Clin Asst Prof Chua Kim Chai

Clinical Assistant Professor Chua Kim Chai graduated from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2005 and began his medical career in Singapore since 2006. He underwent basic surgical training in various hospitals, followed by specialist training in cardiac surgery with NHCS. In 2015, he was professionally licensed by Singapore Medical Council as a specialist in Cardiothoracic Surgery. 

He has a special interest in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, for which he chose to pursue his 1-year subspecialty training in Canada between 2019 to 2020. To date he has completed more than 1,200 open heart cases and 200 minimally invasive cases. He is also one of the surgeons in mechanical circulatory support and heart transplant services. Through an international collaboration with Papua New Guinea (PNG), he serves as the lead surgeon in proctoring the pioneer local cardiac surgeon, contributing to the set-up of the Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) program in PNG.

• Clinical Fellowship in minimally invasive cardiac surgery and TAVI, 03/2019 - 02/2020
  
• FRCSEd (CTh) 2015
• MRCS (Glasg) 2009
• MBChB 2006

• Senior Consultant, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, National Heart Centre Singapore
• Clinical Assistant Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School, October 2020 – Present
• Clinical faculty member, NHCS CTS Residency Program 2016- present
• Senior Clinical Lecturer, NUH YLL School of Medicine, 2014 – present
• Adjunct Lecturer, LKC School of Medicine, 2024- present
• Clinical Educator, LKC School of Medicine, 2026- present

• Singapore Health Quality Service Award (Gold) 2019
• Singapore Health Quality Service Award (Silver) 2018
• SingHealth Long Service Award 2018
• Productivity Award 2013-2018
  
• Singapore Health Quality Service Award (Gold) 2015
• National Heart Center Quality Service Award (Bronze) 2014
• Singapore Health Quality Service Award (Silver) 2014

• Is it possible to predict the risk of ischaemic bowel after cardiac surgery? Kok Hooi Yap; Kim Chai Chua; See Lim Lim; Yoong Kong Sin. Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery 2014
• Contained Rupture in a HeartMate II® Device's Outflow Graft Bend Relief Disconnection. Chua Kim Chai, Tan Teing Ee, Lim Chong Hee, Kerk Ka Lee, Sivathasan Cumaraswamy. Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals 2014
• Does preoperative statin therapy prevent postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing cardiac surgery? Sean L. Goh, Kok H. Yap, Kim C. Chua and Victor T.T Chao. Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery 2014
• HeartWave Implantation with Outflow Graft Anastomosis to the Descending Aorta via Left Thoracotomy. Kim Chai Chua, Kok Hooi Yap, Yi Chuan Yap, Sivathasan Cumuraswamy, Teing Ee Tan. JSM Cardiothoracic Surgery 2017
• IL-11 is a crucial determinant of cardiovascular fibrosis. Schafer S, Viswanathan S, Widjaja AA, Lim WW, Moreno-Moral A, DeLaughter DM, Ng B, Patone G, Chow K, Khin E, Tan J, Chothani SP, Ye L, Rackham OJL, Ko NSJ, Sahib NE, Pua CJ, Zhen NTG, Xie C, Wang M, Maatz H, Lim S, Saar K, Blachut S, Petretto E, Schmidt S, Putoczki T, Guimarães-Camboa N, Wakimoto H, van Heesch S, Sigmundsson K, Lim SL, Soon JL, Chao VTT, Chua YL, Tan TE, Evans SM, Loh YJ, Jamal MH, Ong KK, Chua KC, Ong BH, Chakaramakkil MJ, Seidman JG, Seidman CE, Hubner N, Sin KYK, Cook SA. Nature. 2017 Dec 7;552(7683):110-115
• Factors Determining Fast-Track Failure Post Cardiac Surgery. YC Tham, Zihui Tan, Jinghui Chen, SY Chia, KC Chua, Kenny Sin and Shah Shitalkumar. Annals of Heart, 3(1):55-59, Nov 2018
• Case report: Late presentation of post-coronary artery bypass surgery pericardial effusion heralding mediastinitis with tracheocutaneous fistula. Muhammad Idu, Chiw Yeh Lim, Kim Chai Chua. Front. Cardiovasc. Med. 12:1483395.
• Trainsitioning from Episodic Cardiac Missions to Sustainable National Cardiac Surgery Services in Papua New GuineaL A Mixed Methods Programme Evaluation. Marco Lizwan, Ling Zhu, Noah Tapaua, Antonia Zeng, Orinan Ng, Kim Chai Chua, Yeow Leng Chua. Annals of Global Health, 2026; 92(1): 50, 1– 9.
• Kickstarting the First Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Program in Papua New Guinea – History Made, Yet a Long Journey Ahead. Ling Zhu, Kim Chai Chua, Daobo Wang, Daniel Kanasa, Arvin Wesley Karu, Oriana Ng, Noah Tapaua, Yeow Leng Chua. Journal of Clinical Medicine, June 2026, 15, 4763