Dr David Lau

Specialist Ear Nose & Throat Surgeon

Professional Qualifications

BMedSci (Hons, First Class)
BMBS (Nottingham, UK)
MSc Surgery (BC, Canada)
FRCS (Edinburgh)
FAMS (ORL, Singapore)

Languages

English
Mandarin
Bahasa Malaysia / Indonesia

In Short

Dr. David Lau is an Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon with thirty years experience in the speciality. He qualified and worked in the UK, Canada and Singapore, and has built a substantial body of local and international experience. He treats a broad range of ENT conditions in children and adults. He believes in combining up-to-date medical evidence, surgical expertise, and a holistic personalized approach when helping patients manage ENT problems. Dr. Lau speaks English, Mandarin and Bahasa.

Education and Training

Born in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Lau grew up and schooled in Singapore. He graduated from the University of Nottingham, UK with a First Class Honours Bachelor of Medical Science degree in 1987, followed by Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1989.

Dr Lau received his early surgical training in the United Kingdom, working in hospitals such as St Mary’s Hospital in London, the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and the prestigious Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. He received his Fellowship in Otolaryngology from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1996.

Following his return to Singapore in 1996 he was admitted as a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine of Singapore in 2004. In Singapore, he trained in ENT at the Singapore General Hospital, and subsequently completed a Fellowship in Laryngology and Voice Disorders at the University of British Columbia, Canada from 2000 to 2002 under the tutelage of world-leading laryngologist, Professor Murray Morrison. His time in Vancouver culminated in a Master of Science in Surgery degree from the University of British Columbia.

Dr Lau left the Singapore General Hospital for private practice in September 2012 as a Senior Consultant and remains a Visiting Consultant at SGH.

Clinical Interests

Dr Lau manages Ear, Nose and Throat disorders in adults and children. He has a broad range of clinical interests and expertise. Conditions that he manages include:

In addition, Dr Lau has two subspecialty interest areas:

The first sub-speciality area is the medical and surgical management of nasal allergies and sinus disorders. Dr Lau studied the techniques of endoscopic sinus surgery pioneer Professor Heinz Stammberger in the hometown of Graz early in his ENT career. He also worked with one of the early movers of endoscopic sinus surgery in the United Kingdom, Dr Robin Youngs. In Singapore he trained for three years under internationally renowned endoscopic sinus surgeon Professor DS Sethi at the Singapore General Hospital. He has published on clinical aspects of sinus disorders and co-directed a number of sinus surgery courses. He also established the ENT allergy service at SGH. Dr Lau has practiced endoscopic sinus surgery for many years including revision surgery, image guidance surgery and minimally invasive balloon sinuplasty. More recently he added posterior nasal nerve cryoablation for chronic rhinitis to his practice.

Dr Lau is also sub-specialised in management of disorders of the throat, voice and swallowing. From 2000 to 2002 he completed a fellowship in laryngology with Professor Murray Morrison at the University of British Columbia in Canada. On his return he established the Voice Clinic at the Singapore General Hospital, and is recognised as one of the region’s key opinion leaders in Laryngology. He directed the first SGH ENT Laser Workshops in 2008 and 2012, first Trans-nasal Esophagoscopy Workshop in 2008, and Workshop on Multidisciplinary Management of Dysphagia & Swallowing in 2010, alongside many other workshops and seminars for GP’s and other ENT specialists. He is a founding member and the inaugural President of the Asia Pacific Laryngology Association, which brings together specialists in Laryngology, Voice and Swallowing Disorders from around the Asia Pacific region to share knowledge.

Dr Lau’s expertise in the field of Laryngology, Voice and Swallowing Disorders includes laryngeal stroboscopy for diagnosis; management of the occupational and performing voice (including singers); micro-laryngeal surgery of the vocal folds; laser surgery for conditions such as early laryngeal cancer, laryngeal papillomatosis, and bilateral vocal fold paralysis; management of unilateral vocal fold paralysis by injection and open surgical techniques; use of botulinum toxin (Botox) in the voice box for conditions such as spasmodic dysphonia; diagnosis and management of globus pharyngeus (feeling of lump in the throat); surgical and non-surgical management of dysphagia (swallowing problems); and tracheostomy management. He pioneered the use of office-based injection techniques for vocal fold paralysis, and transnasal esophagoscopy in ENT practice in Singapore. He has especial interest in the relationship between breathing and laryngeal muscle misuse disorders including conditions such as chronic cough, irritable larynx syndrome, paradoxical vocal fold movement, and exercise induced laryngeal obstruction.

Dr Lau has presented at many local, regional and international otolaryngology conferences, and has won several awards for his clinical and research work, including at the notable COSM meeting in the USA. He is widely-published including in journals such the Laryngoscope, Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Clinical Otolaryngology, and Head & Neck. He was a Senior Clinical Lecturer at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and is currently on the examining board of the Master of Medicine and Academy of Medicine Otolaryngology examinations.

In addition to his clinical and academic work, Dr Lau has volunteered on surgery mission camps to Bangladesh and Nepal. Dr Lau’s work has also been featured on Channel 8 news and Channel News Asia.

Personal

Dr Lau is a committed Christian and family man. He enjoys fitness and the outdoors. He was a competitive triathlete until a 2006 bicycle-car accident and shoulder injury. He is also a former national canoeing champion, club swimmer, BSAC dive leader and advanced technical diver. These days he enjoys time with the family, and staying fit in the gym and with yoga. When time allows, he enjoys hiking, boating, skiing and taking his beloved pet poodle, Chopper, swimming. He is married to a Singaporean editor, hopes to start a sailing team with his two sons, both previous national sailors; and is trying to persuade his daughter to go rice planting with him in Laos.