Dr. Nikolle TAN

Dr Tan graduated from the National University of Singapore with the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1997. In 2002, she obtained the degree of Master of Medicine (Ophthalmology) from the National University of Singapore and was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2005. In the same year, she was also made a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine of Singapore.

She was Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist at the National Healthcare Group Eye Institute / Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where she was also Head of the Vitreo-Retina Service and Head of Eye Diagnostic Services until 2014. She currently continues to hold the position of a Visiting Consultant ophthalmologist there, and is also Adjunct Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology.

Dr Tan is fellowship-trained in both the Surgical and Medical Vitreo-Retina subspecialties. After completing her residency training in Singapore, she underwent a rigorous selection process and was admitted to the prestigious Vitreo-Retina fellowship programme at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Infirmary in Melbourne, Australia. In addition, she has also undergone fellowship training at the Harvard Medical School & Schepens Eye Research Institute in Massachusetts, USA. Dr Tan’s expertise covers a wide spectrum of eye conditions including routine & complex cataracts, glaucoma, ocular inflammation and infections, ocular trauma, myopia-related eye conditions, etc. She is highly experienced in treating complicated cataracts which often require a combination of complex surgical techniques.

Her area of special interest is in the surgical treatment of disorders like retinal detachments, diabetic retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhages and other complex vitreoretinal diseases. She is very familiar with the use of the new small-incision sutureless surgery technique for the treatment of these conditions, and was one of the first surgeons in the region to use this technique.

Her area of special expertise also includes cutting edge medical therapies e.g. the use of different forms of laser therapies, as well as intravitreal Lucentis, Eylea or Ozurdex for the treatment of degenerative eye diseases like age related macular degeneration & polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, diabetic macular edema, choroidal neovascularization from high myopia, and macular edema from retinal vascular occlusions.

Dr Tan is a key opinion leader in the field of medical and surgical Vitreo-Retina, and sat on several medical advisory boards for novel therapies and formulation of new treatment recommendations using Lucentis, Eylea, Photodynamic therapy and Jetrea.

She has participated as principal investigator in numerous international clinical trials for developing new treatments for Vitreo-Retinal disorders. Until 2013, she was also the Head of the National Healthcare Group Eye Institute Fundus Image Reading Centre, which specializes in advanced imaging of complex Vitreo-Retinal disorders and their interpretation for global clinical trials.

Dr Tan conducts lectures and teaching courses regularly in local and international meetings, and has trained many junior surgeons locally and regionally. She is also an advocate of volunteerism, and has done many charity eye care projects in Singapore as well as numerous cataract camps in Nepal, Bangladesh and China since 2004.