Dr Bala graduated from NUS in 2005 with Dean's List and was conferred the prestigious Wong Poi Kwong Gold Medal for excellence in Clinical Medicine. He then went on to complete his training in Radiation Oncology with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) and was awarded the C.E. Eddy medal for being the most outstanding candidate (in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore). He has been a RANZCR fellow since 2014 and obtained his Specialist Accreditation in the same year.
Dr Bala worked as a fellow (HMDP) at Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia. He is privileged to be selected for a second fellowship with University of Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) in 2015. He has received formal training in stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy during his fellowship at The Ottawa Hospital Cyberknife Centre. Over the years, he has developed a close working relationship with surgeons and oncologists locally and internationally.
Dr Bala strongly believes research and education are integral parts of clinical improvement. He continues to serve as an undergraduate examiner (NUS), and has served as a post-graduate examiner for the RANZCR college. More recently, he has organised several successful target delineation courses to improve the quality of care in radiation oncology within the region.
His research interests revolve around the utility of high-precision radiation for brain and spine tumours (radiosurgery/SBRT), in particular their effects on vasculature and metallic implants. He has contributed to over 75 peer-reviewed publications and has written several book chapters in collaboration with the international neuro-radiation oncology fraternity. He has won several competitive grants as PI and Co-I and is currently conducting a prospective study for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.
Dr Bala's treatment philosophy focuses on empowering patients and their caregivers with relevant medical information and joint-decision making. Away from work, he loves everything related to bicycles and spends a good amount of time on the saddle.
Leadership Positions
2016 - present: Research Director
2017 - present: Singapore Radiological Society EXCO and Subsection Chair
Selected Publications
1. Srinivas US, Tan BWQ, Vellayappan BA, Jeyasekharan AD. ROS and the DNA damage response in cancer. Redox Biol. 2019 Jul;25:101084. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2018.101084 .
2. Vellayappan BA, Soon YY, Ku GY, Leong CN, Lu JJ, Tey JC. Chemoradiotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy plus surgery for esophageal cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Aug 22;8(8):CD010511. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010511.pub2
3. Kazmi F, Soon YY, Leong YH, Koh WY, Vellayappan B. Re-irradiation for recurrent glioblastoma (GBM): a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Neurooncol. 2019 Mar;142(1):79-90. doi: 10.1007/s11060-018-03064-0 .
4. Vellayappan B, Tan CL, Yong C, Khor LK, Koh WY, Yeo TT, Detsky J, Lo S, Sahgal A. Diagnosis and Management of Radiation Necrosis in Patients With Brain Metastases. Front Oncol. 2018 Sep 28;8:395. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2018.00395 .
5. Vellayappan BA, Chao ST, Foote M, Guckenberger M, Redmond KJ, Chang EL, Mayr NA, Sahgal A, Lo SS. The evolution and rise of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for spinal metastases. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2018 Sep;18(9):887-900. doi: 10.1080/14737140.2018.1493381 . Epub 2018 Jul 3.
6. Vellayappan B, Knisely JPS, Lo SS, Shiue K. Modern approaches to the management of brain metastases: embracing a multi-modal paradigm. Chin Clin Oncol. 2022 Apr;11(2):9. doi: 10.21037/cco-2022-1 .
7. Lee CC, Soon YY, Cheo T, Vellayappan B, Tey J. Stereotactic body radiation therapy versus conventional external beam radiation therapy for painful bone metastases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2022 Oct;178:103775. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2022.103775 . Epub 2022 Jul 30.
8. Hallinan JTPD, Zhu L, Zhang W, Lim DSW, Baskar S, Low XZ, Yeong KY, Teo EC, Kumarakulasinghe NB, Yap QV, Chan YH, Lin S, Tan JH, Kumar N, Vellayappan BA, Ooi BC, Quek ST, Makmur A. Deep Learning Model for Classifying Metastatic Epidural Spinal Cord Compression on MRI. Front Oncol. 2022 May 4;12:849447. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.849447 .
9. Kumar N, Lopez KG, Alathur Ramakrishnan S, Hallinan JTPD, Fuh JYH, Pandita N, Madhu S, Kumar A, Benneker LM, Vellayappan BA. Evolution of materials for implants in metastatic spine disease till date - Have we found an ideal material? Radiother Oncol. 2021 Oct;163:93-104. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2021.08.007 . Epub 2021 Aug 19.
10. Vellayappan B, Cheong D, Singbal S, Tey J, Yang Soon Y, Nang Leong C, Wong A, Lwin S, Lee CH, Periasamy P, Lo S, Kumar N. Quantifying the changes in the tumour vascular micro-environment in spinal metastases treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy - a single arm prospective study. Radiol Oncol. 2022 Dec 13;56(4):525-534. doi: 10.2478/raon-2022-0046 .