Rheumatology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Chairman Medical Board
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Chairman Medical Board
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Adj A/Prof Bernard Thong is Senior Consultant at the Department of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Chairman Medical Board, and Adj A/Prof at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
Adj A/Prof Thong completed his undergraduate medical training at the National University of Singapore in 1994, obtained Membership of the College of Physicians (United Kingdom) (MRCP UK) in 1998 and joined TTSH as registrar in 1999. He completed his advanced specialty in training in rheumatology in 2002. Between 2002-2003, he completed his fellowship training under the Ministry of Health's Health Manpower Development Plan in Clinical Immunology and Allergy at Southampton General Hospital, United Kingdom.
As Head of Department for Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology between 2008-2017, he continued to develop the department's clinical, research and education programmes in rheumatology and clinical immunology/allergy. This included the inception of the rheumatology senior residency programme (inaugural cohort in 2014), and curriculum development for the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (inaugural cohort in 2013).
Adj A/Prof Thong was subsequently appointed as Divisional Chairman (Medicine) from April 2018 to March 2024, and concurrently assumed the position of Clinical Director of the TTSH Office of Occupational, Environmental Health and Safety.
Adj A/Prof Thong is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and assessments, including MRCP PACES (Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills) tutorials. He has published more than 120 papers in peer-reviewed rheumatology and clinical immunology/allergy journals, including guidelines on anaphylaxis and drug allergy.
Publications
1. [World Allergy Organization Anaphylaxis Guidance 2020]
2. Erratum to "IgE allergy diagnostics and other relevant tests in allergy, a World Allergy Organization position paper" [World Allergy Organ J 13/2 (2020) 100080].
3. Chapter Title - Clinical Care and the COVID-19 Outbreak
4. Chapter Title - Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Population Level Distribution and Patterns of Food Allergy - A Global Perspective.
5. Impact of Immunomodulatory Therapy on COVID-19 Vaccine Response in Patients with Autoimmune Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases.
6. Development of immediate and chronic spontaneous urticaria following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination: Tolerability of revaccination and immunological study.
7. Drug hypersensitivity reactions in Asia: regional issues and challenges.
8. Diagnostic procedures & practices in drug allergy/hypersensitivity: a survey of 13 Asian countries.
9. Asia Pacific Association of Allergy Asthma and Clinical Immunology White Paper 2020 on climate change, air pollution, and biodiversity in Asia-Pacific and impact on allergic diseases.
10. Clinical features and outcomes from the Singapore Sjögren's syndrome study
11. Cost-effectiveness of sequential urate lowering therapies for the management of gout in Singapore.
12. IgE allergy diagnostics and other relevant tests in allergy, a World Allergy Organization position paper.
13. Biological Treatments in Allergy: Prescribing Patterns and management of Hypersensitivity Reactions.
14. Food-induced anaphylaxis morbidity: Emergency department and hospitalization data support preventive strategies.
15. Asia-Pacific perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic.
16. COVID-19 vaccine-associated anaphylaxis: A statement of the World Allergy Organization Anaphylaxis Committee.
17. Prevention of Drug Hypersensitivity Reactions: Prescreening and Premedication.
18. Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of global data.
19. APAAACI 2021 International Conference: a new era of allergy and clinical immunology in digital.
20. Asia Pacific perspectives on the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A follow-up survey.
21. Anaphylaxis: Revision of the Brighton collaboration case definition
22. Epidemiology, Management, and Treatment Access of Hereditary Angioedema in the Asia Pacific Region: Outcomes From an International Survey
23. A novel allergist-integrative model for vaccine allergy safety.
24. APAAACI 2023 International Conference: The innovation revolution in allergy, asthma, and immunology
25. APAAACI clinical pathway on direct provocation testing for penicillin allergy delabeling
26. Evaluating immune responses to pneumococcal vaccines
27. Drug-induced Stevens Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis: Interpreting the systematic reviews on immunomodulatory therapies
28. COVID-19 in the Asia Pacific: Impact on climate change, allergic diseases and One Health
29. Delabelling multiple antibiotic allergy: Practical issues
30. [Erratum : World Allergy Organization Anaphylaxis Guidance 2020 [Japanese Journal of Allergology Vol.70 (2021) No.9 p.1211-1234]]
31. Post-acute phase and sequelae management of epidermal necrolysis: an international, multidisciplinary DELPHI-based consensus
32. Disparities and inequalities of penicillin allergy in the Asia-Pacific region
33. Epidemiology of the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies
34. Global disparities in availability of epinephrine auto-injectors
35. Uncovering the true burden of hereditary angioedema due to C1-inhibitor deficiency: A focus on the Asia-Pacific region
36. Anaphylaxis post-COVID-19 vaccinations in Singapore.
37. Reply to: Current classification criteria underestimate the incidence of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies by ignoring subgroups.
38. Impact of Value-Driven Healthcare Strategies for Biosimilar Adoption: The Singapore Story.
