Hee-Kit Wong

Biosketch

Professor Wong Hee Kit is Emeritus Consultant at the University Spine Centre, National University Hospital, and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. He was the Head, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National University Hospital and the National University Health System (NUHS) from 2004 to 2015; Head of Spine Surgery from 1996 to 2015; and Chair of the University Orthopaedics, Hand & Reconstructive Microsurgery Cluster from 2008 to 2019.

Prof Wong's practice is exclusively in the sub-specialty of Spine Surgery, focusing on the management of spinal disorders. He has special interests in the surgical treatment of back pain, scoliosis in children and adults, and other forms of spinal deformity, with expertise in minimally invasive spine surgery as well as major reconstructive and revision spinal surgery. He is a pioneer of minimally invasive "keyhole" surgery and vertebral body tethering (VBT) for the treatment of juvenile and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Prof Wong's research interests are in the area of spinal nerve injury and repair, tissue engineering solutions for back pain, the epidemiology and treatment of adolescent and adult scoliosis. He is an active member of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS), North American Spine Society (NASS), and the Asia Pacific Spine Society (APSS). He is the founding President of the Singapore Spine Society, and has served as the President of ISASS and APSS. He serves on the Board of the Pacific Asian Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (PASMISS) and the Scoliosis Research Society. He peer-reviews for the journal SPINE, the Journal of Spinal Deformity, the Asian Spine Journal, the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, and the Journal of Orthopaedic Science.

In recognition of Prof Wong's exceptional contributions towards elevating the quality of healthcare delivery, he was awarded the Master Clinician Award by the National University Health System in 2011, National Outstanding Clinician Award by the Ministry of Health, Singapore in 2012, and was the inaugural recipient of the national accolade - Distinguished Senior Clinician Award by the Ministry of Health, Singapore in 2016. In 2020, he was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) by the President of Singapore and in 2021 he was conferred Emeritus Consultant by the National University Hospital, Singapore.

Qualifications

• M.B.B.S., University of Singapore, Singapore
• M.Med. (Surgery), National University of Singapore, Singapore
• F.R.C.S. (Glasglow), Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Glasgow, United Kingdom
• M.Ch.Orth. (Liv), University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
• F.A.M.S., Fellow of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore

Awards and Prizes

• National Medical Excellence Awards 2012: National Outstanding Clinician Award, Ministry of Health
• Master Clinician 2011, National University Health System
• Outstanding Oral Paper Award. Fusion performance of a bioresorbable cage used in a porcine model of anterior lumbar interbody fusion. S.A. Abbah, C.X.F. Lam , K. Yang J.C.H. Goh,, D.W. Hutmacher, H.K. Wong. The 13th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Singapore, 3-6 Dec 2008.
• Winner of N Balachandran Best Paper Award for the paper, ‘Fusion performance of a novel bioresorbable cage used in anterior lumbar interbody fusion’. S.A. Abbah, C.X.F. Lam , K. Yang J.C.H. Goh,, D.W. Hutmacher, H.K. Wong. 31st Annual Scientific Meeting of Singapore Orthopaedic Association, Singapore, 12-16 November 2008.
• Award winner for the Best Deformity Paper, Adolescent Undergoing Surgery for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS): Does Surgery and Surgical Technique Affect Patient Outcomes? At the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) Worldwide Meeting, New Delhi, India, October 2-4, 2008.

Research Areas of Interests

• Identification and validation of reference markers for neuropathic pain
• Biology and biomechanics of spinal fusion
• Bioresorbable scaffolds as bone graft substitutes in spinal reconstructive surgery
• Evaluation of carriers for stem cells and growth factors in spinal fusion
• Adolescent spinal deformity, adult and complex spinal deformity surgery
• Minimally invasive spinal surgery
• Genetic factors in curve progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Selected Research Projects

• Development of novel yolk shell nanoparticle based moldable putty for surgery
• Functionalization of bioresorbable poly-epsilon-caprolactone-20% tricalcium phosphate cage devices to enhance delivery of biological factors in interbody spine fusion
• Fabrication of growth factors eluting nano particles tubes from polymeric bioceramic composites for orthopaedic tissue engineering applications
• Genetic prognostication of curve progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in Asian School Children
• Control release of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein type 2 from heparin conjugated multilayered alginate microbeads to enhance new bone formation in spine fusion

Prof Wong Hee Kit's Selected Publications

• Polyelectrolyte Complex Carrier Enhances Therapeutic Efficiency and Safety Profile of BMP-2 in Porcine Lumbar Interbody Fusion Model.
• Spine (2015)
• Ming Wang , Sunny Akogwu Abbah , Tao Hu , Raymond Wing Moon Lam , Soo Yein Toh , Tong Liu , Simon Cool , Kishore Bhakoo , Jun Li , James Cho Hong Goh , Hee-Kit Wong
• Can There be a Place for Intraoperative Salvaged Blood in Spine Tumor Surgery?
• Annals of surgical oncology (2014)
• Naresh Kumar , Qasim Ahmed , Victor K M Lee , Yongsheng Chen , Aye Sandar Zaw , Raymond Goy , Rohit Vijay Agrawal , Aisha Naheed Dhewar , Hee Kit Wong
• Use of intraoperative cell-salvage for autologous blood transfusions in metastatic spine tumour surgery: a systematic review.
• The lancet oncology , Volume 15 , Issue 1 (2014)
• Naresh Kumar , Yongsheng Chen , Aye S Zaw , Deepti Nayak , Qasim Ahmed , Richie Soong , Hee K Wong
• Minimizing the severity of rhBMP-2 induced inflammation and heterotopic ossification with a polyelectrolyte carrier incorporating heparin on microbead templates.
• Spine (2013)
• Ming Wang , Sunny Akogwu Abbah , Tao Hu , Soo Yein Toh , Raymond Wing Moon Lam , James Goh , Hee-Kit Wong
• Affinity-selected heparan sulfate for bone repair.
• Biomaterials , Volume 34 , Issue 22 (2013)
• S Murali , B Rai , C Dombrowski , J L J Lee , Z X H Lim , D S Bramono , L Ling , T Bell , S Hinkley , S S Nathan , J H Hui , H K Wong , V Nurcombe , S M Cool
• Screening for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: an information statement by the scoliosis research society international task force.
• Scoliosis , Volume 8 , Issue 1 (2013)
• Hubert Labelle , Stephens B Richards , Marinus De Kleuver , Theodoros B Grivas , Keith D Luk , Hee Kit Wong , John Thometz , Marie Beauséjour , Isabelle Turgeon , Daniel Y Fong
• Silk Fibroin Based Complex Particles with Bioactive Encrustation for BMP-2 Delivery.
• Biomacromolecules (2013)
• Pujiang Shi , Sunny A Abbah , Kushagra Saran , Yong Zhang , Jun Li , Heekit Wong , James C H Goh
• Minimizing the severity of rhBMP-2-induced inflammation and heterotopic ossification with a polyelectrolyte carrier incorporating heparin on microbead templates.
• Spine , Volume 38 , Issue 17 (2013)
• Ming Wang , Sunny Akogwu Abbah , Tao Hu , Soo Yein Toh , Raymond Wing Moon Lam , James Choh-Hong Goh , Hee-Kit Wong
• Sequestration of rhBMP-2 into self-assembled polyelectrolyte complexes promotes anatomic localization of new bone in a porcine model of spinal reconstructive surgery.
• Tissue engineering. Part A (2013)
• Sunny Akogwu Abbah , Wing Moon Raymond Lam , Tao Hu , James Goh , Hee Kit Wong
• Blood loss in spinal tumour surgery and surgery for metastatic spinal disease: a meta-analysis.
• The bone & joint journal , Volume 95-B , Issue 5 (2013)
• Y Chen , B C Tai , D Nayak , N Kumar , K H Chua , J W Lim , R W L Goy , H K Wong