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Novena ENT- Head & Neck Surgery Specialist Centre

about us

Adj Assoc Prof Dr Low Wong Kein

Senior Consultant Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Surgeon
Sub-specialty in Otology & Neurotology (Ear Disorders)

MBBS (S’pore), PhD (S’pore)
FRCSG, FRCSEd, DLORCSEng, FAMS (ORL)
GradDip (Acupuncture)

Adj Assoc Prof Dr Low Wong Kein Christopher is currently Adjunct Associate Professor at the NUS-Duke Graduate Medical School. After his basic medical degree at NUS, he completed his Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) specialist medical training in Singapore and in England in 1995. He went on to Australia for advanced training in treating ear conditions like hearing loss, vertigo (giddiness), tinnitus (noise in ear), ear infections and tumors. He was subsequently conferred a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in ENT by NUS. His interest in the role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in modern ENT practice also led him to a post-graduate Diploma in Acupuncture in 2007.

He was previously Head of the ENT Department at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). He also served as Director of SGH’s Centre for Hearing and Ear Implants as well as its Hearing Research Laboratory. He has been a Visiting Specialist to the KK Children’s and Women’s Hospital treating children with ENT conditions. He was also a medical board member of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. He played a major role in setting up a national cochlear implant program and in establishing a universal newborn hearing screening program in Singapore in 2001.

Although he has a sub-specialty interest in treating any ear and ear-related conditions, he currently also treats both adults and children with general ENT conditions. He has performed several surgeries for these general conditions, particularly those concerning the nose, sinus and tonsil as well as for snoring. In providing patient care, he was accorded the SGH “Service with a Heart Award” (2008 & 2009) and SingHealth’s “Service Quality Award” (Gold) for 2009-10

A nominee for National Outstanding Clinician in the inaugural National Medical Excellence Award in 2008, he has great interest in research especially those that can potentially improve treatment outcomes. He has authored more than 80 publications in local and international journals/books, including those concerning hearing, vertigo, tinnitus, nose cancer, blocked nose, snoring, neck lumps and the tonsil.

He has made very significant contributions in the training and education of ENT doctors. Locally, he has served as Chairman of Singapore’s Specialist Training Committee in ENT, Director of Singhealth’s ENT Residency Program and President of the Singapore Otorhinolaryngology Society. Internationally, he was President and a founding member of the ASEAN Academy of Neuro-otology and Audiology. He is currently an Editorial Board Member of the American-based international journal Otology & Neuro-otology as well as a Board Member of Asia-Pacific Symposium for Cochlear Implant and Related Sciences.

For volunteerism, he was accorded a Long Service Award in 2012 by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). Besides being a Past President of the Singapore Association for the Deaf, he has visited countries like China and Indonesia to help needy patients. His volunteer work in China was featured in MediaCorp’s Chinese television series “Find Me a Singaporean”.

  • Supporting Team Members

    Dr Stephanie Lim Chief Listening and Spoken Language Specialist

    Dr Lim is a Certified Listening and Spoken Language SpecialistTM (LSLS Cert AVT) with a Doctorate in Education from the University of Western Australia. She has extensive experience in early intervention work with the hearing impaired and a special interest in developing teaching and learning strategies for the young child. Prior to joining our centre, Dr Lim was the Principal Auditory-Verbal Therapist at Singapore General Hospital’s Centre for Hearing and Ear Implants.

    Ng Win NiePrincipal Audiologist

    Ms Ng is an Audiologist with a Masters in Clinical Audiology and Graduate Diploma in Audiological Science from the University of Melbourne. As a qualified Audiologist, she is experienced in handling various paediatric cases and is passionate about elderly hearing healthcare, which was her focus during her previous appointment as Senior Audiologist and Manager at the Centre for Hearing and Ear Implants in Singapore General Hospital. Ms Ng also believes in chartering the future of the Audiology profession by serving as a key member of the Society for Audiology Professionals (Singapore) and as a member of the International Society of Audiology.

    Andrew SimAudiologist

    Mr Sim is an Audiologist who holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Audiology from the University of Melbourne. Within our Centre, Mr Sim provides a range of audiological services including adult and pediatric diagnostic hearing assessment, vestibular assessment, hearing rehabilitation with hearing aids and cochlear implants as well as tinnitus counseling

    Priscilla PohSenior Audiometry Technician

    Ms Poh is an experienced audiometry technician with a Professional Certificate in Basic Industrial Audiometry by Temasek Polytechnic and a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science from the University of Western Australia. Before joining our centre, she spent six years in restructured hospital where she was involved in diagnostic audiological assessments and vestibular tests for the adult and geriatric population.

  • The Ear Health and Cochlear Implant Unit

    Who we are

    • Private medical specialist unit in Singapore which provides full ear health and cochlear implant services for adults and children
    • A team consisting of experienced Medical, Audiological & Rehabilitative Professionals to provide holistic care to children and adults with hearing and related ear disorders
    • Supported by modern facilities, equipment and staff of Novena ENT-Head & Neck Surgery Specialist Centre
    • Specializes in providing a range of diagnostic and treatment options to people with hearing loss, in particular those who may require cochlear implant

    Mission

    Optimizes ear health in children & adults in a holistic way consistent with international best practices

    Vision

    • Adopts evidence-based state-of-the-art best practices relating to the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss and related ear disorders
    • Provides holistic care from a medical, audiological, rehabilitative and psycho-social perspective
    • Embraces future medical advancements and technologies
    • Applies proven Integrative Medicine where relevant
  • Research

    A/Prof Low has done much research in the field of ENT, including those relating to ear disorders. Many of these yielded new findings which potentially can improve or lay the foundations for better treatment strategies that potentially can improve treatment outcomes. His research-related accomplishments include:

    1. A Young Surgeon’s award (1995) by the Academy of Medicine Singapore for his work on “Racial influence on the techniques of hearing preservation in acoustic neuroma surgery” (1995)
    2. The SGH Excellent Publication Award (2000)
    3. The Sir James Fraser Travelling Fellowship Award to the UK by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (2003)
    4. The Yahya Cohen Gold Medal Award by the Singapore College of Surgeons for Best Research Publication (2007)
    5. The Singhealth Hearing Research Fellowship Award at Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, USA (2008)
    6. More than 70 peer-reviewed publications in local/international journals/books. A sample of his publications is as follows:

    Low WK, See JY, Ng WN, Fong A, Chew SH. An unusual case of post-cochlear implant performance degradation in a patient with suspected Cogan's syndrome. Cochlear Implants International 2019;20:94-99.

    Low WK, Rangabashyam MS, Cui SL, Dsouza VD, Ong CS, Teng SW, Li HH. Is Electro-acupuncture treatment more effective in somatic tinnitus than in non-somatic Tinnitus? Medical Acupuncture. 2017;29:138-144.

    Low WK,. Acupuncture in the treatment of ear disorders. In: Deafness, Hearing Loss and the Auditory System. Eds: Derick Fiedler, Rowland Krause. Nova Science 2010, pp 373

    Low WK. Idiopathic sudden hearing loss: is there a role for complementary treatment? Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine. 2013;19:785-6

    Lee GJ, Lim MY, Kuan AY, Teo JH, Tan HG, Low WK. The music listening preferences and habits of youths in Singapore and its relation to leisure noise-induced hearing loss. Singapore Medical Journal 2014;55:72-7.

    Low WK, Goh YH. Uncommon otological manifestation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Journal of Otolaryngology and Otology 1999;113: 558-60.

    Low WK, Lim TA, Fan YF, Balakrishnan A. Pathogenesis of middle ear effusion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a new perspective. Journal of Laryngology and Otology 1997; 111:431-4.

    Low WK, Toh ST, Wee J, Fook-Chong SM, Wang DY Sensorineural hearing loss after radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy: a single, blinded, randomized study. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2006;24:1904-9

    Lim LHY, Goh YH, Chan YM, Chong V, Low WK. Carcinoma of the ear. Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery 2000; 122:882-6.

    Low WK. Endoscopic-assisted acoustic neuroma surgery with hearing preservation via retrosigmoid approach: a temporal bone study. Journal of Laryngology and Otology 1999; 113:973-7

    Low WK, Fenton JE, Fagan PA, Gibson WPR. Racial considerations in acoustic neuroma removal with hearing preservation via retrosigmoid approach. Acta Otolaryngologica (Stockholm). 1995; 115: 783-6.

    Low WK, Pang KY, Ho LY, Lim SB, Joseph R. Universal newborn hearing screening in Singapore: the need, implementation and challenges. Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore 2005;34:301-6

    Low WK. Practising Otology/Neuro-otology in Singapore. Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore 2005; 34:279-2

    The hearing-impaired person: tips for care-givers & school teachers. Ed-in-chief Low WK. Singhealth Academy 2011.

    Huang XY, Tay GS, Waisaicheong GKL, Low WK. Pre-auricular sinus: clinical course and associations. Archives of Otolaryngology Head Neck Surgery 2006; 133: 65-8

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