Dr Cheng’s research work involve in a variety of epidemiological and clinical research related to age-related ocular diseases, such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, as well as identification of susceptibility genes for ocular diseases, using both genome-wide association approaches and next-generation sequencing. As Director of the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases (SEED) program, Dr Cheng and his team have built up one of the largest epidemiological databases (n >10,000) for eye diseases in the world. The achievements of the SEED program have become visible via both a number of high-impact publications in the prestigious journals and the surging amount of new knowledge in prevention of blindness. The data have also been used widely by leading international agencies. In addition to Singapore-based projects, he actively participates in several international consortiums and co-leads several large-scale meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies. He has published more than 300 scientific papers, included those in Nature Genetics, Lancet Global Health, and JAMA. Dr Cheng’s honors include the prestigious Clinician Scientist Awards from the Ministry of Health Singapore in 2013 and 2017, and the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) Achievement Award and Outstanding Service in Prevention of Blindness Award, and American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Achievement Award.

Terms of Appointment: Mar 2018 – Mar 2020