Dr Lee Shu Yen is a senior consultant ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon at Advanced Eye Clinic and Surgery. She previously served as the Head of the Surgical Retina department at the Singapore National Eye Centre, leading the team that provided the majority of surgical retina coverage in Singapore.

Dr Lee Shu Yen led an illustrious career in SNEC before bringing this wealth of experience with her to private practice. She was appointed Clinical Associate Professor with the Duke NUS Graduate Medical School for her key role in setting up the ophthalmology programme for the medical school. Her strong interest in nurturing the next generation of ophthalmologist led her to serve as a core faculty member for the SNEC Residency Program and also was actively involved in the teaching of local as well as international fellows in the Surgical Retina programme. Dr Lee has been frequently invited to participate at local, regional as well as international ophthalmology and Retinal conferences, to speak on topics ranging from retinal disease management, imaging and surgical techniques. She was the first lady ophthalmologist  who served as the President of the Singapore Society of Ophthalmology (SSO) for 10 years and was also Vice

Dr Lee is active in retina research with publications in the fields of retinal complications of pathologic myopia, retinal detachments, giant retinal tears, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macula degeneration (AMD) as well as in gene therapy. She also chaired the SNEC Research and Innovation Committee which provided pilot grant funding at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI).

As the Clinical Director of the Retina Clinic and the Diabetes and Metabolism Centre, Singapore General Hospital, she coordinated the setup of a one stop centre to manage the eye complications of diabetes and other metabolic diseases, namely diabetic retinopathy. She then took on the role as the first Director of Operating Theaters and Inpatient Services at SNEC, managing the operational workflow of more than 10 operating theaters at SNEC and its branches.

Dr Lee has also actively participated in volunteer work and philanthropy. Community eye health screenings were conducted via the SSO, as well as overseas mission trips. She helped in the creation of the Eyeball, a fundraiser to support Research in visual sciences as well as to support needy patients and SNEC and SERI. She also chaired the Singhealth-Duke NUS gala, a successful regular philanthropic event to raise funds to support the works at the various Academic Centres at SingHealth.

Academic Qualifications

MBBS, FRCSEd(Ophth), FAMS

Dr Lee Shu Yen graduated from the National University of Singapore and completed her training in ophthalmology at the Singapore National Eye Centre. She then underwent fellowship training in Surgical and Medical retina at SNEC as well as at the Lions Eye Institute, Perth, Western Australia.

Clinical Expertise

Dr Lee Shu Yen is a fellowship trained vitreoretinal specialist. In surgical retina, she has a special interest in retinal detachment surgery, retinal complications of high myopia (eg. Myopic traction maculopathy, myopic macula holes and detachments), tractional diabetic retinopathy, and macula surgeries (eg. Macula holes, epiretinal membranes, vitreomacular traction). With regard to medical retina, she manages retinal vascular disorders, age related macula degeneration (eg choroidal neovascularisation, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy) amongst other conditions.

She also has an interest in ophthalmic imaging, particularly wide field angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA).

Dr Lee is also a skilled cataract surgeon who is comfortable with the various types of intraocular lens corrections to help patients achieve their desired visual outcomes. She has skills and experience in managing complex cataract issues, including sclera fix IOLs and post cataract surgery complications.