Dr. John Chia graduated with double distinctions in Medicine and Surgery from the National University of Singapore in 1999 and obtained his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh in 2002.
Early on in his career, he was actively engaged with the then nascent field of immunotherapy for solid cancers and heavily involved with the leadership or development of 7 immunotherapy clinical trials in Singapore. Following his Oncology Boards in 2008 and 2009, he undertook his post graduate fellowship with Professor Malcom Brenner between 2008 and 2009 in the field of Immunotherapy for Solid Tumours
In 2011 and 2012, he completed a second fellowship with Professor Stan Kaye at The Royal Marsden Hospital London for the Advanced Management of Gynaecological cancers.
Dr. Chia was the former Chief of the Gynaecology Oncology service in the Division of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Centre, and is a founding board member of the Gynecologic Cancer Group Singapore, and the chair of its scientific sub-committee.
He is a council member of the College of Clinician Scientists, Academy of Medicine, and Adjunct Associate Professor at DUKE-NUS. Internationally, he sits on the Scientific Board of the International Aspirin Foundation; and he lectures widely, in Japan, Korea, HK, China, UK – including plenary symposia lectures in Germany, Australia and ESMO Asia.
He is also a consultant at several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies – advising the development of novel therapeutics and immunotherapy for cancer.
Dr. Chia is extremely active in clinical trial research and has developed numerous research protocols and trials for ovarian, cervical, colorectal, nasopharyngeal, and breast cancer in Singapore.
He has published widely in leading international journals, and holds numerous local and international research grants exceeding 10 million dollars – for clinical research exploring immune check-point inhibitors, cancer vaccines, T cell therapy, chemoprevention with Aspirin, and small molecule inhibitors for cancer.
In 2010, he was awarded “Best Poster” for a tumor-specific cancer vaccine trial at the European Society of Medical Oncology, Milan (amongst several thousand submissions), and more recently “Best Poster” at ESMO Asia in 2017, for his clinical trial in aggressive ovarian cancer.
Dr. Chia's specialty interests are ovarian, cervical, colorectal, nasopharyngeal and breast cancer.
Myth: Cancer is a death sentence
Fact: About one third of all cancers can be cured if they are detected and treated early. This is why you are recommended to go for regular screenings and health check-ups. The five-year survival rates for certain cancers, such as breast, prostate, and thyroid cancers, is now 90% or better. Advancements in cancer treatments also give patients with advanced cancers the chance to live longer.
Read more about the importance of regular health screening here.
