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Crystal YEO Jing Jing
Neurological and neuromuscular diseases
MB BChir (Distinction) PhD - University of Cambridge
LinkedIn: (23) Crystal Yeo | LinkedIn
Website: Research.pdf
Googlescholar: Crystal Yeo - Google Scholar/
SUMMARY
Crystal Jing Jing Yeo, M.B. BChir (Distinction, University of Cambridge), PhD (Immunology, University of Cambridge), is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCPUK), a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (ABEM), and is US board-certified in Neurology, Neuromuscular Medicine, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and Neuromuscular Ultrasound. She is a clinician–scientist and Principal Investigator at the A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and a Consultant Neurologist at the National Neuroscience Institute (Singapore), specialising in neurological and neuromuscular disorders. She holds international appointments including Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Associate Staff at Boston Children’s Hospital (Harvard), and Newnham Associate at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Yeo completed the Cambridge MB/PhD programme with Distinction and a PhD in Immunology, earning multiple awards including the Lewin, Balfour, Caroline Turle, Cow and Gate, Boyd Martin, and William Harvey Studentship Prizes. Her doctoral work focused on CD8 T‑cell differentiation. She subsequently completed Neurology, Neuromuscular, Electrodiagnostic and Neuromuscular Ultrasound training at Weill Cornell/Texas Medical Center and at Harvard’s MGH, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Returning to Singapore in 2019, Dr Yeo took on joint appointments at A*STAR and NNI. She leads the Translational Neuromuscular Medicine Laboratory at IMCB, which investigates disease mechanisms, therapeutic targets, extraneuronal manifestations of neuromuscular disease, and strategies to improve clinical outcomes. From 2019 to 2021, she also served as joint Medical Director of the Experimental Drug Development Centre, contributing scientific and clinical leadership to therapeutic development.
She has been in clinical practice for more than 14 years and has received competitive awards for scholarship and leadership from the American Neuromuscular Foundation (ANF), American Academy of Neurology (AAN), American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) and American Neurological Association (ANA). She is an alumna of the AAN Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum and the Live Well Lead Well Leadership Program.
Clinically, Dr Yeo performs nerve conduction studies, electromyography, and neuromuscular ultrasound, and manages a broad range of neuromuscular disorders, including peripheral neuropathies, inflammatory and genetic myopathies, myasthenic syndromes, motor neuron diseases (such as ALS, PLS and SMA), immune-mediated neuropathies (CIDP, AIDP, MMN), muscular dystrophies, congenital myopathies and complex neuromuscular junction, plexus and root disorders.
- 2025: ANF and AANEM Surinderjit Singh Young Lectureship Award
- 2023: National Neuroscience Institute Pilot Grant
- 2020: A*STAR Career Development Award
- 2019: Singapore delegate to the ASEAN-Republic of Korea program
- 2019: AAN Live Well Lead Well Leadership Program
- 2019: AAN Fellow Scholarship to the AAN Annual Conference
- 2018: AAN Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum Action Plan Support Grant
- 2018: Harvard/Partners Healthcare Center of Expertise Health Policy and Management Grant for the Harvard Business School Healthcare Conference
- 2018: AAN Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum
- 2018: AAN Brainstorm Grand Finals
- 2018: CIDP Ambassador Program
- 2017: 9th Annual American Neurological Association Translational and Clinical Research Course Award
- 2017: AANEM Resident and Fellowship Abstract Award
- 2017: AANEM Foundation for Research and Education Resident and Fellow Member Recognition Award
- 2017: MDS-PAS Movement Disorders School Award
- 2016: Cleveland Clinic 5th Annual Comprehensive Neurotoxin Course Travel Award
RESEARCH
The Translational Neuromuscular Medicine Laboratory uses an integrated platform approach to understanding and treating ALS, SMA, and related neuromuscular disorders. We combine advanced stem-cell disease modelling, high-dimensional multi-omics, and state-of-the-art AI biomarker analytics to uncover mechanisms of neurodegeneration and identify actionable therapeutic targets. Our work spans computational biology, patient-derived iPSC systems, and real-world clinical cohorts, enabling a full bedside-to-bench-to-bedside pipeline designed to accelerate precision therapeutics and clinical trial readiness in neuromuscular medicine. We believe that fostering close collaborations between clinicians, basic scientists and the drug development industries is essential to advancing our understanding of clinical diseases and translating discoveries into clinical practice.
Research Focus Areas
• Systems biology and multi-omics to define pathogenic drivers and progression signatures in ALS and SMA
• Patient-derived iPSC models (motor neurons, hepatocytes, and other relevant cell types) to dissect cell-intrinsic and systemic mechanisms
• AI / machine learning platforms for prognostication, EMG pattern recognition, and biomarker discovery
• Network-based drug repurposing and precision therapeutic development
• Extraneuronal manifestations of neuromuscular diseases, including metabolic and hepatic involvement
• Translational infrastructure, including clinical registries, biobanking, biomarker pipelines, and trial-readiness frameworks.
PUBLICATIONS
- Challenges and opportunities in spinal muscular atrophy therapeutics
Yeo C.J.J., Tizzano E.F., Darras B.T.
Lancet Neurol. 2024 Feb;23(2):205–218. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00419-2. - Hepatocyte-intrinsic SMN deficiency drives metabolic dysfunction and liver steatosis in spinal muscular atrophy
Leow D.M.-K., Ng Y.K., Wang L.C., Koh H.W.L., Zhao T., Khong Z.J., Tabaglio T., Narayanan G., Giadone R.M., Sobota R.M., Ng S-Y., Teo A.K.K., Parson S.H., Rubin L.L., Ong W.Y., Darras B.T., Yeo C.J.J.*
J Clin Invest. 2024 May 9;134(12):e173702. doi: 10.1172/JCI173702. - Ethical Perspectives on Treatment Options with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Patients
Yeo C.J.J., Simmons Z., De Vivo D.C., Darras B.T.
Ann Neurol. 2022 Mar;91(3):305–316. doi: 10.1002/ana.26299. - Identification of potential pathways and biomarkers linked to progression in ALS
Huber R.G., Pandey S., Chhangani D., Rincon-Limas D.E., Staff N.P., Yeo C.J.J.*
Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2022 Dec 19. doi: 10.1002/acn3.51697. - Predicting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progression with machine learning
Din Abdul Jabbar M.A., Guo L., Guo Y., Simmons Z., Pioro E.P., Ramasamy S., Yeo C.J.J.
Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener. 2023 Dec 5:1–14. doi: 10.1080/21678421.2023.2285443. - Describing and characterising variability in ALS disease progression
Din Abdul Jabbar M.A., Guo L., Guo Y., Simmons Z., Pioro E.P., Ramasamy S., Yeo C.J.J.
Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener. 2023 Oct 5:1–12. doi: 10.1080/21678421.2023.2260838. - Further Comments on Risdiplam for Prenatal Therapy of Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Yeo C.J.J., De Vivo D.C., Darras B.T.
N Engl J Med. 2025 Jul 3;393(1):103–104. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2504911. - TDP43 aggregation at ER-exit sites impairs ER-to-Golgi transport
Wu H., Wang L.C., Sow B.M., Leow D., Zhu J., Gallo K.M., Wilsbach K., Gupta R., Ostrow L.W., Yeo C.J.J., Sobota R.M., Li R.
Nat Commun. 2024 Oct 19;15(1):9026. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52706-7. - Predictive Analysis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Progression and Mortality in a Clinic Cohort From Singapore
Xu I.Q., Guo L., Xu J., Setiawan S., Deng X., Lo Y.L., Chai J.Y.H., Simmons Z., Ramasamy S., Yeo C.J.J.
Muscle Nerve. 2025 Jul;72(1):71–81. doi: 10.1002/mus.28416. - A neuromuscular clinician's primer on machine learning
Yeo C.J.J., Ramasamy S., Joel Leong F., Nag S., Simmons Z.
J Neuromuscul Dis. 2025 Apr 1. doi: 10.1177/22143602251329240.
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