he was a Procter & Gamble Fellow. He then moved to the Department of Anesthesiology and Department of Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School where he was a recipient of the Merck Sharpe Dohme Academic Development Fellowship. Currently, he is a faculty in the Department of Biochemistry, National University Singapore, a Principal Scientist in the Bioprocess Technological Institute and was a Fellow of the Singapore Massachusetts Institute of Technology Alliance (Molecular Engineering of Biological & Chemical Systems program; Chemical & Pharmaceutical Engineering program). His laboratory was funded by Roche Diagnostics (USA & Asia Pacific) and National Institute of Health (USA) to develop qPCR assays for infectious diseases. He is an awardee of a number of Commercialization of Technology grants from A*STAR and Singapore-Massachusetts Research & Technology (SMART). He has intellectual property protections on specific diagnostic platforms with various departments and with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. He is collaborating with a number of clinical groups locally and globally on discovery and development of microRNA biomarkers. |
| Hai Yan is a Professor and Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). He is also the Co-founder of Genetron Health, which went public on Nasdaq in 2020, and a senior member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Prior to IMCB, Hai held distinguished positions at Duke University School of Medicine, including the Henry S. Friedman Distinguished Professor of Neuro-Oncology, Tenured Full Professor of Pathology, and Co-Director of the Neuro-Oncology Program. Hai's groundbreaking research has advanced the understanding of cancer's molecular mechanisms, leading to targeted therapies. He is renowned for discovering IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in gliomas and genetic elements involved in telomere maintenance in cancers. As a co-author of the 2016 revision of the WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System, he helped establish crucial molecular classification guidelines for tumor diagnosis and treatment. Holding multiple U.S. patents, including one for IDH1/2 mutation diagnosis and therapy, Hai's work led to FDA-approved targeted therapies for malignant gliomas. Hai’s exceptional teaching and mentoring have earned him The Bernard F. Fetter Teaching Scholar Award at Duke, with many of his mentees becoming faculty at top U.S. medical schools or leaders in industry. |
 Prof Masanori Terashima Chief, Division of Gastric Surgery at Shizouka Cancer Centre | Dr. Terashima is a chief of the Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center. Shizuoka Cancer Center is the 2nd leading hospital in terms of the number of gastric cancer surgery in Japan. Currently, about 100 open surgery, 150 laparoscopic surgery and 50 robotic surgery are performed annually. He is also serving as a chairman of Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) Stomach Cancer Study Group, and conducting many pivotal trials as a principle investigator. He can perform any kinds of gastric cancer surgery from extended lymph node dissection to minimally invasive surgery using the Da Vinci Surgical System. He has already performed more than 380 robotic gastrectomy. He is a past president of 91st Annual Meeting of Japan Gastric Cancer Association in 2019. He also dedicates in translational researches such as metabolome analysis and exome sequence using human gastric cancer samples. |
 Prof Jared Torkington Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at Cardiff and Vale Health Board | Dr. Jared Torkington, MBBS, MS, FRCS(Gen Surg) trained in medicine at St Mary's Hospital, London, and underwent surgical training in both London and Wales. Torkington sub-specialty training in colorectal surgery was obtained in Cardiff, Swansea, and St Marks Hospital in London. Torkington received a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England to assess virtual reality training in laparoscopic surgery and was awarded a Master of Surgery degree for work. Torkington's clinical interests are all aspects of coloproctology specifically colonoscopy, laparoscopy, and inflammatory bowel disease. |
 Prof James Rutka Professor and RS McLaughlin Chair, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Neurosurgery | Dr. Rutka assumed his appointment in the Division of Neurosurgery, the Department of Surgery, the University of Toronto in 1990. He is a Paediatric Neurosurgeon whose clinical practice has been at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Rutka's primary research and clinical interests relate to the science and surgery of human brain tumors and epilepsy. He has over 500 peer reviewed publications. In 1999, Dr. Rutka was promoted to Professor in the Department of Surgery, the University of Toronto, and was appointed to the Dan Family Chair in the Division of Neurosurgery - a position he held until 2011. In 2010 - 2011, Dr. Rutka served as President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. That same year, he was appointed as the RS McLaughlin Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. In 2013, he became the first Canadian to be appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurosurgery, and was inducted as a Member of the Order of Ontario. In 2015, he was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2019, Dr. Rutka received the Cushing Medal from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. |
 Prof Sebastien Froelich Professor and Head of Department, Department of Neurosurgery, Assistance Publique, Hôpitaux de Paris | Prof. Sébastien Froelich is Professor of Neurosurgery and Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Hôpital Lariboisière, one of the leading academic hospitals in Paris under the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris network. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in complex skull base surgery, neuro-oncology, and minimally invasive neurosurgical techniques. After completing advanced training in skull base surgery at the University of Cincinnati, Prof. Froelich has dedicated his career to advancing neurosurgical care through clinical innovation, education, and research. He has authored over 350 scientific publications and is actively involved in developing novel surgical approaches, including endoscopic and keyhole techniques for skull base and brain tumors. He serves as Co-Chair of the Skull Base Surgery Committee of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) and is an executive board member of the European Skull Base Society. Prof. Froelich is also a Visiting Professor at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and a Fellow of the World Academy of Neurological Surgery (WANS). Under his leadership, the Department of Neurosurgery at Lariboisière has become a reference center in France and Europe, offering state-of-the-art neurosurgical care supported by a robust research and education ecosystem, including a dedicated experimental lab for surgical innovation and training. |
| Dr Joshua Tay completed his undergraduate medical training at the National University of Singapore, achieving a distinction in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme and winning the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize. He underwent speciality training in Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery in Singapore and was awarded the College of Surgeons Gold Medal for the best performing resident at the Otolaryngology Exit Examinations. Dr Tay was subsequently awarded the Ministry of Health Healthcare Research Scholarship, during which he completed a PhD in Cancer Biology at the Stanford University School of Medicine focusing on molecular subtypes of nasopharyngeal cancer, under the guidance of Professors John B. Sunwoo and Robert B. West. Dr Tay’s research involves classifying tumors based on their gene signatures and matching them with targeted therapies for personalized treatment. Together with A/Prof Thomas Loh, he leads a Head and Neck Cancer Genomics laboratory at NUS, with special expertise in microdissected gene expression profiling from paraffin specimens. |
Prof Hai Yan