Professor Quek Swee Chye graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS), and proceeded on to specialist training in Paediatrics. He was awarded a medal for being the top candidate in the Master of Medicine (Paediatrics) examination. Prof Quek joined his alma mater as a tenured faculty, contributing to teaching and research, in addition to full time clinical service. Prof Quek majors in the subspecialty of cardiology, and completed a fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, whilst on study leave from NUS. He was subsequently awarded the Ministry of Health's Senior Clinician HMDP to pursue further advanced training at the Boston Children's (Harvard University), and Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian (Columbia University).
Prof Quek heads the Division of Paediatric Cardiology at the National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore. His expertise is in heart diseases in children (congenital and acquired) and Kawasaki disease. In academia and research, he successfully defended his thesis to earn a Doctorate in Medicine and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. He continues to actively participate in international conferences, to deliver lectures and serve as invited faculty. Prof Quek’s contributions to cardiology are widely recognized. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and uniquely holds the distinction of being the only Singaporean and Asian to serve an extended tenure across three terms as a Council Member of the Adult Congenital and Paediatric Cardiology Section of the American College of Cardiology. He is a also a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health (UK), the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, and the College of Paediatricians and Child Health, Singapore. He was honored as Singapore Cardiac Society Lecturer of the Year in 2015, and awarded the College of Paediatricians and Child Health Lectureship in 2024.
As a clinician adminstrator, Prof Quek has held many administrative and leadership roles. He was the longest serving Chairman of Medical Board (CMB), National University Hospital, and Member, Executive Group of NUHS from 2016 to 2024. Prior to this, he was Head of Medical Affairs (Clinical Governance), Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee and Clinical Directors' Committee at National University Hospital. He was also a Director of the National University Health System Fund, and member of the NUH HREF Board of Trustees. He also served on board the National Neuroscience Institute Health Research Endowment Fund (HREF) Board for 12 years, providing guidance and supporting initiatives which transform patient care. Prof Quek is currently the founding Executive Director of the NUHS Institute of Clinical Quality (NICQ), leading the formulation of strategies to raise the quality of care across NUHS. At the national level, he is a Visiting Senior Consultant to the Ministry of Health, Singapore, and Visiting Senior Consultant to the Health Promotion Board, Singapore.
For his distinguished contributions to healthcare, Professor Quek was honored with the Mochtar-Riady Pinnacle Award for Clinical Excellence by NUHS, and the National Medical Excellence Award by the Ministry of Health, Singapore in 2013. In recognition of his dedication and impact, he was bestowed the prestigious National Day Award (PPA) by the President of Singapore in August 2022. His exceptional leadership during the pandemic was further acknowledged in 2023 when he received both the Covid Resilience Award and the Public Administration Award from the Ministry of Health, Singapore.
