Education Qualifications: MBBS, M Med (Int Med), MRCP (UK), FAMS, FRCP (London)
Professor William Hwang is a highly respected clinician leader with a strong leadership and professional track record. He was formerly the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Cancer Centre of Singapore and Chair of the Oncology Academic Clinical Programme (ACP) of Duke-NUS Medical School. Prof Hwang is currently Co-Director of the Regenerative Medicine Institute of Singapore (REMEDIS). He has also appointed as SingHealth Board of Advisors and conferred the title of Senior Advisor, SingHealth on 1 Dec 2023.
During his tenure as CEO, Prof Hwang was pivotal in leading the planning and delivery of a comprehensive suite of infrastructure projects, services and operations, as well as spearheading a wide spectrum of new initiatives which have reinforced NCCS’ standing as a leading global centre for integrated cancer care and research. An approachable and consultative leader, Prof Hwang drove the development of and oversaw the successful transition to the new NCCS building. Designed with a patient-centric approach, the new NCCS has increased clinic space for multi-disciplinary cancer care that will improve patient flow and experience, as well as offer patients access to proven and advanced treatments such as proton therapy at the Goh Cheng Liang Proton Therapy Centre. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof Hwang galvanised NCCS in delivering safe and timely cancer care to patients, while ensuring staff were engaged and well supported during the challenging period.
A locally and internationally recognised clinician-researcher in haematology, with an interest in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, Prof Hwang held multiple national and international leadership roles, and actively championed collaborations in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and research. He played a critical role in bringing key partners including the Singapore Cancer Society and Advanced Cell Therapy and Research Institute (ACTRIS) to be housed in the new NCCS building, resulting in enhanced community care referrals and deepening of research partnerships. Prof Hwang also established the SingHealth Duke-NUS Cell Therapy Centre and was appointed its inaugural Head in August 2020.
He has previously provided stewardship for his multiple leadership portfolios, including Director, SingHealth Transplant; Head, SingHealth Duke-NUS Blood Cancer Centre; Head, Department of Haematology, Singapore General Hospital and Medical Director, Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB).
Widely recognised for his expertise in haematological malignancies, Professor Hwang has previously served as Head for the Department of Haematology in the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), and Head for the SingHealth Duke-NUS Blood Cancer Centre. He was formerly President of the World Marrow Donor Association, President of the Singapore Society of Haematology, Chairman for the Chapter of Haematologists for the Academy of Medicine Singapore and Advisory Committee Member for the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). His clinical and research focus is primarily on blood and marrow transplants and he has previously led the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program in Singapore General Hospital, and also served as Medical Director of the Singapore Cord Blood Bank.
He is currently Executive Board Member of the Asia Pacific Blood and Marrow Transplantation Group (APBMT), Board Organising Committee (BOC) member of the Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium, BOC member of the Advanced Cell Therapy Research Institute of Singapore (ACTRIS) and Board member of the Lien Centre for Palliative Care (LCPC), as well as Committee Member of the Women’s Health Committee of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Co-Chair of the MOH Cell, Tissue and Gene Therapy (CTGT) Workgroup, Co-Chair of the MOH Tissue Banking Working Committee and Co-Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Cancer (NACC).
Professor Hwang is also a faculty member of the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme in Duke-NUS as well as Clinical Lecturer at the Yong Loo Lin Medical School. He has published over a hundred clinical and scientific papers in the field of haematology and oncology as well as two books and several book chapters.
Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships:
- Executive Board Member, Asia Pacific Blood and Marrow Transplant Group (2014-Present)
- Teaching Faculty, Blood and Immunity, Normal Body Course (currently Human Structure and Function), Duke-NUS Medical School (2007-Present)
- Content Expert, Immunodeficiency and Immunosuppression, Body and Disease Course, Duke-NUS Medical School (2007-2015)
- Advisory Committee Member, Centre for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) (2015-2018)
- S(P)EAR committee member, World Marrow Donor Association (2011-2018)
- American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (member) (2006 - Present)
- American Society of Hematology (member), (2004 - Present)
- Journal Reviewer: Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Cytotherapy, Transplantation Immunology, Journal of Hematology and Oncology, World Journal of Pediatrics, Annals of Academy of Medicine and Singapore Medical Journal, British Journal of Haematology.
Awards:
- SingHealth Game Changer Award (2017)
- SingHealth GCEO Excellence Awards: Outstanding Clinician Researcher Award (2015)
- SingHealth Transplant Most Outstanding Doctor Award (2015)
- Duke-NUS Pioneer Award (2013)
- Outstanding Faculty for Engagement (Molecules and Cells) (2012)
- Singapore Health Quality Service Award (Star) (2011)
- Graduate Diploma in Healthcare Management and Leadership (Singapore Management University) (2010)
- Heart of Gold Award (SGH) (2010)
- Distinguished Faculty, Molecules and Cells, Duke-NUS Medical School (2010)
- Singapore General Hospital Service Quality “Service with a Heart” Award #5; February (2009)
- EXSA Excellent Service Award (Gold) (2008)
- Singapore General Hospital Service Quality “Service with a Heart” Award #3 and 4; (2007) (x2)
- Outstanding Faculty, Body and Disease Course. Duke-NUS Medical School. (2008)
- EXSA Excellent Service Award (Silver) (2007)
- SingHealth Mentorship grant award for attachment to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (2006)
- SingHealth Long Service Award (2005)
Research Interests:
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, Ex vivo expansion of cord blood hematopoietic stem cells, Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy.
H-Index: 26 (Google Scholar Citation) (as at 10 Sep 2020)
PubMed Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1dgCwdr-kYFAu/bibliography/public/
- Kwok I, Becht E, Xia Y, Ng M, Teh YC, Tan L, Evrard M, Li JLY, Tran HTN, Tan Y, Liu D, Mishra A, Liong KH, Leong K, Zhang Y, Olsson A, Mantri CK, Shyamsunder P, Liu Z, Piot C, Dutertre CA, Cheng H, Bari S, Ang N, Biswas SK, Koeffler HP, Tey HL, Larbi A, Su IH, Lee B, St John A, Chan JKY, Hwang WYK, Chen J, Salomonis N, Chong SZ, Grimes HL, Liu B, Hidalgo A, Newell EW, Cheng T, Ginhoux F, Ng LG. Combinatorial Single-Cell Analyses of Granulocyte-Monocyte Progenitor Heterogeneity Reveals an Early Uni-potent Neutrophil Progenitor. Immunity. 2020 Aug 18;53(2):303-318.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2020.06.005
- Wu D, Dou J, Chai X, Bellis C, Wilm A, Shih CC, Soon WWJ, Bertin N, Lin CB, Khor CC, DeGiorgio M, Cheng S, Bao L, Karnani N, Hwang WYK, Davila S, Tan P, Shabbir A, Moh A, Tan EK, Foo JN, Goh LL, Leong KP, Foo RSY, Lam CSP, Richards AM, Cheng CY, Aung T, Wong TY, Ng HH, Liu J, Wang C. Large-Scale Whole-Genome Sequencing of Three Diverse Asian Populations in Singapore. Cell. 2019 Oct 17;179(3):736-749.e15. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.09.019
- Poon Z, Dighe N, Venkatesan S, Cheung AMS, Fan X, Bari S, Hota M, Ghosh S, Hwang WYK. Bone marrow MSCs in MDS: contribution towards dysfunctional hematopoiesis and potential targets for disease response to hypomethylating therapy. Leukemia. 2019. DOI: 10.1038/s41375-018-0310-y
- Horwitz ME, Wease S, Blackwell B, Valcarcel D, Frassoni F, Boelens JJ, Nierkens S, Jagasia M, Wagner JE, Kuball J, Koh LP, Majhail NS, Stiff PJ, Hanna R, Hwang WYK, Kurtzberg J, Cilloni D, Freedman LS, Montesinos P, Sanz G. Phase I/II Study of Stem-Cell Transplantation Using a Single Cord Blood Unit Expanded Ex Vivo With Nicotinamide. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Feb 10;37(5):367-374. doi: 10.1200/JCO.18.00053
- Dias J, Boulouis C, Gulam MY, Sia WR, Bari S, Hwang WYK, Nixon DF, Sandberg JK, Leeansyah E. The CD4-CD8- MAIT cell subpopulation is a functionally distinct subset developmentally related to the main CD8+ MAIT cell pool. Proc. Natl. Sci USA. 2018. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1812273115
- Bari S, Zhong Q, Fan X, Poon Z, Lim AST, Lim TH, Chai CLL, Hwang WYK. Ex Vivo Expansion of CD34+ CD90+ CD49f+ Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells from Non-enriched Umbilical Cord Blood with Azole Compounds. Stem cells translational medicine. 2018. DOI: 10.1002/sctm.17-0251
- Evrard M, Kwok IWH, Chong SZ, Teng KWW, Becht E, Chen J, Sieow JL, Penny HL, Ching GC, Devi S, Adrover JM, Li JLY, Liong KH, Tan L, Poon Z, Foo S, Chua JW, Su IH, Balabanian K, Bachelerie F, Biswas SK, Larbi A, Hwang WYK, Madan V, Koeffler HP, Wong SC, Newell EW, Hidalgo A, Ginhoux F, Ng LG. Developmental Analysis of Bone Marrow Neutrophils Reveals Populations Specialized in Expansion, Trafficking, and Effector Functions. Immunity. 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2018.02.002
- Bari S, Chu PP, Lim A, Fan X, Bunte RM, Li S, Ghosh S, Chiu GN, Hwang WYK. Mitochondrial superoxide reduction and cytokine secretion skewing by carbon nanotube scaffolds enhance ex vivo expansion of human cord blood hematopoietic progenitors. Nanomedicine. 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2015.06.005
- Liu CC, Ma DL, Yan TD, Fan X, Poon Z, Poon LF, Goh SA, Rozen SG, Hwang WY, Tergaonkar V, Tan P, Ghosh S, Virshup DM, Goh EL, Li S. Distinct Responses of Stem Cells to Telomere Uncapping-A Potential Strategy to Improve the Safety of Cell Therapy. Stem Cells. 2016 Oct;34(10):2471-2484. doi: 10.1002/stem.2431.
- Bari S, Seah KK, Li S, Koh LP, Hwang WYK. Expansion and homing of umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells for clinical transplantation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2014.12.022
- Bari S, Chu PP, Lim A, Fan X, Gay FP, Bunte RM, Lim TK, Li S, Chiu GN, Hwang WYK. Protective role of functionalized single walled carbon nanotubes enhance ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in human umbilical cord blood. Nanomedicine. 2013. DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2013.05.009
Patents (related or unrelated to the study):
- PCT/SG2017/050409: Substituted Azole Derivatives for Generation, Proliferation and Differentiation of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells (WO/2018/048346).
- PCT/SG2017/050408: Immunoppressive Composition for Use in Treating Immunological Disorders (WO/2018/034620).