Dr Lee Chung Horn studied medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
In medical school, he won the Thambipillai Silver Medal and the Academy of Medicine Bronze Medal (1981-1982). In his final year, he was awarded a scholarship to undertake an elective term at the Royal Free Hospital in London. After graduation in 1984, while working in local government and restructured hospitals, he commenced postgraduate studies in internal medicine.
Upon becoming a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom, he pursued subspecialty training in endocrinology (the study of human hormone disorders eg. thyroid diseases, diabetes, pituitary gland disorders, lipid disorders, etc). In 1994, he was sent on a Ministry of Health scholarship to the world-renowned Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts to pursue advanced subspecialty studies in diabetes mellitus.
During his tenure at the Joslin Diabetes Center, he interacted with prominent scientists and physicans, and helped care for people with diabetes and their families. He attended summer camps for children and youths with diabetes. In addition, he was involved in new research to study islet transplantation and beta cell physiology. Beta cells are the tiny cells inside the pancreas that produce and release insulin. Malfunction of the beta cell is one of the key processes that lead to the development of diabetes.
After returning to Singapore in 1995, Dr Lee joined Toa Payoh Hospital-Changi General Hospital where he led a team of endocrinologists, diabetes nurse specialists, dieticians, podiatrists and pharmacists to set up a multi-disciplinary diabetes center. At Changi General Hospital, he was responsible for setting up and coordinating all endocrine and diabetes services in the hospital. He also taught medical students, interns, residents and endocrinology trainees.
Dr Lee plays a very active role in local professional societies. He is the President of the Singapore Association for the Study of Obesity and a founding member of the Singapore Hypertension Society. He was Vice-President of the Diabetic Society of Singapore from 1996 to 2000, and President of the Endocrine and Metabolic Society of Singapore from 1999-2000. He is also a member of many regional and international professional societies. He has served on several high-level Ministry of Health diabetes committees, and helped draft Singapore’s National Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diabetes Mellitus in 2000. In 2006, Dr Lee helmed a team of endocrinologists and other specialists to review and revise these guidelines for Singapore. These guidelines are posted on the Ministry of Health web portal. Dr Lee also teaches graduate students at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.
He has co-authored a book on diabetes mellitus called Diabetes Totally Uncovered that explains in lay language what diabetes is. Under his guidance, his team also developed Singapore’s first multimedia interactive CD-ROM on diabetes and a VCD on insulin therapy.
Practice Address
Lee Chung Horn Diabetes & Endocrinology
6 Napier Road, Gleneagles Medical Centre #09-17, Singapore 258499