Dr. Saminathan Suresh Nathan

Orthopaedic Surgery

Credentials MBBS (Singapore), MMed (Surgery), FRCS (Edinburgh), FSMB (USA), FAMS (Orthopaedics), Associate Professor (Adj) National University of Singapore
Language English, Mandarin Chinese, Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Indonesia, Hokkien Dialect, Cantonese Dialect, Hindi, Punjabi
Background

Associate Professor Nathan, Saminathan Suresh specialises in bone and soft tissue tumours of the musculoskeletal system and complex problems in joint replacement or adult reconstruction surgery (e.g. bone transplants and custom implants in revision joint surgery). He obtained his medical degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1992 and trained in Orthopaedic Surgery at the National University Hospital (NUH), Singapore joining NUH in 1999 after he obtained his Masters of Medicine and Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was awarded the Yahya Cohen Gold Medal Award for Best Clinical Performance and Academy of Medicine Gold Medal Award for Best Overall Performance at the regional fellowship examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

In 2006, he joined NUS and achieved tenure as an Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery continuing his clinical practice at NUH. He trained at the Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center in New York (affiliated with the Hospital for Special Surgery and Weill Medical College of Cornell University) between 2003 and 2005 and is a fellowship- trained musculoskeletal oncologist. At these institutions, he learned many advanced techniques in adult reconstruction in the context of restoring function to defects secondary to tumour resections and in difficult situations resulting from revision arthroplasty surgery. In addition, he has worked in the Children’s Hospital of the Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York on molecular and chemosensitivity research in osteosarcoma – a type of cancer of the bone.

Dr Nathan served distinguished leadership roles as Clinical Director, Head of the Musculoskeletal Oncology Division and Senior Consultant in Joint Replacement Surgery in NUH. He is the Musculoskeletal Oncology and Sarcoma Group Leader of the National University Cancer Institute of Singapore (NCIS). He is the Principal Investigator of the Musculoskeletal Oncology Research Laboratory in the NUS Clinical Research Centre. He served as the Chairman of the Clinical Competency Committee.In 2007, he was one of the only two members from Singapore inducted to the International Symposium of Limb Salvage Surgeons.In 2008, he was the only member from Singapore elected to the Advisory Committee of the Asia Pacific Musculoskeletal Tumour Society. He provides consultancy to 2 joint replacement companies as a joint replacement specialist. He contributes actively to the American Orthopaedic Research Society and has been cited in Marquis Who’s Who in the World, a publication recognizing individuals of distinction in their respective fields, since 2008.

Associate Professor Nathan has a consistent and passionate interest in research with more than 100 articles in high impact journals and abstracts of international meetings (Pubmed search ‘Nathan S’) and chapters in important surgical textbooks. He has received numerous research awards locally (Singapore Orthopaedic Association Young Orthopaedic Investigator Award and NUH – NUS Young Doctor Award in Research) and internationally (New Investigator Recognition Award, American Orthopaedic Research Society, 2004). He is Programme Director of Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) Musculoskeletal Oncology Cryosurgery initiative. He established the inaugural Musculoskeletal Oncology Fellowship Programme in the National University Health System in 2006.In 2009, he was awarded the Yahya Cohen Lectureship by the Academy of Medicine for his work in angiogenesis and chemo-responsiveness in solid tumours.He serves as one of only 3 established senior orthopaedic surgeons on the Domain Specific Review Board (DSRB) that determines the ethics of research in the National Healthcare Group (NHG) and National University Health System (NUHS) of the Ministry of Health.

He left NUH in 2012 after 20 years in Government Practice to set up a service dedicated to the practice of Limb Salvage and Revision Arthroplasty Surgery in the Mount Elizabeth Medical Center. Dr Nathan is highly trained in the fields of musculoskeletal oncology, limb salvage and revision arthroplasty. He is regularly invited to conduct courses and give lectures on the subject.In addition, as the former Chairman of the Clinical Competency Committee in the National Healthcare Group residency program, he is skilled in a wide range of general orthopaedic procedures in particular primary joint replacements of the shoulder, hip and knee; and arthroscopic procedures of the shoulder and knee.

At present he maintains his academic collaboration with the National University of Singapore as an Adjunctive Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery contributing to research and undergraduate education there.

Services provided:

  • Limb Salvage Surgery
  • Revision arthroplasty
  • Bone tumors
  • Soft tissue tumors
  • Knee replacement surgery
  • Hip replacement surgery
  • Knee arthroscopy
  • Knee ligament surgery
  • Shoulder arthroscopy
Achievements

Dr Nathan has received a number of distinguished accolades. He was awarded the Yahya Cohen Gold Medal Award for Best Clinical Performance and Academy of Medicine Gold Medal Award for Best Overall Performance at the regional fellowship examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 2006, he joined NUS and achieved tenure as an Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery. He has received numerous research awards locally (Singapore Orthopaedic Association Young Orthopaedic Investigator Award and NUH – NUS Young Doctor Award in Research) and internationally (New Investigator Recognition Award, American Orthopaedic Research Society, 2004). He is Programme Director of Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) Musculoskeletal Oncology Cryosurgery initiative. He established the inaugural Musculoskeletal Oncology Fellowship Programme in the National University Health System in 2006. In 2009, he was awarded the Yahya Cohen Lectureship by the Academy of Medicine for his work in angiogenesis and chemo-responsiveness in solid tumours. In 2012 He won a best paper award for his pioneering work in using collagen based biomaterials in effective host implant integration in joint replacement surgery.