Associate Professor Khoo Hoon Eng received her BA in Biochemistry at Smith College, PhD at St Mary’s Medical School, London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education at the University of Dundee. She taught at the Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia for 10 years before joining the Faculty of Medicine (now Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine) at NUS in 1988. Between 1997 and 2003, she was Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Medicine.
During a leave of absence from NUS, she worked for three years (2007-2010) as the Provost and Acting Vice-Chancellor of a new liberal arts institution – the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh. She joined Yale-NUS College in October 2011 as Director in the Office of the Executive Vice President (Academic Affairs), before moving on to her appointment as Director of Special Projects in the Office of the President, with responsibilities in faculty hiring, campus design and curriculum planning.
Education[]
- 2003 Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education, University of Dundee, UK
- 1976 PhD, St. Mary’s Medical School, University of London, UK
- 1973 BA (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi,) in Biochemistry, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA.
Employment[]
- 2011-present Yale-NUS College, National University of Singapore
- 2008-2010 Professor, Provost and Acting Vice-Chancellor, Asian University for Women, Bangladesh
- 2007-2008 Vice-President for Academic Planning, Asian University for Women Support Foundation, Boston, U.S.A.
- 1988-present Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (tenured); on leave of absence 2007-2010
- 1976-1987 Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia (tenured)
Professional leadership[]
- 2008-2011 Member, Education Committee, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB): reviewing Standards for undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- 2006-2011 Chairman, Education Section, Executive Council, Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists (FAOBMB)
- 1995-2004 President, Singapore Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- 1999-2005 Secretary-General, Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists
- 1996-2005 Council Member, Singapore National Academy of Science
Academic leadership and positions of responsibility[]
- 2015-present Associate Dean of Faculty, Yale-NUS College, NUS
- 2014-2015 Acting Director, Division of Science, Yale-NUS College, NUS
- 2012-2015 Director for Special Projects, Office of President, Yale-NUS College, NUS
- 2011-2012 Director, Office of Executive Vice-President (Academic Affairs), Yale-NUS College, NUS
- 2010-2011 Deputy Director, International Relations Office, NUS
- 2008-2010 Provost and Acting Vice-Chancellor, Asian University for Women
- 2007-2008 Vice-President for Academic Planning, Asian University for Women Support Foundation
- 2005-2007 Deputy Head, Medical Education Unit, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- 2000-2001 Chairman, Postgraduate Bioengineering Committee
- 1997-2003 Vice-Dean, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- 1999-2003 Director, Centre for IT, Faculty of Medicine 1999-2003
- 1997-2003 Chairman, Graduate Programme Committee, Faculty of Medicine
- 1998-1999 Chairman, Committee for BSc (Biomedical Science) course, Faculty of Science
- 1990-1997 Department committees: curriculum development for medical and Science students, postgraduate student screening
- 1990-1997 Coordinator - Science Year 2 courses
- 1997- 1998 Member, Working Committee, Bioscience Centre
Organising Committees of international conferences[]
- 2006 Chairman, 3rd APMEC
- 2005 Member, 1st SMEC (Student Medical Education Conference)
- 2004 Member, 2nd APMEC
- 2003 Member, 1st APMEC (Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference)
- 2002 Member, 1st ASEAN PBL in Health Sciences Conference
- 1995 Secretary, 3rd IUBMB (International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Conference Curriculum committees (during tenure as vice-dean)[]
- 1998-2002 Chaired various committees to establish Master’s programs in Clinical Science, Bioinformatics, Bioengineering and joint degrees with external institutions
- 1997-98 Chaired committee to review and establish new post-graduate program (MSc and PhD) in Faculty of Medicine
- 1997 Chaired committee to establish undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science which commenced in July 1998
Development of education[]
- 2013 Chairman, Taskforce on Global Health and Leadership curriculum, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
- 2007-2010 Vice-President for Academic Planning, Provost and Acting ViceChancellor, Asian University for Women
- 2005-07 Associate Director, Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning, National University of Singapore
- 2005-2012 Deputy Head, Medical Education Unit, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- 2004-2012 Member, Education Task Force, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- 2004-2011 Member, Committee on Admissions, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- 1999-2005 Associate, Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning, National University of Singapore
- 1998 Consultant reviewer, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Committee on Education report - Standards for the PhD degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- 1997-07 PBL Committee, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore (conducted workshops for staff, students, case writers)
Faculty and professional development[]
- 2010 Facilitator, Harvard-Macy Medical International-NUS Physician Educator Programme, October 2004, 2005, 2010
- 1996-present Organised and ran workshops on pedagogy and Problem-based Learning (PBL) for NUS faculty and teaching assistants, high school teachers, army training personnel, nursing school faculty and clinical faculty in Singapore.
- 2004-05 Organised and ran workshops on pedagogy, PBL and assessment in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam for university faculty.
Teaching experience[]
- i. Medical, Dental and Science undergraduates:
a. Topics: Metabolism, Integration and Regulation of Metabolism
- ii. Science Year 4 (Honours):
Topics: Immunoassays, Cell signaling, Venoms and toxins
- iii. Supervision of research students:
Undergrad and Honours: 38; Graduate: MSc 7; PhD 14; Medical students : 13
- iv. Examination of postgraduate theses:
Chaired numerous postgraduate oral examinations Examined theses for PhD: 6; MSc: 7
- v. Translation (with others) into Malay :
Montgomery, R., Dryer, R.L., Conway, T.W. and Spector, A.A. (1983). Biochemistry A Case-Oriented Approach, C.V. Mosby Company, London. Translated as Biokimia Satu Pendekatan Kes, Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia. by Nik Nawal Nik Adeeb, Asmah Rahmat, Shaik Alaudeen, Ng Mee Lian, Khoo Hoon Eng, Ton So Har, Faridah Abdullah and Wan Zurinah Wan Ngah.
- vi. Visiting Professor: Airlangga University Medical School, Surabaya,
Indonesia (2005)
Teaching award[]
NUS Annual Excellent Teacher Award, 2004-2005
Civic experience[]
- 2009-2017 Board of Trustees, Smith College, USA
- 2006 Co-founder, SAFE (Supporting, Affirming and Empowering our LGBTQ family and friends), Singapore
- 2003-2007 Treasurer, Executive Committee of AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research), Singapore
- 2002-2005 Board of Directors, Alumnae Association of Smith College, USA
- 1988-2000 National Alumnae Admissions Coordinator for Asia, Smith College, USA
- 1981 Co-founder, All Women Action Society, Malaysia.
- Since 2006, she has given talks at many functions supporting LGBT individuals and allies.
Research experience[]
- Publications: >100 papers in international journals; 17 in local journals; >100 papers presented at conferences
- 2 books on Biotechnology, 3 books on Medical Education;
- Reviewer: Toxicon; Annals Academy of Medicine, Singapore; Medical Education Online; Biochimie; Singapore Medical Journal; FEBS Letters; Medical Education
- Editor: The Singapore Biochemist; Annals Academy of Medicine, Singapore
- Editorial Board:
International Journal of Biotechnology & Biochemistry; Malaysian Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Singapore Medical Journal
- Grant Reviewer:
National University of Singapore, Biomedical Research Council, National Medical Research Council, Defence Medical Research Institute
- Advisor: Imperial College Press and World Scientific
See also[]
References[]
- Profile of Hoon Eng Khoo, Yale-NUS College[1].
Acknowledgements[]
This article was written by Roy Tan.