Profile
Prof Tan Kok Hian is Head, Perinatal Audit & Epidemiology and Senior Consultant, Maternal Fetal Medicine in KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), Singapore. Prof Tan has active teaching faculty appointments in 3 medical schools (Duke-NUS as regular rank Professor; and both NUS-YLL and NTU-LKC as Adjunct Professor). Prof Tan is the Lead for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), SingHealth Duke-NUS Diabetes Centre and the Lead Principal Investigator, NMRC Integrated Platform for Research in Advancing Metabolic Health Outcomes of Women and Children (IPRAMHO). He is President of Perinatal Society of Singapore and Past President of the Obstetrical & Gynaecological Society (OGSS) of Singapore. He is also Chairman of the Congress Trust Fund of OGSS.
Prof Tan initiated and led in the implementation of universal GDM screening and also introduced the new IADPSG criteria in KKH and SGH since January 2016. He is the key champion of GDM universal screening, which has now been adopted in all hospitals in Singapore with obstetric service. As Chairperson of College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. Singapore GDM Committee 2017-2018 and Chairperson, Expert Group GDM Appropriate Care Guide of The Agency for Care Effectiveness (ACE), Ministry of Health 2017-18, he was instrumental in leading GDM management. He facilitated the Asia Oceania Consensus in Gestational Diabetes in January 2018. He initiated the Perinatal Society of Singapore Advocacy Group for Engagement in Optimal Perinatal Nutrition in August 2018.
Prof Tan is the Lead PI for RIE2020 NMRC Collaborative Centre Grant - Integrated Platform for Research in Advancing Metabolic Health Outcomes of Women and Children (IPRAMHO) which builds core research capability and capacity in metabolic health for women and children of Singapore and Asia. Prof Tan received many awards for his academic and clinical contributions. These included World Health Organisation - UAE Health Foundation Prize 2009 as Integrated Perinatal Care Project Team Leader.
Education
- MBA, SINGAPORE, Singapore Management University, 2013
- FRCOG, UK, Royal College of O&G, London, 2004
- FAMS, SINGAPORE, Academy of Medicine Singapore, 1995
- MMed (O&G), SINGAPORE, National University of Singapore, 1992
- MRCOG, UK, Royal College of O&G, London, 1991
- FMGEMS, USA, ECFMG (USA), 1988
- MBBS, SINGAPORE, National University of Singapore, 1985
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Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships
- Benjamin Henry Sheares Professor in O&G, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Senior Associate Dean, Academic Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Senior Associate Dean, Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Adjunct Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- Adjunct Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nayang Technological University/Imperial College London
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Awards
- World Health Organisation - UAE Health Foundation Prize 2009 for excellence in perinatal care as KKH Integrated Perinatal Care Project Team Leader. WHO General Assembly Genva 2009.
- Benjamin Henry Sheares Memorial Lecture 2013 - Gold Medal Research Award.
- NMRC/MOH Inaugural National Medical Excellence Team Award 2008, Singapore. Team Leader.
- NMRC/MOH Inaugural National Outstanding Clinical Quality Activist Award 2010, Singapore.
- International Society of Ultrasound in O&G. First International Scientific Meeting Singapore - Best Scientific Poster Presentation Award 2004.
- Asian Hospital Management Award 2004 Winner of Patient Safety and Risk Management Category - Integrated Labour Ward Risk Management System.
- Malaysian International Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2013. Dato’ Dr M. Kanagalingam Award for Best Oral Presentation (Obstetrics) - First Prize.
- Singapore Civil Service PS21 Excel Award 2009 - Top 5 Outstanding Activist.
- MOH Merit Prize, Scientific Poster, Ministry of Health Clinical Quality Month 2004.
- SingHealth Duke-NUS Scientific Congress 2012. Best Oral Paper for Translational Research.
- SingHealth Scientific Meeting Evidence Based Medicine. Best Systematic Review Paper in Ambulatory Medicine 2004.
- SingHealth Publish! Award (Medical Research) 2015. SingHealth Foundation.
- Awarded Outstanding Contribution Recognition Certificate for reviewing and towards the quality of the journal. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice editors. Elsevier Netherlands 2018.
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Research Interests
- Perinatal Epidemiology, Maternal Fetal Medicine, Pre-eclampsia, Gestational Diabetes, Metabolic helath & Systematic Reviews & Meta-analysis
- Long Term Pregnancy Cohort Studies
- Extracellular Vesicles and Exosomes – Translational Research and Biomarkers Discovery & Validation
- Education, Patient Safety Research and Quality Improvement Research
- Interventional Trials in O&G
- Heath Services/Translational and Implementation Research
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Publications
- Tan KH et al. Plasma biomarker discovery in pre-eclampsia using a novel differential isolation technology for extracellular vesicles. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2014;211:380.e1-13 JIF: 5.574.
- Tan KH et al. Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation for facilitation of tests of fetal wellbeing. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD002963. JIF 6.1.
- Lai RC et al Derivation and characterization of human fetal MSCs: an alternative cell source for large-scale production of cardioprotective microparticles. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology 2010 48 (6), 1215-1224. JIF 5.1.
- Lai RC, Yeo WY, Tan KH, Lim SK. MSC exosome ameliorates reperfusion injury through a proteomic complementation. Regenerative Medicine, 2013, Vol. 8, No. 2, Pages 197-209. JIF 3.8.
- Chen LW et al. Dietary changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period in Singaporean Chinese, Malay, and Indian women: The GUSTO birth cohort study. Public Health Nutr 2013; 28:1-9. JIF 2.43.
- East CE, et al, Colditz PB, Lau R, Tan KH*. Vibroacoustic stimulation for fetal assessment in labour in the presence of a non-reassuring fetal heart rate trace. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013, Issue 1. Art. No. CD004664. JIF 6.1.
- Chen RY, et al and Tan KH*. Incremental Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Screening Strategies in Singapore. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2016 Jan;28(1):15-25. JIF:1.72.
- Lai RC, Yeo RW, Tan KH, Lim SK. Exosome for Drug Delivery – A Novel Application for Mesenchymal Stem Cell. Biotechnol Adv. 2013 Sep-Oct;31(5):543-51. JIF:11.84 Cited:167.
- Tan KH, Sabapathy A. Maternal glucose administration for facilitating tests of fetal wellbeing. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Sep 12;9:CD003397. JIF:6.1.
- Tan KH, Sabapathy A, Wei X. Fetal manipulation for facilitating tests of fetal wellbeing Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD003396. JIF:6.1.
- Li LJ, Aris IM, Su LL, Chong YS, Wong TY, Wang JJ#, Tan KH#. joint senior authors. Effect of Gestational Diabetes and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy on Postpartum Cardiometabolic Risk. Endocr Connect 2018, doi: 10.1530/EC-17-0359 vol. 7 no. 3 433-442 JIF: 3.1.
- Li LJ, Tan KH, Aris IM et al Retinal Vasculature and 5-Year Metabolic Syndrome among Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Metabolism. 2017 Oct 16. pii: S0026-0495(17)30278-0. JIF 5.78.
- Sia AT, Tan KH, Sng BL, Lim Y, Chan ESY, Siddiqui FJ. Use of hyperbaric versus isobaric bupivacaine for spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 May 31;(5):CD005143. JIF: 5.8.
- RWY Yeo, RC Lai, KH Tan, SK Lim. Exosome: A Novel and Safer Therapeutic Refinement of Mesenchymal Stem Cell. Journal of Circulating Biomarkers. Vol 1. Jan 1 2013.
- Chong YS et al. Ethnic differences translate to inadequacy of high-risk screening for gestational diabetes mellitus in an Asian population: a cohort study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2014; 14(1):345-NA JIF: 2.15.
- Pan H et al. HIF3A association with adiposity: the story begins before birth. Epigenomics 2015; 7(6):937-50 JIF: 4.04.
- Loy S et al. Association of maternal vitamin D status with glucose tolerance and caesarean section in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort: GUSTO study. PLoS One. 2015 Nov 16;10:e0142239. JIF: 3.2.
- Zhang B, Wee R, Tan KH, Lim SK. Focus on Extracellular Vesicles: Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles. Int J Molecular Sciences 2016; 17:174 JIF: 2.7.
- Agarwal P et al; Tan KH. Comparison of customized and cohort-based birthweight standards in identification of growth-restricted infants. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2016;29:2519-22 JIF:1.4.
- Chia AR et al. Adherence to a healthy eating index for pregnant women is associated with lower neonatal adiposity in a multiethnic Asian cohort: the GUSTO Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018;1;107(1):71-79. JIF: 6.9.
- Lin X et al. Choice of surrogate tissue influences neonatal EWAS findings. BMC Med;201715:211 JIF 8.005.
- Lin et al. Developmental pathways to adiposity begin before birth and are influenced by genotype, prenatal environment and epigenome. BMC Med. 2017 Mar 7;15(1):50. JIF: 8.0.
- Li LJ, Tan KH, Aris I, Chong YS, Wang JJ, Wong TY. Gestational Retinal Microvasculature with Risk of 5-Year Postpartum Abnormal Glucose Metabolism. Diabetologia. 2017;60:2368-76 JIF: 6.02.
- Ho CKM, Tan ETH, Ng MJ, Yeo GSH, Chern B, Tee NWS, Kwek KYC, Tan KH. Gestational age-specific reference intervals for serum thyroid hormone levels in a multi-ethnic population. Clin Chem Lab Med 2017; 55(11): 1777–1788. JIF: 3.432.
- Cai S et al. Maternal hyperglycemia in singleton pregnancies conceived by in vitro fertilization may be moderated by first trimester body mass index. Human Reproduction 2017; 32 (9), 1941-1947. JIF: 10.17.
- Tan KH, Tan SS, Ng MJ, Tey WS, Sim WK, Allen JC, Lim SK. Extracellular vesicles yield predictive pre-eclampsia biomarkers. J Extracell Vesicles. 2017 Dec 13;6(1):1408390.
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Research Trials
- Integrated Platform for Research in Advancing Metabolic Health Outcomes in Women and Children (IPRAMHO), National Medical Research Council (NMRC), 2017.
- The Balaji Sadasivan Endowment - GDM (Gestational Diabetes Mellitus) Care Programme Grant, Temasek Foundation Cares, 2016.
- Multicenter, prospective, double-blind and non-interventional trial evaluating the short-term prediction of PE, eclampsia and HELLP syndrome in pregnant women with suspected PE. PROGNOSIS ASIA, 2015.
- Singapore Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) Therapeutic and Diagnostic Exosomes Development Group Grant - ETPL Gap Fund (Prognostic) A* STAR, 2013.
- Novel Inflammatory Biomarkers for prediction of Preterm Birth & Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes. Discovery of microvesicles/ exosomes associated novel biomarkers in serum of neonates with late-onset sepsis and NEC, National Medical Research Council (NMRC), 2013.
- Investigating serum exosomes as a source of biomarkers to prospectively stratify pregnant women at risk, National Medical Research Council (NMRC), 2011.
- Neonatal & Obstetrics Risk Assessment (NORA) - Improving Adverse Outcomes of Pregnancy, National Medical Research Council (NMRC), 2011.
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