A/Prof Prema Raj is a Senior Consultant in the Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Transplant Surgery at Singapore General Hospital, and Head of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Transplant Centre (SDTC). His clinical career spans over four decades in hepatobiliary surgery and transplantation, beginning with his fellowship training under Prof Henri Bismuth and Prof Didier Houssin in Paris. He was instrumental in establishing Liver Transplantation at SGH and Mount Elizabeth Hospital, and since his return to SGH in 2015, has pioneered new techniques in Living Donor Liver Transplantation and ABO-incompatible Liver Transplantation. He led the establishment of Singapore's living donor intestinal transplant programme in collaboration with KKH, successfully performing Singapore's first four intestinal transplants since 2022 and solidifying SingHealth's position as Southeast Asia's leading intestinal transplant centre.
As Head of SDTC since 2018, A/Prof Prema Raj provides strategic leadership across 12 transplant programmes spanning five domains: Clinical Operations, Research and Innovation, Data and Quality, Education, and Promotion of Organ Donation and Transplantation. He chairs the SingHealth Intestinal Transplant Advisory Committee, comprising internationally distinguished experts from Duke University, MedStar Georgetown, Birmingham Children's Hospital, King's College Hospital, the National Center for Child Health and Development (Tokyo), and Addenbrooke's Hospital (Cambridge). He has built a robust network of international partnerships with Duke University Hospital, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, AIIMS Rishikesh, and major China institutions, and maintains active engagement with the World Health Organization on international transplant safety and data alignment.
A/Prof Prema Raj has established a strong and sustained research profile in hepatobiliary surgery, liver transplantation, and immunology, with a growing focus on digital health and AI-driven transplant innovation. His scholarly contributions reflect a total of 1,476 citations, an h-index of 20, and an i10-index of 42 — metrics that are particularly notable for a clinician-scientist carrying significant clinical and leadership responsibilities. His research momentum has continued to grow, with 869 citations, an h-index of 16, and an i10-index of 29 since 2021 alone, demonstrating that his academic contributions remain current, relevant, and internationally recognised. His publication portfolio spans liver transplant outcomes, minimally invasive hepatobiliary surgery, transplant infectious disease, and registry-based clinical research, and is increasingly extending into AI-assisted post-transplant monitoring, federated learning models, and digital clinical decision support. He is deeply committed to the education and professional development of transplant coordinators and allied health professionals, and to building a sustainable transplant ecosystem that delivers the best outcomes for patients.