Panellists

Professor Kenneth Mak is Director-General of Health at the Ministry of Health Singapore.

In this role, Professor Mak is the principal medical adviser to the Singapore Government and provides professional input and guidance to other Ministries and public agencies on health and healthcare related issues.

Professor Mak oversees the provision of all health services in Singapore. Within the Ministry of Health, he ensures that clinical services are delivered seamless across multiple settings by the public healthcare system. He leads in developing and implementing national healthcare policies in areas such as population health, healthcare regulation, communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases, healthcare professional standards as well as the development and enhancement of the performance of the nation’s healthcare system and services. Professor Mak works closely with Singapore’s Regional Health Systems and healthcare institutions on care integration as well as on Singapore’s long-term healthcare transformation strategy.

In addition to his administrative roles within the Ministry of Health, Professor Mak chairs the Governing Board for the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA), which leads in the management of communicable disease outbreaks in Singapore and guides our national strategies to promote pandemic preparedness and resiliency. He also chairs the Governing Board for the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Singapore (CRIS) which supports biomedical research and innovation in Singapore as well as to facilitate the translation of basic research to clinically relevant treatments that may be adopted by healthcare institutions in Singapore.

Professor Mak is the Registrar of the Singapore Medical Council, which regulates the professional practice of medical practitioners and establishes standards for professional practice through its Ethical Code and Ethical Guide. He also chairs the Specialist Accreditation Board and the Family Physicians Accreditation Board, which oversee the training and accreditation of medical specialists and Family Physicians respectively in Singapore.

Professor Mak is a general surgeon with subspecialty interests in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, as well as in trauma surgery. He maintains his clinical practice as a Senior Consultant surgeon in the Department of Surgery, at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore. His previous administrative appointments include Chief of Surgery at three public hospitals in Singapore and Chairman of the Medical Board at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore. Professor Mak was Deputy Director of Medical Services (Health Services Group) in MOH from 2015 to end-2019. He was appointed Director of Medical Services in 2020 and this appointment was redesignated in May 2023 to Director-General of Health to better reflect his role as the main overseer of clinical and public health services in Singapore.

Professor Mak is a Clinical Professor of Surgery with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and an Adjunct Professor of Surgery with the Lee Kong Chian Medical School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He continues to play an active role in undergraduate and post-graduate medical education. Professor Mak also sits on the Governing Board of both the Lee Kong Chian Medical School and the Duke-NUS Medical School. He is a member of the Governing Board of the National University Health System.

Professor Mak retired from voluntary military service in 2021, as a Colonel with the Singapore Armed Forces. He had held various command and staff appointments at Battalion, Brigade and Division level.

Brian Wong is a Staff General Internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Toronto and Medical Education Lead, Choosing Wisely Canada. He also holds the Mr. Mak Pak Chiu and Mrs. Mak-Soo Lai Hing Chair, Division of General Internal Medicine and serves as the Departmental Division Director of General Internal Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr Fereen Liew is a Public Service leader in Singapore, currently serving as Executive Director of Agency for Care Effectiveness and Deputy Director-General of Health (Appropriate & Value-based Care) at the Ministry of Health since June 2025. With a robust background in healthcare and public policy, Dr Liew has established herself as a strategic thinker and collaborative leader, driving impactful policies across multiple sectors.

Prior to her current role, Dr Liew was the Divisional Director of the Income Security Policy Division at the Ministry of Manpower, where she spearheaded initiatives to enhance Singaporeans’ financial security and retirement planning. In this capacity, she worked closely with agencies such as the Central Provident Fund Board, the Housing and Development Board, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to develop and implement policies that promote financial well-being and enable Singaporeans to have a secure retirement.

Throughout her Public Sector career, she has held various policy roles in Strategy Group, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as Ministry of Health. As a Public Health Specialist and medical doctor, she had also been Director (Community Operations) at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and practised in several clinical institutions in her early career.

She holds the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree (Dean’s List), Graduate Diploma of Family Medicine from National University of Singapore, Master of Public Health from Harvard University and Master of Business Administration from Nanyang Business School.

Adjunct Professor Chin Jing Jih is the Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer (Clinical and Academic Development) of NHG Health, where he leads strategic efforts to develop and advance clinical care, research, and education. In his leadership role, Professor Chin steers NHG’s strategic initiatives to enhance delivery of appropriate and value-based care, ensuring sustainable models of care, including improving patient access to care across NHG’s care ecosystem. He plays a key role in building the Group’s research and education infrastructure and shaping its academic culture. He is still in active clinical practice as Senior Consultant in Geriatrics Medicine at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

A/Prof Ruban Poopalalingam is the Group Chairman Medical Board (SingHealth), providing strategic clinical leadership and governance across the healthcare cluster. In this role, he oversees the delivery of safe, high-quality, and patient-centred care, while shaping policies and frameworks that strengthen clinical excellence and integration, system sustainability and enhancing both patient and staff experience. He co-chairs the SingHealth Value Council and is member of SingHealth Care Transformation Council, advancing value-based care and appropriate care through Choosing Wisely and implementation of PROMS.

A/Prof Dan Yock Young is the Deputy Chief Executive of National University Health System (NUHS) as well as Chief Executive Officer of Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) and Jurong Community Hospital (JCH).

He joined NTFGH and JCH after completing a stint as Deputy Director-General of Health at the Ministry of Health, a post he assumed in 2020.

Dana Gelb Safran, Sc.D. is an internationally recognized healthcare executive with a unique blend of accomplishment in business, policy and academia. A central feature of her work has been combining the science of quality measurement with the art of its use to drive improved outcomes and affordability. Most recently, Dr. Safran served as President & CEO of the National Quality Forum, and Chief Scientific Officer of the Joint Commission. Dr. Safran served for more than a decade as a senior executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, where she was a lead architect of the Alternative Quality Contract (AQC), which is widely credited with having catalyzed the value-based payment movement. Dr. Safran is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and has held a broad range of advisory roles in the US and internationally. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an ScM and ScD from Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr How Kwang Yeong is Senior Consultant Colorectal Surgeon and Director of the Endoscopy Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. He played a pivotal role in establishing the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS®) Program at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, leading to its recognition as an ERAS® Centre of Excellence.

Dr How currently serves as Clinical Director of the NHG ERAS Perioperative Office, where he leads the implementation and scaling of ERAS initiatives across three hospitals within the National Healthcare Group (NHG) cluster. He is also Head of the Division of Surgical Oncology at the NHG Cancer Institute.

A strong advocate for value-based healthcare, Dr How is the Value Officer for Surgical Care at NHG Health and leads the Value Academy at Singapore’s Centre for Healthcare Innovation. His work focuses on improving patient outcomes, perioperative care, and healthcare value through system-wide transformation and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Mr Vincent Wu is currently Deputy Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Health. This is his second stint at the Ministry, where he also served between 2012 and 2016 in Healthcare Finance working on funding and subsidy policies for the intermediate and long-term care sector.

Prior to his current role, Mr Wu was Director of Land and Infrastructure Programmes in the Ministry of Finance. He has also served in the Ministry of Education in the areas of Higher Education and Academic Research and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore in various policy, regulatory and operational roles.

Mr Wu graduated from the University College London with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. He holds a Master of Science in Transport from the Imperial College London, as well as a Master of Professional Accounting and a Master of Information Technology in Business from the Singapore Management University.

Ms Wong Soo Min is the Group Chief Financial Officer of the National University Health System (NUHS), where she leads financial strategy and stewardship to drive long-term sustainability, robust governance, and disciplined organisational performance. She also oversees Enterprise Risk Management, strengthening system-wide resilience and risk oversight in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.

A seasoned finance leader with a global perspective, Ms Wong brings extensive finance and operations experience from leading multinational organisations, including Hewlett Packard Inc., Micron Technology Inc., and an Intel–Micron joint venture. She has a proven track record of delivering transformation, enhancing performance, and creating sustainable value across complex, capital-intensive enterprises.

Sally Lewis, the founder of Kintsugi International, is a distinguished leader in the field of value-based healthcare (VBHC). With a remarkable career spanning 30 years as a general practitioner, medical leader and policy advisor, Sally has dedicated her career to transforming healthcare systems worldwide. She is now an international consultant on value-based healthcare system transformation and Professor of Value in Health Management at Swansea University’s Value-based health and care academy.

As the former National Clinical Director for Value-Based and Prudent Healthcare in NHS Wales and the founder of the internationally recognised Welsh Value in Health Centre, she has pioneered the implementation of VBHC, making substantial contributions to global healthcare improvements. Her work has been recognised by many institutions including the World Economic Forum, Harvard Business School, Bertelsmann-Stiftung, OECD, HTAi and the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association. She is an international public speaker on health system transformation on the principles of value-based healthcare implementation.

Assoc. Prof. Hairil Rizal Abdullah is a Senior Consultant Anesthesiologist at Singapore General Hospital (SGH). He revolutionized patient preparation for surgeries in SGH by founding the Preoperative Assessment Centre in 2014. His leadership in developing various programs like Patient Blood Management, Prehabilitation Service, and Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) has garnered both national and international recognition.

Honored with the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship in 2022 and listed among the top 2% of globally cited scientists, Assoc Prof Hairil was also awarded the Clinician Scientist Award by Singapore’s National Medical Research Council in 2023. He currently leads the Value Based Healthcare initiatives in both SingHealth and SGH, and was awarded the “Distinguished Champion of Change Leader Award” by SingHealth in 2022 for his transformative contributions to healthcare.

Professor John Abisheganaden is a Director and Senior Consultant at Health Services and Outcomes Research (HSOR), NHG Health. He holds a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh UK; a MMED (Internal Medicine) from NUS Singapore, as well as a FAMS (Respiratory Med) from the Academy of Medicine Singapore. He leads the HSOR team in population decision analytics and operations research, implementation and outcomes evaluation, as well as health system performance and sustainability. He is a Senior Consultant in Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and he is also chair of the NHG Health Respiratory Health Steering Committee, and the medical lead for value-based care for the NHG Health cluster.

Professor Fong Kok Yong is the Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer (Medical and Clinical Services), SingHealth. He is also Senior Consultant in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at SGH. As DGCEO (Medical and Clinical Services), SingHealth, he has oversight over the SingHealth International Collaboration Office, the Institute for Patient Safety and Quality and the SingHealth Staff Wellness Office. He also works closely with the Group Chief Nurse, Group Chief Pharmacist and Group Chief Allied Health Professional. He was the past Chairman, Medical Board (CMB) of SGH from 2012 to 2019. As CMB, he was responsible for setting standards and maintaining clinical quality as part of good clinical governance.

In recognition of his immense contributions and remarkable leadership, Prof Fong is the deserving recipient of many awards, among them the National Outstanding Clinician Award (2013), Seah Cheng Siang Professorship in Medicine (2019) and National Day Award, The Public Administration Medal (Gold) (2021). He was pivotal in the development of Rheumatology in Singapore and has established the SGH Autoimmunity and Rheumatology Centre in May 2013, which brought together quality patient care, education and research. Prof Fong is a respected mentor to many clinicians and leaders and has more than 100 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. He is also a Fellow of Academy Medicine, Singapore in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology and Royal College of Edinburgh, UK.

Adj Prof Mark Puhaindran graduated from the National University of Singapore, and did his specialty training in Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery at the National University Hospital, leading to his specialist accreditation in Hand Surgery. Following this, he was awarded the Health Manpower Development (HMDP) Award and did a fellowship in Musculoskeletal Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, USA. Adj Prof Puhaindran practices Hand Surgery and Musculoskeletal Oncology at the National University Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and has written several papers and book chapters on tumours of the musculoskeletal system. He is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate orthopaedic and hand surgery teaching, and has been an invited speaker at both local and regional conferences.

Dr Albert Ty’s work in the Ministry is focused on driving the development and implementation of national policies, frameworks or processes aimed at promoting a culture of appropriate and value-based care, patient safety, high reliability, and continuous quality improvement in Singapore healthcare institutions. Prior to this, Dr Ty had extensive public health leadership experience in the Ministry including work on health promotion strategies, non-communicable disease epidemiology and control, public health intelligence, and specialist training and assessments.a

Dr Ty is a neurologist/neuro-oncologist and a public health specialist by training. He holds a master’s degree in public health from the National University of Singapore and a master’s degree in health policy, planning and financing from the London School of Economics/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Before joining the Ministry of Health, he had clinical and research stints at the National Neuroscience Institute, the National Cancer Centre, Singapore and the Singapore General Hospital.

Adj A/Prof Diarmuid Murphy is a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons In Ireland and has worked as an Orthopaedic surgeon in Singapore since 2007.

He first became involved in Value Driven Care (VDC) when NUH introduced the concept to Singapore in 2016. He was appointed Chief Value Officer for NUH in 2018 and Group Chief Value Officer for NUHS in May 2019. He has previously chaired the National Value Driven Care Committee, working with MOH to implement value based healthcare framework across Singapore. He helms a dedicated team at NUHS that oversees the collection of Quality and Cost data for the cluster and transforming it into actionable insights. This is performed at primary, regional and tertiary care levels, enabling data driven improvement to clinical care pathways. In 2024, he was part of the team that introduced Appropriate Care to NUHS and leads the Appropriate & Value Based Healthcare (AVBC) efforts across the cluster.

Paul is professor of value-based healthcare at IQ healthcare (Radboudumc), Chief Value Officer at St. Antonius Hospital, and research development manager at Santeon. Paul is working on VBHC implementation and research in local, national, and international initiatives since 2013. Paul is founder and chair of the global Value Catalyst community on value-based healthcare implementation in hospitals. His current research focuses on condition-based organization of hospitals, change management requires in the implementation of value-based healthcare and patient participation within multidisciplinary value improvement teams. Paul was installed as professor in 2022 and gave his inaugural lecture ‘from amazement to improvement’ in 2023. Paul worked as visiting expert at Singapore General Hospital in 2026. Paul was strategy consultant at The Decision Group in 2008-2011 and he holds a PhD for his work at the National Institute for Subatomic Physics (NIKHEF, Amsterdam).

Dr. Dorine van Staalduinen’s research focuses on the management and implementation of Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC), with particular expertise in change management, teamwork, and leadership during organizational transformation. She currently works as a Senior Researcher at Martini Hospital and Santeon where she supports the further development of VBHC by focusing on professional roles, governance, and organizational structures. She supervises PhD candidates, advises healthcare organizations, teaches VBHC, and co-leads the international Value Catalyst learning community.

Dr. Gotkind serves as the Head of the Medical, Quality & Safety Care, Risk Management, and Infection Prevention Division at Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center, Israel. With extensive experience in the fields of Hemato-Oncology and Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation, Dr. Gutkind has dedicated recent years to advancing healthcare systems with a specific focus on quality and patient safety. His fields of expertise include quality assessment, performance measurement, and the implementation of continuous improvement strategies across a wide range of medical services. For the past several years, Dr. Gutkind has been a senior partner in leading Sheba Medical Center’s accreditation processes, ensuring alignment with international standards of healthcare excellence. Additionally, he serves as Chairman of the Institutional Committee for the authorization of New Medical Technologies and acts as a consultant on a groundbreaking project aimed at enhancing quality and safety culture using AI-based systems. Dr. Gutkind has also driven the integration of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) as a central tool for improving care quality and efficiency.

Dr. Gutkind earned his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel. His doctoral research, focused on advancing methodologies for identifying adverse drug events and evaluating the clinical and economic impacts of decision-support technologies in reducing medication-related harm.

Dr. Marcia Makdisse is a cardiologist and one of Latin America’s leading voices in Value-Based Care (VBC). She holds a Master of Science in Healthcare Transformation from The University of Texas at Austin and is the founder of Mak Valor Mentoring and Academia VBHC.

Over the past decade, she has partnered with healthcare organizations across Latin America to advance VBC through outcomes measurement, care redesign, leadership development, and innovative payment models. Following 10 years as Head of Cardiology, she led the creation of Latin America’s first Value Management Office at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein and currently serves as Ambassador of VBHC Center Europe and Scientific Partner of the Oxford Value and Stewardship Programme.

Her work has contributed to internationally recognized VBHC initiatives, including the 2026 VBHC Prize-winning Low Back Pain Integrated Care Network. Dr. Makdisse has published more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles and co-edited and co-authored the Brazilian Atlas of Variation in Healthcare.