Bio
Professor Gemmy Cheung is clinician scientist with special interest in retina diseases. The focus of her research is on improving management outcomes and reducing blindness from age-related macular degeneration AMD. She has published >300 peer-reviewed articles, including high-impact work advancing the understanding of AMD, especially in the context of an Asian population, and secured research funding >SGD $40 million (>$26 million actively funded projects). Prof Cheung’s work has been highly cited, (h-index 66) and she is considered a thought leader in the field of Asian AMD. Specifically, she has attracted global interest for major position papers that are transforming clinical practice (e.g. international leadership roles in diagnostic criteria using non-invasive imaging, pivotal clinical trials aiming to reduce retreatment burden and healthcare costs including PLANET, EVEREST II, LUCERNE). These have been incorporated in clinical guidelines and led to enhanced recognition and improved management of Asian AMD phenotypes globally. She established the ongoing Phenotyping Asian AMD study since 2009, which provides one of the richest clinical, imaging and genetic datasets of Asian AMD worldwide, and has attracted numerous international collaborations such as the International Consortium on Health outcome measures, Fight Retinal Blindness! Registry and Asia-Pacific Ocular imaging society PCV workgroup. In 2018, her team was awarded an open fund-large collaborative grant by the Singapore National Medical Research Council, through which she established the ongoing Translational Asian AMD program (TAAP). Prof Cheung coordinates the large multidisciplinary team of 10 theme PIs and numerous local and international co-investigators with the specific aim to improve health outcomes and reduce AMD blindness. Research findings have led to immediately translatable local and international clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and ongoing management for AMD. Cost-effectiveness analyses using clinical trial and real-world dataset also inform policy makers for allocation of healthcare resources. The program, currently in the third year, is recognized internationally as one of the most comprehensive translational Asian AMD programs, attracting numerous academic and industrial collaborations. (>40 academic collaborations, >70 publications, >SGD $3 million in additional funding attracted, 4 patents filed) Concurrently, in her capacity as head of retinal research group, Prof Cheung has established a vibrant platform for exchanges between scientists and clinicians, and has opened up abundant training opportunities for fellows, researchers and PhD students. Prof Cheung has been instrumental in the co-development of several novel therapeutic targets with basic scientist and with industry partners. Her successful pre-clinical experiments on combined anti-VEGF and angiopoietin-2 inhibition propelled the target into clinical trials which subsequently supported the latest FDA approved treatment for AMD, and published in the Lancet in 2022. Prof Cheung is considered a mentor for young aspiring ophthalmologists and particularly a role model for young women embarking on their career path.
Education
Master of Clinical Investigation
National University of Singapore, Singapore
Fellow, Royal Coll of Ophthalmologists
Royal College of Ophthalmologists, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
University of London, United Kingdom