Dr Chumpon Chantharakulpongsa

Dr Chumpon is Emeritus Consultant in the Department of Neurosurgery of the National Neuroscience Institute and Visiting Consultant at the National Cancer Centre. He was previously the National Neuroscience Institute’s Deputy Director (2004-2010) and Chief of Neurosurgery (2002-2004), and was the senior lead surgeon in the 97-hour operation in 2001 to separate the Nepalese craniopagus twins, Ganga and Jamuna Shrestha. He has subspecialty interests in complex skull base surgery, neuro-oncology, neurotrauma, and general neurosurgery.

He graduated from the University of Singapore in 1977, where he studied on an ASEAN Scholarship and was awarded the Singapore Medical Association Bronze Medal for distinction in anatomy. This was followed by postgraduate surgical training at the National University of Singapore on a Singapore Government Scholarship, during which he received the Howard Eddie Gold Medal for being the top candidate in the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) Part 1 examinations in 1980 and obtained Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) of the United Kingdom in 1981. In addition to neurosurgical training at Tan Tock Seng Hospital with Singapore neurosurgery pioneers Dr Tham Cheok Fai and Dr Gopal Baratham, he underwent advanced subspecialty training in microvascular and skull base neurosurgery at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, United Kingdom, under Dr Christopher Adams on a Singapore Government Healthcare Manpower Development Plan (HMDP) Award. He has been a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore (FAMS) from 1987.

Upon his return to Singapore, Dr Chumpon established the Department of Neurosurgery in Singapore General Hospital in 1989 with Dr Ho Kee Hang where he went on to become Head of Department (1997-2002) as well as Director of the Skull Base Surgery Programme and Cerebro-vascular Surgery Programmes (1992-2002). With his experience in multidisciplinary approaches to complex neurosurgical conditions, Dr Chumpon was the senior lead surgeon of a team of 16 specialists in the marathon 97-hour operation to separate the Nepalese craniopagus twins Ganga and Jamuna Shrestha in 2001. This operation was planned using the Dextroscope Virtual Reality workbench developed and validated in Singapore with National Science and Technology Board funding for which Dr Chumpon was principal investigator. The Dextroscope has since been commercialised, pioneering the use of virtual reality in surgical practice, training, and research. For putting Singapore medicine on the world map through his surgical leadership and excellence, Dr Chumpon was awarded the Singapore Totalisator Board Excellence for Singapore Award and the Singapore Medical Alumni Association Plaque in 2001. He was also awarded the National Day Award Long Service Medal (Pingat Bakti Setia) in 2011.

As Chairman of the Neurosurgical Chapter of the Singapore Academy of Medicine and the Specialist Training Committee for Neurosurgery (2004-2009), Dr Chumpon was instrumental in establishing an internationally-recognised specialty accreditation pathway in neurosurgery in Singapore with the United Kingdom Joint Royal Colleges of Surgeons in 2005. He was also a Council Member of the ASEAN Neurosurgical Society for more than 20 years. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the training and professional development of clinicians and clinician-scientists in Singapore, ASEAN, and the rest of Asia, Dr Chumpon was awarded the National Medical Excellence Award (NMEA) for Outstanding Clinician Mentor in 2017.

Dr Chumpon is fluent in English, Chinese (Mandarin, Teochew, Hokkien), Malay, and Thai.

• FAMS (Singapore), 1987
• FRCS (Edinburgh), 1981
• MBBS (Singapore), 1977

• Emeritus Consultant, Department of Neurosurgery, National Neuroscience institute (NNI@SGH)
  

• Visiting Consultant, National Cancer Centre, 1999 - Present

• Clinical Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore, 2002 - Present

• Inter-collegiate MRCS Panel of Examiners, 2006 - Present

PAST APPOINTMENTS

Education

• Clinical Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore, 2002 – 2009

Professional

• Board Member, Work Injury Compensation Medical Board, Ministry of Manpower 2006 -.
• Deputy Director (Clinical), National Neuroscience Institute. 2004 Feb – 2010,Jan
• Member, Senior Management Committee, National Neuroscience Institute, 2002 – 2010    
• Acting Deputy Director, National Neuroscience Institute. 2003 Sept – Jan 2004
• Acting Director, National Neuroscience Institute. 2003 Jan - Aug     
• Clinical Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore, 2002 – 2009
• Chief of Service (Neurosurgery), National Neuroscience Institute. 2002 – 2004     
• Head, Department of Neurosurgery, Singapore General Hospital. 1997 - 2002
• Director, Cerebro-vascular Surgery Programme, Department of Neurosurgery, Singapore General Hospital. 1992 – 2002
• Director, Skull Base Surgery Programme, Department Singapore General Hospital 1992 – 2002

OTHER PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Hospital

1. Alternate Chairman, Health Technology Assessment Committee, National Neuroscience Institute 2004 -.

2. Member, QA Committee National Neuroscience Institute, 2002.

3. Member, Advisory Panel for the Cancer Helpline, National Cancer Centre 1999.

4. Standing Advisory Committee, SGH-PGMI, 1997-2002.

5. Education and Medical Informatic Standing Committee, Division of Surgery, SGH 1998.

6. SGH QA Representative 1996 - 1997.

7. Committee Member - SGH ICU Subcommittee Member, 1992 - 1997.

8. Committee Member - SGH Trauma Committee 1992 – 1993

9. Committee Member - SGH Physician & Surgeons Remuneration Review Committee, 1991.

10. Committee Member - SGH Intensive Care Unit Committee Member 1990 - 1992.

National

1. Chairman, Chapter of Neurosurgeons, College of Surgeon, Singapore, 2004- 2009
   Together with Prof Low Cheng Hock, Master, Academy of Medicine, signed Memorandum of Understanding Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh to bring the conjoined examination for the Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (Neurosurgery) to Singapore in 2005.
2. Chairman, Specialist Training Committee (Neurosurgery), 2004 -2008.
3. Member, Specialist Training Committee for Neurosurgery, 1998 – 2004.
4. Advisory Committee on Neuroscience (Neurosurgery), Ministry of Health October 1999 – October 2003.
5. Neurosurgery Specialty Resource Committee, Academy of Medicine, 1 January 2003 – 31 December 2004.
6. Member, National Committee on Neuroscience, 31 January 1998 – 1 February 2002.
7. Committee Member, NNI Equipment Evaluation Committee 1998-2000.
8. Clinical Programme Coordinator in Skull Base Surgery, NNI 1998-2000.
9. Chairman, Subcommittee on Practical Guidelines on Skull Base Surgery Programme, NNI 1998-2000.
10. Chairman, Subcommittee on Practical Guidelines on Radiosurgery Programme, NNI 1998-2000.
11. Committee Member, Furnishing and Equipment Committee, National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) 1997-1998.
12. Secretary - ASEAN Neurosurgical Society, Singapore 2002.
13. Treasurer - ASEAN Neurosurgical Society, Singapore 1991.
14. Committee Member - Singapore Clinical Neuroscience Society, 1995 - 1996.
15. Member - Medical Alumni Association, Singapore.
16. Member - Singapore Medical Association, Singapore.
17. Reviewer, Annals, Academy of Medicine, Singapore.
18. Member - Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

Regional

1. Council Member, ASEAN Neurosurgical Society 2000-2011

2. Secretary-General & Treasurer - ASEAN Neurosurgical Society, 1990-92.

International

1. Examiner, Neurosurgery FRCS Conjoint Exit Examination, 2006 (Hong Kong) and 2010 (Singapore).

2. Examiner, Fellowship in Neurosurgery, National Academy of Medical Sciences Nepal, 2005 & 2008

3. Member, International Leksell - Gamma-Knife Society

4. Member, International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society.

5. Examiner, Inter-collegiate MRCS Panel of Examiners 2006 - 2009

• National Medical Excellence Award, Outstanding Clinician Mentor Award, 2017
• National Day Awards, Long Service Medal (Pingat Bakti Setia), 2011
• Excellence for Singapore Award 2001, Singapore Totalisator Board, 1 August 2001, in recognition of participation in the successful operation of the Nepalese Conjoined Twins
• Singapore Medical Alumni Association Plaque, 14 July 2001, in recognition of participation in the successful operation of the Nepalese Conjoined Twins
• Service with a Heart Award, April 2000
• 20 years employment SGH Long Service Award, 1998
• Singapore Government, HMDP Scholarship in Microvascular Neurosurgery at Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, 1986 - 1987
• Singapore Government Scholarship for post-graduate surgical training at National University of Singapore, 1980 - 1981
• Howard-Eddie Gold Medal for the top candidate in  F.R.A.C.S. Part I Examination, 1980
• ASEAN Scholarship for undergraduate medical training at National University of Singapore, 1972 - 1977
• Singapore Medical Association Bronze Medal, 1974

RESEARCH

• Luis Serra, Chumpon Chan, Wieslaw L Nowinski, The Development and Clinical Validation of a Virtual Reality Workbench for Neurosurgery Planning and Training, NSTB Research Fund. 1997-1999
• Prototype of Dextroscope used in Planning of Nepalese Siamese Twins Separation.
• Principal investigator for grants from Singapore National Science and Technology Board (NSTB) - The Development and Clinical Validation of a Virtual Reality Workbench for Neurosurgery Planning and Training*, NSTB Research Fund. 1993 -1999.

Paper published

R Kockro; L Serra; TT Yeo; C Chan; YY Sitoh; GG Chua; H Ng; E Lee; YH Lee; WL Norwinski: Planning and Simulation of Neurosurgery in a Virtual Reality Environment.  Neurosurgery, January 2000.

Commercial spin-off

Volume Interactions Pte. Ltd. (Later acquired by Braco S.p.A.)
Commercial company provided worldwide the access to dextroscope technology for training (including neurosurgeons from Stanford University Hospital & Clinics, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University Hospitals, Cornell University-NY Presbyterian Hospital)

PUBLICATIONS

• CHK Goh, DYK Chua, RLW Ho, C Chan: Esthesioneuroblastomas in an Asian population: Similarities and differences. Asian Journal of Surgery. 2012

• T Rajendra; J Thomas; A Hong; C Chan: Results of Surgical Treatment for Cerebral Metastases.  Journal of Clinical Neuroscience 2003.

• K  Kumar; J Thomas; C Chan: Cosmesis in Neurosurgery: Is the Bald Head Necessary to Avoid postoperative Infection? Annals Academy Medicine, S'pore (March 2002).

• Review of Carotid Endarterectomy at Singapore General Hospital. Dr Kumar, Dr KK Tang, Dr J Thomas, Dr Chumpon Chan, Singapore Medical Journal, December 2002.

• K Kumar; KK Tang; J Thomas; C Chumpon: Is Postoperative Deep Vein Thrombosis A Problem in Neurosurgical Patients with Brain Tumours in Singapore, Singapore Medical Journal, 2002.

• Teoh W, Goh KYC, Tung MYY, C Chan: The role of early tracheostomy in critically ill neurosurgical patients. Annals Academy of Medicine, Singapore 2001: 30(3): 234-238.

• Ong YK, Fong AMY, Goh KYC, Sethi DS, C Chan: Unusual catastrophic presentation of acute subdural empyema: case report. KK Hospital Review, March 2001. 4: 8-11 .

• Ong YK, Goh KYC, Chan C: Bifrontal decompressive craniectomy for acute subdural empyema. Child's Nervous System, 2002.

• R Kockro; L Serra; TT Yeo; C Chan; YY Sitoh; GG Chua; H Ng; E Lee; YH Lee; WL Norwinski: Planning and Simulation of Neurosurgery in a Virtual Reality Environment.  Neurosurgery, January 2000.

• Chia JKK, Goh KYC, C Chan: An unusual case of traumatic intracranial haemorrhage caused by wakeboarding. Pediatric Neurosurgery 2000; 32(6): 291-294.

• JI Ausman; YC Goh; C Chan: Is Decompressive Craniectomy for Acute Cerebral Infarction of Any Benefit?  Surgical Neurology 2000

• Chong KW, Rajendra T, Goh KYC, Tung MYY, J Thomas, A Hong, Chan C: Severe Head Injuries: Management and Outcome -The Singapore General Hospital Experience,

• Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine/Combined Hospitals Medical and Dental Scientific Meeting, Singapore Aug 2000. (Free Paper presentation).

• Lee RMK, Tung MYY, Goh KYC, Hong A, Thomas J, Chumpon Chan, Warfarin Coagulopathy in Intracranial Haemorrhage.  SGH Proceedings 1999.

• MYY Tung, Alvin Hong, Chumpon Chan.  Golf Buggy Related Head Injuries.  Singapore Medical Journal. 1999.

• Rajendra T, K Goh, A Hong, J Thomas, C Chan: Intracerebral Hematomas, surgical vs conservative treatment, Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore General Hospital May 1999 (Poster).

• DS Sethi, D Lau, Chumpon Chan; Isolated Partial Third Nerve Palsy.  An Unusual Presentation of Sphenoid Sinus Disease, Journal of Laryngology and Otology, Vol III, 471-473, May 1997.

• DS Sethi, Chumpon Chan, PK Pillay; Endoscopic Management of Cerebrospinal Fistulae and Traumatic Cephalocoele. Annals, Academy of Medicine, Vol 25 pp 724-727, 1996.

• Sethi DS; Stanley RE; Chumpon Chan; Endoscopic Repair of Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks: 5th Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore General Hospital.  March 8-9, 1994.

PROCEEDINGS OF MEETINGS/CONFERENCES/ABSTRACTS

• Chumpon Chan, Surgery for Craniopagus Twins, Bangkok General Hospital 5th Annual Scientific Meeting, Bangkok, 6-8 March 2005.
• Chumpon Chan, Surgical Management of Suprasellar Meningioma. Nepalese Society of Clinical Neurosicence British Neurosurgeons' Joint Scientific Meeting Kathmandu, Nepal, 27-28 February 2004.
• Chumpon Chan, Neurosurgical Challenges in Craniopagus Twins Separation. 10th ASEAN Congress of Neurological Surgery & 5th ASEAN Neurosurgical Nursing Congress, Singapore 12-15 December 2002.            
• Chumpon Chan, Craniopagus Operation.  Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand Meeting, Bangkok Thailand 18-19 Oct 2001.
• Chumpon Chan; Keith Goh: Surgical separation of Nepalese Craniopagus.  World Federation of Neurosurgery Meeting, Sydney, Australia. Sept 2001
• Chumpon Chan, Treatment of AVMs, 10th Ministry of Health – Mayo Clinic
  Foundation Update, Singapore, May 2001.

• Chumpon Chan, Craniofacial Resection for Anterior Skull Base Tumors, 9th ASEAN ORL Head and Neck Congress, Singapore, April 2001.

• Chumpon Chan, Tung MYY, Goh KYC.  Virtual Neurosurgery.  10th Annual Scientific Meeting. Singapore General Hospital, 22-24 April 1999. 

• Wong MC, Ng I, Lim E, Tan EK, Ang HL, Zhu CJ, Tan Y, Low HY, Li YB, Zhao Y, Vanaja M, Deng BK, Tan A, J Thomas, MYY Tung, Chen C.  Applying Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience to Clinical Practice.  10th Annual Scientific Meeting. Singapore General Hospital, 22-24 April1999

• J Thomas, Chumpon Chan, Cosmesis in Neurosurgery: Is the Bald Head Necessary to Avoid Post-operative Infection? 10th Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore General Hospital April 22-24, 1999.

• J Thomas, Chumpon Chan, A Hong, Emergency Ventriculostomy in the Neurosurgical ICU. 10th Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore General Hospital April 22-24, 1999.

• J Thomas, Chumpon Chan, A Hong, Minimally Invasive Stereotactic Brain Biopsy: the Results of the first 15 cases Using a Twist Drill. 10th Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore General Hospital April 22-24, 1999.

• Ralf A Kockro, Luis Serra, Chumpon Chan, Yeo Tseng-Tsai, Sitoh Yih-Yian, Chua Gim-Guan, Ng Hern, Eugene Lee, B.Sc., Lee Yen-Hoe M.Sc., Wieslaw Norwinski, Ph.D.: Virtual Intracranial Visualization and Navigation (VIVIAN): Planning and Simulation of Skull Base Tumor Surgery in a 3D Virtual Reality Environment, AANS, New Orleans, USA, April 1999.

• Lee MK, Tung MYY, Goh KYC, Hong A, Thomas J, Chumpon Chan, Intracranial Haemorrhage Complicating Warfarin Therapy.  10th Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore General Hospital, 22-24 April 1999, Singapore.

• Rajendra T, Goh KYC, Hong A, Tung MYY, Thomas J, Chumpon Chan, Chen C.  Spontaneous Intracerebral Haematomas: Patients Requiring Surgery vs Patients Requiring Medical Management.  10th Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore General Hospital, 22-24 April 1999, Singapore.

• Koh MSY, Goh KYC, Hong A, Tung MYY, Thomas J, Chumpon Chan.  Decompressive Craniectomy for Acute Cerebral Ischaemia.  10th Annual Scientific Meeting, Clinical Neuroscience Society, 6 March 1999, Singapore.

• Luis Serra, Ng Hern, Chua Gim Guan, Eugene Lee, Yen H. Lee, Yeo Tseng Tsai, Chumpon Chan, and Ralf A Kockro, An Interface for Precise and Comfortable 3D Work With Volumetric Medical Datasets, In Proc. Medicine Meets Virtual Reality: 7, January 20-23, 1999 – San Francisco.

• Ralf A Kockro, Luis Serra, Chumpon Chan, Yeo Tseng-Tsai, Sitoh Yih-Yian, Chua Gim-Guan, Ng Hern, Eugene Lee, Lee Yen-Hoe, Wieslaw Norwinski, Planning of Skull Base Surgery in The Virtual Workbench: Clinical Experiences, In Proc. Medicine Meets Virtual Reality: 7, January 20-23, 1999 – San Francisco.

• Chumpon Chan, Wang XS: Management of Anterior Circulation Aneurysm in Singapore.  Asean Congress of Neurological Surgery, Bangkok, Thailand, December 1998.

• Chumpon Chan, Wang XS: Management of Tubercullum Sellar Meningioma. Asean Congress of Neurological Surgery, Bangkok, Thailand, December 1998.

• Ralf A Kockro, M.D., Luis Serra, Ph.D., Yeo Tseng-Tsai, M.D., Chumpon Chan, M.D., Chua Gim-Guan B.Sc., Ng Hern, M.Sc. Eugene Lee, B.Sc., Lee Yen-Hoe M.Sc., Wieslaw Norwinski, Ph.D.: The KRDL Virtual Workbench: A Virtual Reality Environment for Visualization, Planning and Simulation in Neurosurgery.  ASEAN Congress of Neurosurgery, Bangkok, Thailand, December 1998.

• Serra L., Kockro R.A., Chua GG, Ng H, Lee CK, Lee YH, Goradia TM, Norwinski WL and Chumpon Chan, Multimodal Volume-based Tumor Neurosurgery Planning in the Virtual Workbench, First International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA, USA, October 11-13, 1998.

• Chua GG, Serra L, Kockro RA, Ng H, Norwinski WL, Chumpon Chan, Pillay PK, Volume-Based Tumor Neurosurgery Planning in the Virtual Workbench, Proc. IEEE VRAIS 98, Atlanta, USA, pp. 167-173.

• Chumpon Chan, Tung MYY, Hospital Wide Monthly Clinical Meeting.  Singapore General Hospital,11 July 1998.  Brain Surgery Without the Brain.

• Kockro RA, Serra L, Chua GG, Ng H, Lee CM, Norwinski WL, Chumpon Chan and Pillay PK, (1997) Interactive Three-dimensional Planning of Brain Tumor Surgery on the Virtual Workbench, in Proc. Computer Integrated Surgery 97, Linz, Austria, S12-067.

• Chumpon Chan, Advances in Management of Head Injury.  Presented at Singapore General Hospital, Annual Scientific Meeting 1996.

• Chumpon Chan, Peter Hwang, 5 Years Result of Cerebral Aneurysm Surgery in Singapore General Hospital.  Presented at Singapore Clinical Neuroscience Society Meeting in March 1995.

• Chumpon Chan, Management of Cerebral Aneurysm.  Presented at SGH-Royal Melbourne Hospital Update, February 1995.

• Chumpon Chan, Management of Head Injury in Singapore General Hospital.  Presented at Head & Spinal Injury Seminar, February 1993.

• Chumpon Chan, Management of Skull Base Tumour.  Presented at Opening Ceremony of Department of Neurosurgery, Singapore General Hospital 1990.

• Chumpon Chan: Arterial Bypass for Cerebral Ischaemia.  Presented at Singapore-Malaysian Congress of Medicine 1984.