About me

Dr Saminathan Suresh Nathan is an orthopaedic surgeon who 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. This award of both medals to the same candidate has never been repeated by any candidate in the history of medicine.

In 2006, he joined NUS and achieved tenure as one of the youngest Associate Professors 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; and Musculoskeletal Oncology and Sarcoma Group Leader of the National University Cancer Institute of Singapore (NCIS). He was 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 had a consistent and passionate interest in research with more than 100 articles and abstracts in high impact journals 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 was 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 retired from 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.

His latest academic collaboration was with the National University of Singapore as an Adjunctive Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery contributing to research and undergraduate education there. He is the Ex-President of the Asia Pacific Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (2014-2016). He was appointed the inaugural  Yoshio Ogihara lecturer  of the Asia Pacific Musculoskeletal Tumor Society in 2016 and delivered this prestigious oration in India in 2018.

He runs a kinesiology laboratory and has several business interests. He conducts self-funded collaborative studies as part of outreach initiatives in third world countries. His present interest and field work are in Motion Capture analysis and Gait evaluation in amputees or otherwise disabled due to disease.

The award being presented by Han Soo-Kim (Korea), Thomas Baad-Hansen (Denmark) and Sahachart Piputkul (Thailand) on completion of the oration on October 7th 2018 entitled "My brush with the contradictions in orthopaedic oncology that we take for granted"

He holds multiple directorships in a number of business interests.

His detailed curriculum vitae is available here.

Publications:

Up to 2012 (Rest available in detailed curriculum vitae)