Scientific Committee

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2026/02/03

5TH ISOS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE 2026
Dr Joshua Tay Senior Consultant Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery (ENT), National University Hospital	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.
A/Prof Joe Yeong Poh Sheng Principle Investigator Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR)*	Dr. Joe Yeong’s main research focus is to understand and overcome the resistance of cancer immunotherapy, by using advanced technologies and AI. As an immunopathologist, his key vision is to bridge immunologists and pathologists. He is the pioneer in spatial technologies, translated assays to clinic, and has published > 120 papers in the field (Top 2% Scientist) (>100 invited talks internationally). His works on cancer immunology are included in multiple National & international funded studies as well as industry sponsored projects (>16 million dollars since 2017). He served as a committee member in the World Immunotherapy Council, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and is one of the organizers for its 2019 & 2023 WIC Global Symposium as well as multiplex IF expert consensus meeting 2022. He also serves as Program Chair of one of the largest AI medical Imaging conferences, CLINICCAI-MICCAI. He is also having editorial roles of Nature Springer, Elsevier, JCO (ASCO), SLAS Technology (Journal) and World Scientific (Chief Editor). He serves as a Secretary (Executive) in Singapore Society of Oncology – Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium, Co-lead in Education/Diagnostic of Singhealth Duke-NUS Cell Therapy Centre as well as Advisor (Spatial Technology), Cancer Discovery Hub, National Cancer Centre. In 2023, he co-founded World Immunotherapy Council Asian Chapter for promoting tumor immunology and advancing cancer immunotherapy education, information and research across Asia. He is also a regular reviewer for top journal such as JITC, Mod Path, Lancet and Nature.
Adj A/Prof Vincent Nga Senior Consultant Division of Surgical Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore	Adj A/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 Head & Senior Consultant Division of Surgical Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore	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.
A/Prof John Tam Kit Chung Senior Consultant Division of Surgical Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore	Associate Professor John Tam is a Senior Consultant and the founding Head of Thoracic Surgery at the National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS). He is also an Associate Professor with tenure at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. A/Prof Tam specialises in performing minimally invasive single-port keyhole surgery using advanced techniques in Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (UVATS). He has been performing Uniportal VATS lobectomy since June 25, 2009; from then onwards, thousands of patients have benefitted from this technique. A/Prof Tam has achieved excellence in enhanced recovery protocols, pain reduction, and quality of life after surgery to maximise patients' well-being and comfort. He leads a high performance team of thoracic surgeons with excellent surgical outcomes, and is passionate with educating the new generation of thoracic surgeons in Singapore and Asia. A/Prof Tam has many research publications in top high-impact international-refereed journals, including Science, Nature, Cell, Immunity, New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Thoracic Surgery and top journals in the field of Thoracic Surgery. He is Chairman of the Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Residency Advisory Committee in Ministry of Health, Singapore. He is also a member of various committees in Ministry of Health, Singapore. He holds multiple leadership appointments within the National University Health System (NUHS) and National University of Singapore.
Asst Prof Raymond Tsang Senior Consultant, Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (ENT), National University Hospital	A/Prof Raymond KY TSANG graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1994 and received his training in otolaryngology in Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong. He obtained his specialist qualification in otolaryngology and fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2001 and then sub-specialized in the field of head and neck surgery. He received his Master of Surgery degree from the University of Hong Kong in 2015. A/Prof Tsang received his training in robotic head and neck surgery in University of Pennsylvania under Prof Gregory Weinstein and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center under Prof Chris Holsinger. Before relocating to Singapore, A/Prof Tsang was the Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, University of Hong Kong and Honorary Consultant ENT Surgeon of Queen Mary Hospital and Tung Wah Hospital in Hong Kong. He was also the Division Chief of Ear Nose and Throat Surgery of the Department of Surgery, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital in Shenzhen, China. A/Prof Tsang's clinical research interests include application of robotic surgery in head and neck surgery, minimally invasive surgery in the head and neck region, endoscopic surgery for anterior skull base lesions and swallowing disorders in patients after head and neck cancer treatment. A/Prof Tsang was part of the team that performed the first clinical trial of the next generation of flexible robot for application in transoral head and neck surgery in 2017. He has published more than 100 peer review papers and book chapters. A/Prof Tsang had been the President of the Hong Kong Society of Otorhinolarynology – Head and Neck Surgery, the President of the Hong Kong Head and Neck Society and the Chairman of the Head and Neck Subspecialty Board of the Hong Kong College of Otorhinolaryngologists.
Dr Swati Jain Associate Consultant Division of Neorosurgery, Department of Surgery, National University Hospital	Dr Swati Jain completed her bachelors degree in biomedical engineering at National University of Singapore in 2010 and subsequently pursued medicine at Duke-NUS Medical School. She was accepted into the neurosurgical residency program at National University Health System in 2015, completing the residency program in 2021. She graduated with the highest scores in the exit examination (Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons (Ediburgh) in Surgical Neurology). She completed a one year neurotrauma fellowship at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom under the supervision of Prof Peter Hutchinson, Mr Adel Helmy and Mr Ivan Timofeev. Her neurosurgical practice focuses on neuro-oncology, skull base tumours, degenerative spine and neurotrauma. She is particularly interested in understanding language representation in multilingual individuals, which she will be pursuing as a PhD at Christ's College, University of Cambridge.
Adj Asst Prof Nigel Tan Chun Han Head & Consultant, Division of General Surgery (Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery), Alexandra Hospital	Adj A/Prof Tan graduated from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, in 2012, and commenced General Surgery Residency training at the National University Hospital. He obtained Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2014 and the Master of Medicine (Surgery) in 2018. During residency, he also attained a Masters of Clinical Investigation (MCI) at the National University of Singapore and served as Chief Resident in his final year. Upon completing training, he was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (General Surgery) and accredited as a Specialist in General Surgery by the Specialist Accreditation Board in 2021.He subsequently matched and was selected as the sole candidate for the prestigious International Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA. This intensive, hands-on fellowship provided broad exposure to complex general surgical oncology, with particular emphasis on Hepato-pancreatobiliary malignancies and soft tissue sarcomas. There was also a great focus on minimally invasive approaches and advanced training in robotic surgery —an expertise he continues to incorporate into his clinical practice today. He was actively engaged in clinical research throughout his fellowship, a commitment that remains central to his academic work. Adj A/Prof Tan currently serves on the Hepatopancreatobiliary service at the National University Hospital and also as Head of the Hepatopancreatobiliary service at Alexandra Hospital. His clinical practice spans benign general surgical conditions, malignant Hepatopancreatobiliary and surgical oncology cases, and liver transplantation as part of the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation (NUCOT). Beyond clinical work, Dr Tan is deeply committed to research. His primary interest lies in colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver, with ongoing work focused on understanding disease biology and identifying potential therapeutic targets within this pathway.
Dr Maria Wobith Clinical Associate, Division of Surgical Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore	Dr. Maria Wobith is a visceral surgeon trained in Leipzig, Germany. Her main interests include oncological surgery, upper GI surgery, perioperative nutrition, prehabilitation, and ERAS. She coordinated the Colorectal, Pancreatic, and Gastric Cancer Center in Leipzig and established a dedicated prehabilitation outpatient clinic. Her academic work focuses on perioperative nutrition, prehabilitation, and the assessment and management of high-risk patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. She is a member of the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery (DGAV) guideline committee on exercise in oncology. Since February 2025, she has been a fellow in upper gastrointestinal surgery at the National University Hospital in Singapore.
Adj A/Prof Dedrick Chan Consultant, Division of Surgical Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore	Asst Prof Dedrick Chan is a Clinician-Scientist holding concurrent appointments as a Consultant with the Division of Colorectal Surgery, NUH, as well as Adjunct Assistant Professor with the Department of Surgery, NUS. Dedrick underwent surgical training as a Resident with the National University Health System, before attaining specialist registration in General Surgery in 2018. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and England, and also a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. To further his knowledge and training specifically in the field of Colorectal Surgery, he completed a Master of Surgery in Principles of Coloproctology at the University of East Anglia. He is also the first Singaporean candidate to sit for and successfully pass the European Board of Surgery examination in Coloproctology, an examination which defines the requisite competency of skills and knowledge required of a colorectal surgeon. As a Clinician-Scientist, Dedrick investigates the molecular underpinnings of colorectal cancer, and aims to translate novel findings uncovered in the laboratory to tangible improvements in cancer outcomes for patients. He was generously funded by a National Medical Research Council Research Training Fellowship, and completed a PhD at the University of Oxford in 2023. He is currently a recipient of the NMRC Transition Award. Dedrick's clinical and research interests synergistically revolve around colorectal cancer. As a colorectal surgeon, Dedrick introduces surgically-oriented interventions which improve cancer outcomes and the holistic patient experience. Dedrick's research builds on this clinical work, and has implications for cancer initiation, proliferation and metastasis. He seeks to understand the role which somatic driver mutations play in phenotypically normal tissue. Outside of his clinical and academic responsibilities, Dedrick also serves in the Singapore Cancer Society as Chairperson of the Colorectal Cancer Resource Pillar, and Member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Committee. In these roles, he is deeply involved in the holistic care of the healthy individual and the colorectal cancer patient through the spectrum of prevention, treatment, and remission.
Dr Jarrod Tan Kah Hwee Consultant Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery National University Hospital	Dr Jarrod Tan Kah Hwee graduated from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. Thereafter, he completed his housemanship year and received the Best House Officer Award in recognition of his exceptional commitment to patient care. He then trained as a General Surgery resident at the National University Health System before he successfully obtained his Fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and was registered as an accredited specialist surgeon in 2022. Dr Tan has a sub-specialty interest in minimally invasive surgery for colorectal cancers. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr Tan is actively involved in clinical research. He attained his Master of Clinical Investigation degree from the National University of Singapore, supported by a Ministry of Health Healthcare Research Scholarship. He has contributed to numerous publications and was awarded the ExxonMobil-NUS Research Fellowship and NUHS Seed Grant to pursue further research in colorectal surgery. Dr Tan is also dedicated to nurturing the next generation of medical professionals and serves as Clinical Lecturer at the Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS).