S. Tiong Ong, MA, MBBCh
Photo: S. Tiong Ong

Interests/specialties:

Resources:

Elected 2014
Dr. S. Tiong Ong is a hematologist/oncologist whose research is focused on overcoming drug resistance in cancer targeted therapies. Dr. Ong’s work has provided mechanistic insights into factors which mediate drug resistance in cancers such as chronic myeloid leukemia and EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancers. Specifically, his group has identified germline variants that contribute to intrinsic drug resistance, described microenvironmental factors, including physiologic hypoxia, as important contributors to cancer stem cell maintenance, and delineated drugable factors which may permit the specific targeting of cancer stem cells. Notably, several of the observations and discoveries made by his group have been and continue to be translated into clinical trials for patients with drug-resistant cancers. Dr. Ong completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Cambridge, and trained in hematology/oncology at the University of Chicago. A native of Singapore, Dr. Ong returned home in 2007, and formed part of the pioneer faculty cohort at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in that country.