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Assoc Prof Charumathi Sabanayagam

MD, MPH, PHD

Deputy Head, Ocular Epidemiology Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute

Research Interest:

Epidemiology of diabetes and its complications including chronic kidney disease and diabetic retinopathy
Role of novel biomarkers such as retinal imaging markers and metabolites in renal and retinal diseases
Risk prediction using traditional regression and novel machine learning and deep learning

Research Appointments

Deputy Head, Ocular Epidemiology Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute
Principal Investigator II, Ocular Epidemiology Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor SingHealth Duke-NUS Ophthalmology ＆ Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Programme

Profile

Charumathi Sabanayagam is a Principal Investigator in the Ocular Epidemiology Unit at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and an Associate Professor in the Ophthalmology & Visual Science Academic Clinical Program (EYE ACP), Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. She received her undergraduate medical degree (MBBS) from University of Madras, and postgraduate degree (MD) from The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, India and a Masters in Public Health and PhD (Epidemiology & Biostatistics) from the National University of Singapore. She is a key Co-investigator and Project Director for Theme 3 of a large collaborative grant (DYNAMO) and serves as a key co-investigator in several other national grants and research programmes. She received the NMRC Transition Award in 2012 and the Khoo Mentored Research Award in 2015. She has published over 200 (Google-Scholar H-index of 45) peer-reviewed articles of which 40% were first- or senior-authored publications. Her current research focuses on the epidemiology diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in populations and risk prediction using machine learning and deep learning models. She co-edited a book titled, "Diabetic Retinopathy and Cardiovascular Disease" for the book series ‘Frontiers in Diabetes’ by Karger Publications. She was awarded the SERI Best Mentor/Role Model Award in 2015.

Professional Appointments and Committee Memberships

Scientific Discipline Involvement

Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Member, College of Clinician Scientists, Singapore (2016 – present)
Member, CKD-PC Consortium (2015 – present)
Member, Global CKD Burden Consortium (2015 - present)
Member, Global Burden of Metabolic Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases Collaborating Group (2014 - present )
Member, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) (2012 - present)
Member, The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) (2013 – present)

Editorial Board Membership

Editorial Board Member, Frontiers in Endocrinology (IF=3.675) (2018-present)
Editorial Board Member, Scientific Reports (IF= 4.259) (2017 – 2020)
Lead Guest Editor for a special issue in Journal of Diabetes Research (IF=3.56) (2014 – 2015)
Associate Editor, BMC-Public Health (IF=2.08) (2013 – 2017)

Education

PhD (2010)
MMed, Public Health (2006)
MD, Microbiology (1998)
MBBS (1985)

Awards

Travel award, International Congress on Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (ICOMES) (2017)
Guest Speaker, 11th International Diabetes Federation - Western Pacific Region Congress and 8th Scientific Meeting of the Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes, Taipei (2016 )
5-year Long Service Award, Singapore Eye Research Institute (2016)
Best Mentor/Role Model, Singapore Eye Research Institute (2015)
Khoo Clinical Scholar, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (2013)
Merit award (best oral presentation, medical disciplines) NHG Annual Scientific Congress (2009)
President Graduate Fellowship (PhD), National University of Singapore (2009)
Merit Research Scholarship (PhD), National University of Singapore (2008 – 2009)
Highest overall average score in ICD 9 CM, Clinical Classification, Queensland University of Technology (2002)
Tamil Nadu Government Merit Scholarship (MBBS) (1980 – 1985)

Research Studies

DYNAMO: Diabetes studY in Nephropathy And other Microvascular cOmplications (2017 – 2022)
Retinal Microvascular Abnormalities as Predictors of Decline in Kidney Function in the Singapore Indian Eye Study Cohort (2015 – 2018)
The Singapore Chinese Eye Study 2 (SCES-2): Prospective cohort study of 6-year incidence, risk factors, and impact of major age-related eye diseases (2015 – 2018)
The Singapore Indian Eye Study 2 (SINDI-2) Prospective Cohort Study Of 5-year Incidence, Risk Factors, And Impact of Major Asian Eye Diseases (2014 – 2018)
Is retinal vessel diameter (IRED) a potential biomarker for early renal disease? (2013 – 2018)
Singapore Diabetic Retinopathy epidemiology, biomarkers and imaging (DREAM) Program (2013 – 2018)
Novel Biomarkers of Kidney and Eye Diseases (Singapore Kidney Eye Study) (2012 – 2016)
Are patients with chronic kidney disease more likely to have eye disease? (2012 – 2014)
Tanoto Diabetes Foundation Initiative, Singapore. Evaluation of an Automated Computer Program for Diabetic Retinopathy Detection and Screening (2010 – 2013)
Novel Retinal Geometric Parameters as Biomarkers of Cardio-Metabolic and Retinal Diseases and Mortality: A Multi-Ethnic Population-Based Study (2008 – 2012)

Publications

A deep learning algorithm to detect chronic kidney disease from retinal photographs in community-based populations. Sabanayagam C, Xu D, Ting DSW, Nusinovici S, Banu R, Hamzah H, et al. The Lancet Digital Health. 2020;2(6):e295-e302.
Incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy: a systematic review. Sabanayagam C, Banu R, Chee ML, Lee R, Wang YX, Tan G, Jonas JB, Lamoureux EL, Cheng CY, Klein BEK, Mitchell P, Klein R, Cheung CMG, Wong TY. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2019 Feb;7(2):140-149. PMID: 30005958
Heng Wong MY, Tan NYQ, Sabanayagam C. Time trends, disease patterns and gender imbalance in the top 100 most cited articles in ophthalmology. Br J Ophthalmol. 2019 Jan; 103(1):18-25.
Simplified end stage renal failure risk prediction model for the low-risk general population with chronic kidney disease. Lim CC, Chee ML, Cheng CY, Kwek JL, Foo M, Wong TY, Sabanayagam C. PLoS One. 2019 Feb 22;14(2):e0212590.
Global causes of vision loss in 2015: are we on track to achieve the Vision 2020 target? Sabanayagam C, Cheng CY. Lancet Glob Health. 2017 Dec;5(12):e1164-e1165
Retinal vascular geometry and 6 year incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy. Cheung CY, Sabanayagam C, Law AK, Kumari N, Ting DS, Tan G, Mitchell P, Cheng CY, Wong TY. Diabetologia. 2017 Sep;60(9):1770-1781
Visual impairment in old and very old community-dwelling Asian adults. Sabanayagam C, Fenwick E, Ong PG, Tey ML, Tapp R, Cheng CY, Cheung GC, Aung T, Wong TY, Lamoureux E. Ophthalmology. 2016 Nov;123(11):2436-2438
Increased burden of vision impairment and eye diseases in persons with chronic kidney disease - A population-based study. Wong CW, Lamoureux EL, Cheng CY, Cheung GC, Tai ES, Wong TY, Sabanayagam C. EBioMedicine. 2016 Jan 19;5:193-7.
Retinal microvascular calibre and risk of diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and participant-level meta-analysis. Sabanayagam C, Lye WK, Klein R, Klein BE, Cotch MF, Wang JJ, Mitchell P, Shaw JE, Selvin E, Sharrett AR, Wong TY. Diabetologia. 2015 Nov;58(11):2476-85.
Chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality: A prospective cohort study in a multi-ethnic Asian population. Lim CC, Teo BW, Ong PG, Cheung CY, Lim SC, Chow KY, Meng CC, Lee J, Tai ES, Wong TY, Sabanayagam C.Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2015 Aug;22(8):1018-26.
Diagnosis of diabetes mellitus using HbA1c in Asians: relationship between HbA1c and retinopathy in a multi-ethnic Asian population. Sabanayagam C, Khoo EY, Lye WK, Ikram MK, Lamoureux EL, Cheng CY, Tan ML, Salim A, Lee J, Lim SC, Tavintharan S, Thai AC, Heng D, Ma S, Tai ES, Wong TY. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2015 Feb;100(2):689-96.
Kidney and eye diseases: common risk factors, etiological mechanisms, and pathways. Wong CW, Wong TY, Cheng CY, Sabanayagam C. Kidney Int. 2014 Jun;85(6):1290-302.
Bidirectional association of retinal vessel diameters and estimated GFR decline: the Beaver Dam CKD Study. Sabanayagam C, Shankar A, Klein BE, Lee KE, Muntner P, Nieto FJ, Tsai MY, Cruickshanks KJ, Schubert CR, Brazy PC, Coresh J, Klein R. Am J Kidney Dis. 2011 May;57(5):682-91.
Ethnic disparities in prevalence and impact of risk factors of chronic kidney disease. Sabanayagam C, Lim SC, Wong TY, Lee J, Shankar A, Tai ES. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2010 Aug;25(8):2564-70.
Sleep duration and cardiovascular disease: results from the National Health Interview Survey. Sabanayagam C, Shankar A. Sleep. 2010 Aug;33(8):1037-42.