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Asst Prof Kim Guowei

Designations:
  • Senior Consultant, Division of General Surgery (Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery), Department of Surgery, National University Hospital
  • Senior Consultant, Division of Surgical Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore
  • Senior Consultant, Department of Surgery, Alexandra Hospital
Qualifications:
MBBS, MRCSEd, MMed(Surg), FRCSEd, MCI, FAMS
Specialties:
Surgery, Surgical Oncology
Sub-Specialties:
General Surgery, Surgical Oncology (Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery), Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery
Special Interests:
Upper gastrointestinal surgery (including esophageal and gastric cancer), Robotic Surgery, Metabolic and bariatric surgery, Minimally invasive surgery, Diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy 

Biosketch

"I believe strongly in cancer survivorship. The treatment of upper gastrointestinal cancers is often a daunting and challenging journey, and walking this road with my patients brings meaning to my work. Since 2022, I have helped to organise and facilitate the upper gastrointestinal support group at NUH where I have the opportunity to meet and chat with cancer survivors and their families. Seeing them live active and productive lives years after surgery helps motivate and drive me to continue striving for excellence."

Asst Prof Kim Guowei graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2007. He completed surgical residency at the National University Hospital in 2016, serving as Chief Resident. He spent a year at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Korea, in 2019, for his clinical and research fellowship, mastering laparoscopic and robotic surgery for gastric cancer.

With a keen interest in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and education, he served as a Clinical Lecturer for the Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS, from 2014 to 2021, before being appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2021.

Sharing best practices and educating the next generation

He is also the Programme Director of the NUHS General Surgery Residency Programme, grooming the next generation of surgeons. He was awarded the NUS "Dean's Excellence Award" for teaching and education in 2017 and the "NUS Medicine Fortitude Award" in 2020 for educational contributions during the COVID crisis.

He has authored more than 50 papers and has given multiple presentations, including presenting at Obesity Week/ASMBS 2014, during which he received the "Top 15 Posters" award. He was also awarded the "Best Poster Award" at the 5th NCIS Annual Research Meeting in 2018 and the "Best Oral Presentation" award at the 29th Congress of the Korean Society of Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition in 2019.

He was also awarded the "NUS Medicine Fortitude Award" in 2020 for work done during the COVID pandemic, the 2022 NUH Education Award: GREAT Teacher (Interactive), GREAT Teacher (Didactic) for undergraduate education and the Esprit de Corps Award (Alexandra Hospital) 2023 for exemplary patient care. He has also served as an instructor at local and regional endoscopic and surgical workshops, and has been invited to speak at international conferences on robotic surgery, artificial intelligence in Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery, and on surgical innovation and techniques.

Actively contributing to the field

He is an active reviewer for several journals including Annals of Surgical Oncology and Obesity Surgery. He currently serves as Honorary Secretary, Executive Committee in the Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of Singapore, a Board member for the Robotic Surgery Society of Singapore, and is the National Coordinator for The Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons Society. He is also a member of the Singapore Medical Association and Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia Society.

Driving innovation for better outcomes

Asst Prof Kim has a strong interest in innovation in surgery, and strongly believes that keeping abreast with advances in technology is quintessential to give Singaporean patients access to the best medical care available.

To this end, he embraces technology such as artificial intelligence, robotics to improve existing techniques to improve patient outcomes. One such example would be the successful performance of robotic telesurgery over a distance of more than 5,000 km between Singapore and Japan in October 2023. He also is an early adopter of new techniques, being part of the team that performed the first Pressurised Intraperitoneal Aerosolised Chemotherapy (PIPAC) procedure in Asia in 2016, conducting several first-in-the-world trials on PIPAC, and also being the first to successfully perform mediastinoscopy assisted transhiatal esophagectomy (MATHE), for patients in whom conventional esophagectomy approaches were not feasible.

He has also performed the first endoscopic full thickness resection (EFTR) for submucosal tumours of the stomach and the first endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty at NUH for bariatric patients.

Awards

  • Esprit de Corps Award (Alexandra Hospital), 2023
  • NUS Medicine Fortitude Award, 2022
  • NUH Education Award: GREAT Teacher (Interactive), 2022
  • NUH Education Award: GREAT Teacher (Didactic), 2022

Journals & Publications

  1. Association of metabolic-bariatric surgery with long-term survival in adults with and without diabetes: a one-stage meta-analysis of matched cohort and prospective controlled studies with 174 772 participants. Lancet. 2021 May 15;397(10287):1830-1841. PMID: 33965067
  2. Admission discipline and timing of admission may influence outcomes for gastrointestinal bleeding patients. ANZ J Surg. 2021 Sep;91(9):1832-1840. doi: 10.1111/ans.16873. PMID: 33982881
  3. Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) after peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). Surg Endosc. 2021 Jul 29. doi: 10.1007/s00464-021-08644-2. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34327547
  4. 30-Day morbidity and mortality of bariatric metabolic surgery in adolescence during the COVID-19 pandemic - The GENEVA study. Pediatr Obes. 2021 Dec;16(12):e12832. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12832. Epub 2021 Jul 8. PMID: 34240553
  5. 30-Day Morbidity and Mortality of Bariatric Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Multinational Cohort Study of 7704 Patients from 42 Countries. Obes Surg. 2021 Oct;31(10):4272-4288. doi: 10.1007/s11695-021-05493-9. Epub 2021 Jul 30. PMID: 34328624
  6. Induction of gastric cancer by successive oncogenic activation in the corpus. Gastroenterology. 2021 Dec;161(6):1907-1923.e26. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.08.013. Epub 2021 Aug 12. PMID: 34391772
  7. Structured Training for Laparoscopic Appendectomy for Residents (STAR Trial)-A Randomized Pilot Study. J Surg Res. 2021 Dec;268:363-370. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2021.06.073. Epub 2021 Aug 14. PMID: 34399358
  8. Single-cell atlas of lineage states, tumor microenvironment and subtype-specific expression programs in gastric cancer. Cancer Discov. 2021 Oct 12:candisc.0683.2021. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-0683. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34642171
  9. Coronavirus viability in surgical plume and methods for safe disposal: a preclinical model. Br J Surg. 2021 Dec 17;109(1):15-20. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znab385. PMID: 34792098
  10. 30-day morbidity and mortality of sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and one anastomosis gastric bypass: a propensity score-matched analysis of the GENEVA data. Int J Obes (Lond). 2021 Dec 15:1-8. doi: 10.1038/s41366-021-01048-1. PMID: 34912046

Professional Memberships

  • Honorary Secretary, Executive Committee, Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of Singapore
  • Board Member, Robotic Surgery Society of Singapore
  • National Coordinator, The Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons Society
  • Member, Singapore Medical Association (SMA) and Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia Society


 

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