Dr Johnny Ong is a Senior Consultant in the Department of Sarcoma, Peritoneal and Rare Tumours (SPRinT), Division of Surgery and Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore. He is also the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Applied Human Genetics, NCCS.
Dr Ong is currently one of the only formally trained surgeons for sarcoma in Singapore. He was awarded the Health Manpower Development Plan (HMDP) Fellowship in 2018 to train at one of the largest soft tissue sarcoma units in Europe at the Royal Marsden Hospital, UK. Dr Ong also underwent a clinical observership at the renowned Sarcoma Unit in the Instituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan. He is one of the key opinion leaders in the field of sarcoma and seeks to advance the care of sarcoma in Singapore and Asia Pacific. Dr Ong was also trained in the advanced management of melanomas at the Royal Marsden Hospital, UK. Additionally, he has worked extensively in the Surgical Oncology unit in SGH/NCCS in the treatment for peritoneal disease. He is an EXCO member of the Asian Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Group (APSMG), an international consortium of regional medical centres which aims to increase awareness and improve standards of management for peritoneal malignancies in Asia.
Dr Ong graduated from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in 2004 and obtained his MRCS (Edin) in 2008 and FRCS (Edin) in 2016. He had won multiple awards since his medical school years, including Dean's List and Best Registrar Award. Spurred on by his interest in scientific research, Dr Ong pursued a PhD in the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge, UK, from 2009 to 2013, which was funded by the NRF-MOH research scholarship.
Dr Ong is the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Applied Human Genetics in NCCS which aims to uncover novel therapeutics for the treatment of peritoneal disease. His PhD experience in Cambridge coupled with his clinical background have provided him a firm understanding of the pathogenesis of peritoneal disease. Dr Ong was awarded the NMRC Transition Award in 2017 and NMRC Clinician Scientist-Individual Research Grant in 2021 and continues to strive towards his goal as a surgeon-scientist, setting his sights on battling peritoneal disease by identifying novel mutations and biomarkers that could serve as diagnostic or prognostic markers of disease as well as to identify novel therapeutic strategies.
Apart from his clinical and research involvement, Dr Ong is passionate about medical education and mentoring medical students, junior doctors, and young aspiring clinician-scientists. Since 2013, Dr Ong has assisted with the training of regional doctors to improve health care in South-East Asia on endoscopy, clinical algorithm and surgery. He is a clinical tutor in all three medical schools in Singapore and is also an examiner in the Final Professional MBBS Examinations in Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. Additionally, Dr Ong has served as a mentor and co-mentor to numerous Duke-NUS students for their 3rd Yearly Scholarly Development Programme. He is an inspiration to many young aspiring doctors as evident by the multiple Teaching and Special Recognition Awards received. His students speak fondly of his passion in nurturing the next generation, ensuring that the upcoming doctors are competent and always maintaining the patients as their first priority. Dr Ong is happy to receive any queries from students and medical doctors who are interested in clinical attachments or joining the laboratory at any time.