The objectives of the SEED programme is to provide novel knowledge in the population eye health to enable dissecting, detecting and preventing the most important eye diseases in both our children and ageing populations in Singapore and Asia, and also to promote and improve global eye health.

Our Vision

A world-leading research programme focusing specifically on the epidemiology and impact of eye diseases in Asia

Provide a one-stop "data portal" and information source on epidemiology of Asian eye diseases
Cover an entire spectrum of prevalence, incidence, risk factors and impact of Asian eye diseases in 3 major racial/ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays, Indians)

Specific Aims

To document the prevalence, incidence, risk factors and public health significance of blinding　eye diseases in Singapore and Asia through the conduct of large scale epidemiological studies
To foster international collaborations with other public health and ophthalmic institutes in Asia and worldwide
To provide research expertise, training and consultation to other researchers and ophthalmic institutions in Singapore and Asia

Research Areas

The SEED Programme brings together innovative and cutting-edge epidemiological research for a focus and theme-oriented strategy, with multi-disciplinary expertise in all aspects of clinical and epidemiological research. Our group has developed upon the following major focus areas:

Basic & Advanced Epidemiology
Genetic & Molecular Epidemiology
Infrastructure of Population Health

Programme Highlights

Does Genetic Variation in the CFH region of Age-Related Macular Degeneration patients allow Bacteria to trigger the Disease?
PI: Prof Wong Tien Yin

Funded by BMRC: S$1,131,659
Retinal Imaging for Disease Prediction: From Bench to Bedside
PI: Prof Wong Tien Yin

Funded by NMRC: S$5,500,000
The Singapore Malay Eye Study 2 (SiMES-2) - Prospective cohort study of 6-year incidence, risk factors, and impact of major Asian Eye Diseases
PI: Prof Wong Tien Yin

Funded by NMRC: S$1,472,642
Diabetic Retinopathy: Novel Methods in Detection, Pathogenesis, and Treatment
PI: Prof Wong Tien Yin

Funded by BMRC: S$1,728,000
Angle Closure Glaucoma: Novel methods for Imaging, Risk Assessent and Screening
PI: Prof Wong Tien Yin

Funded by BMRC: S$639,933
Iris and Choroidal Characteristics in Asian Eyes: Elucidating the Mechanism of Primary Angle Closure Glaucoma
PI: Dr Cheng Ching-Yu

Funded by NMRC: $192,936
Automatic Glaucoma Screening through Cup-to-Disc Ratio (CDR) Measurement
PI: Dr Cheng Ching-Yu

Funded by A*Star: $1,000,190
Singapore Age-related macular degeneration Genetic Architecture (SAGA) Study: from Population Genomics to Personalized Medicine
PI: Dr Cheng Ching-Yu

Funded by NMRC: $674,897
Singapore Retinal Image Archival and Analysis Network (SiRIAN) for Disease Prediction
Network Director: Prof Wong Tien Yin

PIs: Dr Lim Joo Hwee, A/Prof Tai E Shyong, A/Prof Wynne Hsu, A/Prof Lee Mong Li

Funded by SBIC: S$987,850, NMRC: S$505,787

Collaborations

Through the large-scale epidemiological studies involving thousands of participants, the SEED programme collaborates with leading researchers from Asia, Australia, Europe, USA, and also with national institutions and hospitals.

National Collaborators:

Singapore National Eye Centre, National University Hospital, National University of Singapore, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR), Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR), Health Promotion Board, Ministry of Health, National Cancer Centre Singapore, National Heart Centre, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore Polytechnic, SingHealth, Alexandra Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital

International Collaborators:

Centre for Eye Research (Australia), University of Melbourne (Australia), Duke University (US), Johns Hopkins University (US), Moorfields Eye Hospital (UK), Kyoto University (Japan), Seoul University (Korea), The University of Sydney (Australia), University of Wisconsin-Madison (US), Zhong Shan Ophthalmic Centre (China), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)