Dr. Nicole Keong: The neurosurgeon pioneering brain injury prevention

In the ever-evolving world of medicine and healthcare, a few trailblazing women are leading the charge with their groundbreaking research and innovations. From pioneering technology in rehabilitation to research in eye health and neurosurgery, remarkable women like Jane Wang, Prof Saw Seang Mei, and Dr Nicole Keong are driving transformative change in shaping the future of health in Singapore. These women have each carved a unique path, redefining success on their own terms – breaking barriers in traditionally male-dominated fields and inspiring others through their game-changing innovations.

As for Dr Nicole Keong, she’s making equally significant strides in a critical aspect of healthcare – brain health. As a leading neurosurgeon, she is at the forefront of treating and studying brain injuries, particularly those that are reversible with early intervention. Her expertise in neuroimaging and biomarkers is helping to redefine how brain injuries are diagnosed and managed.

When Dr Keong was younger, she witnessed first-hand how neurosurgeons helped save her grandfather after he suffered a brain and spinal haemorrhage from a traumatic brain injury. Subsequently, she fell in love with neurosurgery when she was studying in medical school.

“It was both elegant and logical,” she recalls. “I realised that in surgery, it was so important to be both a leader and a team player. There was also this opportunity to work with my hands. I was drawn to both fields, and it felt natural to combine the two.”

However, it wasn’t until she was training at Cambridge, working with patients suffering from normal pressure hydrocephalus – a form of dementia that is reversible through surgery – that she found her true calling.

Currently, her work focuses on acute-on-chronic reversible brain injury, and she is pioneering neuroimaging biomarkers using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) to characterise white matter injury patterns that can be treated through surgery. She is also developing scoring strategies for risk stratification, early diagnosis, and prognostication of mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury.

“The brain is unknowable without imaging. If we can use neuroimaging to predict whether brain regions can recover from injury, we would be able to unlock new targets for therapies,” she says. “Before we can truly progress in the next neurosurgical era, we must first understand how different brain tissue signatures respond to treatment.”

Reflecting on her academic journey, Dr Keong credits her experiences at Cambridge and in Singapore for shaping her clinical approach. “I had not always been keen on becoming an academic surgeon,” she shares. “But once I found a topic I was curious about, I couldn’t stop wanting to find the answers. How do we know what brain injury is reversible? How do we know what is not? Being an academic neurosurgeon is my way of contributing to solving this problem, and I’m privileged to be at the National Neuroscience Institute, where academic research is strongly supported to advance patient care.”

When asked about her vision for the future of healthcare, Dr Keong hopes to rise to the challenge of embracing biomedical technologies and harnessing their nature towards a common good. “I think the Nobel Laureate Dr Sydney Brenner said it best, that we are facing the dilemma of Big Data, with our ‘unprecedented ability to collect data about nature... we’re drowning in an ocean or a sea of data and starving for knowledge’. I think our goal should not just be to understand our numbers, but to advance our knowledge with humanity.”

With ongoing advancements in neuroscience, Dr Keong’s research is paving the way for better diagnostics and interventions, ensuring that patients receive the best possible care before irreversible damage occurs.

Brought to you in partnership with Singtel, the inspiring Innovators featured in our SG60 issue are women who are driving Singapore’s progress through their bold choices and achievements. With their stories of resilience, reinvention and selflessness, we hope to inspire and empower the next generation of women to take charge of their paths and turn possibilities into reality. Singtel wishes all women a Happy International Women’s Day and Happy SG60.

To learn more about the 60 women who have shaped Singapore as we know it today, click here.