Yee-Sin Leo

In this Chinese name, the family name is Leo.

Yee-Sin Leo FRCP (Chinese: 梁玉心; born 1958 or 1959), also known as Yee Sin Leo, is a Singaporean physician. Leo is the executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases and researches emerging infectious diseases. She has been in charge of Singapore's response to several outbreaks, including Nipah, SARS and COVID-19. In 2020, she was selected as one of the BBC's top 100 Women.

Early life

Leo earned her undergraduate degree at the National University of Singapore. She earned her master's of medicine in 1989.[2] She was a medical registrar at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.[3] As a young doctor, Leo was interested in immunology, but after a chance encounter with infectious disease specialist David Allen she became more interested in infectious diseases. She was one of the first doctors to be trained in infectious diseases in Singapore.[4]

Research and career

In 1992, Leo worked as a clinical fellow in Los Angeles, where over half of her workload was HIV cases.[4] When she returned to Singapore she established the country's first HIV programme and patient care centre.[4] Her first frontline experience with infectious diseases were when the Nipah virus infected Singapore in 1999.[4]

In 2002, Leo was made a Senior Consultant in the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).[3] She has led the country through Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Influenza A virus subtype H7N9 (bird flu) and Dengue fever outbreaks.[4] Leo said that her experiences dealing with the struggles of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) had served her in good stead for taking on COVID-19.[5]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Leo was cited in the Singapore press telling people that they did not have to wear masks if they did not have symptoms of respiratory infection.[6]

In the preparations for the Global Health Summit hosted by the European Commission and the G20 in May 2021, Leo co-chaired the event's High Level Scientific Panel.[7] Since 2022, she has been serving on the Technical Advisory Panel of the joint World Bank/World Health Organization's Pandemic Fund.[8] That same year, she was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.[9] In 2023, Leo was replaced as executive director of NCID by Vernon Lee. She subsequently became a senior consultant at the Ministry of Health and the National Healthcare Group.[10]

Personal life

Leo is married to a biotechnology specialist. Together they have three children.[4]

Awards and honours

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ "S'porean infectious disease expert Leo Yee-Sin makes annual BBC list of inspiring, influential women". TODAYonline. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  2. ^ "AMS - Academy of Medicine, Singapore". AMS - Academy Medicine of Singapore. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b "LEO Yee Sin". Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. National University of Singapore. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "A breakout star in battle against virus outbreaks". AsiaOne. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  5. ^ Ooi, Peng Lim; Leo, Yee Sin (25 February 2020). "Why Singapore will overcome Covid-19 even though outbreak could get worse before it gets better". Today. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  6. ^ Ang, Prisca (25 January 2020). "Wuhan virus: Masks necessary only for those with respiratory symptoms, stresses chief of Singapore's infectious diseases centre". The Straits Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Global Health Summit 2021". European Union. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Technical Advisory Panel". The Pandemic Fund. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  9. ^ Chin, Soo Fang (8 March 2022). "Infectious disease expert Leo Yee Sin, music icon Nona Asiah among 7 to join S'pore Women's Hall of Fame". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  10. ^ Liew, Isabelle (24 April 2023). "Vernon Lee to helm NCID from July 1, outgoing Leo Yee Sin to be MOH senior consultant". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  11. ^ "Red Ribbon Award". Action for AIDS Singapore. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Lee Hsien Loong & Leo Yee-Sin". Fortune. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  13. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2020: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.