Young Systems Leader: Tan Ting Fang

Leveraging on her experience on the ground as an Ophthalmology resident, Ting Fang adds clinical perspective as a member of the Singhealth Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Health team. She works closely with AI scientists from the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and computing engineers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research

(A*STAR) Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) team, with a focus to explore and integrate digital technology into healthcare and Ophthalmology. Embracing opportunities to learn and improve, she completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professional Education Applied Data Science Program: Leveraging AI for Effective Decision-Making over 12 weeks to improve her data analytics skills. She has driven several projects including prediction of diabetic retinopathy progression from fundus photographs using deep learning AI models, patient education and triaging of eye complaints using large language models (LLMs).

Building on her experience during the SNEC-SERI Clinical Academic Fellowship Program, she has published in several peer-reviewed journals on global and clinical eye care. Notable topics included Metaverse and virtual healthcare in Ophthalmology, which was awarded the gold medal for the most cited article in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (Philadelphia) journal 2021-2023, as well as generative AI and LLMs in collaboration with members of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. She has been invited to speak at several international research conferences, including the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2024 Education Course and the 38th and 39th Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress, facilitating further discussions and collaborations with like-minded individuals internationally.

She also has a strong interest in global eye health. From her undergraduate years, she has been actively participating in community outreach, including community eye screenings, tutoring and befriending programs. Currently as part of the Singapore National Eye Center Global Eye Health (SNEC-GEH) committee, she is motivated to gain exposure and contribute to the initiatives in collaborating with regional and international partners to make eye care more accessible, through innovation and capacity building.