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Education Qualifications: MBBS, M Med(Ophth), MRCSEd, FRCS(Ed), FAMS, PhD(NUS)

Dr Gavin Tan is a Senior Consultant in the Surgical Retinal Department of the Singapore National Eye Centre and Changi General Hospital. He is also visiting Senior Consultant for the Ophthalmology service at the KK Women and Children’s Hospital providing the pediatric retina service. In addition, he is a clinician scientist at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI). Dr Gavin Tan is a trained surgical and medical vitreoretinal specialist with a clinical interest in diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, intraocular tumours, retinal detachments and pediatric vitreoretinal diseases. He set up the first ocular plaque brachytherapy service in Singapore in conjunction with the National Cancer Centre Singapore. He is also a highly experienced cataract surgeon with expertise in complicated and dislocated cataracts; and intraocular lens fixation. As part of SNEC efforts to adapt to the rapidly evolving technological landscape in ophthalmology and medicine, Dr Tan setup the Digital Transformation office as director with the goal, of leveraging technology to transformation patient care. 

Dr Tan is the clinical director of the SNEC Ocular Reading Centre (SORC), which is one of the major imaging reading centres for diabetic retinopathy and retina clinical trials in Singapore. He is involved in the development and implementation of a national diabetic retinopathy telemedicine screening program in Singapore and is studying the use of novel approaches including optical coherence tomography, automated detection of retinopathy and personalized screening intervals to improve cost effectiveness and efficacy of diabetic retinopathy screening. SORC is also instrumental in the development artificial intelligence methods for the interpretation of retinal imaging. 

Besides imaging, Dr Tan has research studies aimed at identifying novel biomarkers and improving treatment strategies in diabetic retinopathy. His goal is to eliminate diabetic visual impairment and blindness by developing new methods in screening, diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy with the goal of transforming clinical care and improving patient outcomes. His interest in diabetic retinopathy has also led to multiple collaborations with the Endocrine and Nephrology in diabetic complication. He served as the service chief for ophthalmology and subsequently the lead for diabetic complications at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Diabetes Centre. Dr Tan is also interested in cell replacement therapy and is currently working with collaborators on the development of pluripotent stem cell derived cell replacement therapy for macular diseases at SERI. Dr Tan has published more than 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has presented over 30 papers in local and overseas meetings. He has also been awarded various competitive grants for his work.

Dr Gavin Tan graduated with a Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) with Distinction in Biochemistry and Medicine from the National University of Singapore in 2003. He was awarded multiple Dean’s List Awards and the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) Medal for academic excellence. After his ophthalmology residency training at SNEC, where he served as Chief Resident, he went on to complete a two-year Fellowship in Vitreo-Retinal Diseases and Surgery at SNEC in 2014. During this time, he obtained his post-graduate qualifications in Ophthalmology, including a Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh (FRCSEd) and Fellowship of the Academy of Medicine Singapore (FAMS) in 2012. Under the SingHealth scholarship, Dr Gavin Tan pursued further overseas training in the field of Vitero-Retinal diseases. At the Byer Eye Institute at Stanford University, USA, he mentored with world-renowned Retinal specialists in Pediatric Vitero-Retinal diseases and the use of novel lasers for Retinal diseases. At the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), he honed his expertise in advanced retinal imaging, management of intraocular tumours, and the use of human stem cell derived RPE in the treatment of Retinal diseases.

Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships:

• Treasurer, Singapore Society of Ophthalmologist (2018 – present)
• Member, Macula Society (2018- present)
• Council Member, Asia-Pacific Teleophthalmology Society (2016 - present)
• Member, American Society of Retina Surgeons (ASRS) (2014 - present)
• Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh (2012 - present)
• Member, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) (2004 - present)
• Member, Singapore Medical Association (2003 - present)
  

Awards:

• APAO Achievement Award (2019)
• MOH National Clinical Excellence Team Award (2019)
• Clinical Research Excellence Award, SingHealth (2017)
• SingHealth-MOH HMDP Award: Fellowship in vitreo-retinal diseases and novel laser retinal treatments (Stanford University) & Fellowship in vitreo-retinal diseases: stem cell treatments for retinal diseases (UCLA, Jules Stein Eye Institute) (2014)
• Travel Grant, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) (2013)