Xinyi SU

Regenerative therapeutics for retinal diseases
Translational Retinal Research Laboratory
BSc (First Class Honours), MBBChir (Cambridge),
PhD (Cambridge), MRCP (UK),
FAMS (Medical Oncology, Clinician Scientists)

SUMMARY
Reference: http://www.retinalab.sg/our-team/
Dr Su Xinyi is the Executive Director of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). She also serves as the Research Director overseeing the Translational Retinal Research Laboratory at IMCB. She is passionate about building bridges between science and medicine. Her research interests are in translational research for retinal surgery and therapeutics.

As a clinician scientist, Xinyi balances her time in clinical care as Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist at the National University Hospital (NUH), and serves as the Co-Director of the Centre for Innovation and Precision Eye Health, at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She is also an tenured Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS). She also holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment at the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), NUS, and a joint appointment of Clinician Scientist at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI).

A recipient of the prestigious National Science Scholarship from A*STAR, Dr. Su Xinyi graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2009 with a MBChir degree in Clinical Medicine and PhD degree in Molecular Biology. Her PhD was supervised by Ashok Venkitaraman at the Hutchinson MRC Cancer Cell Unit (now Director of the Cancer Science Institute, Singapore, and Distinguished Professor, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine).

Xinyi has published several book chapters and numerous journal articles in, inter alia, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Nature Structural Molecular Biology, Nature Communications, PNAS, and Lancet Global Health. She is an editorial board member of Communications Medicine, a Nature Portfolio journal. She has been awarded more than SGD25 million of competitive research funding and is the recipient of multiple global and national awards. In 2022, she was also accepted into the prestigious membership of The Macular Society.

The holder of several patents and technical disclosures, she is also a non-executive director of Vitreogel Innovations Pte Ltd, which she co-founded to commercialise the research from Translational Retinal Research Laboratory. She is also a scientific advisor to EyeStem (biotech company), and an Executive Committee Member of the Stem Cell Society, Singapore.

AWARDS & GRANTS
  • National Medical Research Council, Clinician-Scientist Investigator Award (2022)
  • Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Young Researcher of the Year Award (2022)
  • Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Singapore Award (for Medical Innovation, 2021)
  • Asia Pacific Vitreo-Retinal Retinal Society Leadership Development Program (2020)
  • Young Ophthalmologist Award from the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (2019)

RESEARCH

Biomaterials for Vitreo-Retinal Surgery, Drug and Cellular Delivery Thermosensitive Hydrogel Platform)
In the surgical repair of retinal detachments, vitreous tamponade agents such as expansile gases and silicone oil, are used to ensure the retina remains attached to the back of the eye post-operatively. These agents have been around since the 1960s. However, they have multiple limitations such as the requirement for post-op positioning, raised intraocular pressure, cataract formation, and the need for additional removal surgeries.

In collaboration with Dr. Loh Xian Jun from the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), we have developed a biodegradable and thermosensitive hydrogel. The hydrogel, when injected into the eye in its liquid form, is able to turn into a gel state, functioning as an effective internal tamponade agent. It is also biocompatible and has been shown to stimulate the reformation of a native vitreous-like body in-situ after biodegradation.

Funded by the A*STAR Industry Alliance Fund Pre-positioning Fund (IAF-PP) and National Medical Research Council Clinician-Scientist Award, our lab is currently preparing for the translation of the hydrogel to clinical trials. The hydrogel technology has been patented and is in the process of commercialization. We are also exploring the use of this hydrogel as a sustained drug delivery platform for biologics to the posterior segment of the eye. Lastly, the hydrogel is also being developed as a scaffold to facilitate stem-cell transplantation for retinal disease such as age-related macular degeneration.

Retinal Cell Therapeutics
Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness for those over age 55 in developed countries. To date, only the early stages of neovascular AMD (nAMD) can be treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections. In late stage diseases, most of these patients are no longer amenable to anti-VEGF treatments. Retinal cell therapy has been purported as a promising strategy for treating the disease. The first clinical trials of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) transplantation for vision-threatening complications of AMD have begun with preliminary signs of success as well as limitations that have to be tackled.

Funded by the A*STAR Industry Alliance Fund Industry Collaboration Project (IAF-ICP), National Research Foundation Competitive Research Program (NRF-CRP) and National Medical Research Council Individual Research Grant (NMRC-IRG), we are currently exploring alternative hypo-immunogenic iPSC cell resource that can function as a universal “off-the-shelf” RPE and photoreceptor stem cell therapeutics, as well as, developing novel scaffolds for the sub-macular transplantation of these cells in large animal models, including rabbits and non-human primates (NHPs).

The lab is concurrently developing RNAi-based gene therapeutics for inherited retinal degeneration that is modelled using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells.


PUBLICATIONS   
  • Single-cell transcriptomics reveals maturation of transplanted stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells toward native state
    Parikh BH, Blakeley P, Regha K, Liu Z, Yang B, Bhargava M, Wong DSL, Tan QSW, Wong CSW, Wang HF, Al-Mubaarak A, Chou C, Cheung CMG, Lim KL, Barathi VA, Hunziker W, Lingam G, Hu TX, Su X.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jun 27;120(26):e2214842120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2214842120. Epub 2023 Jun 20. PMID: 37339216; PMCID: PMC10293804. IF 11.1

  • Anti-Angiogenic Nanomicelles for the Topical Delivery of Aflibercept to Treat Retinal Neovascular Disease
    Zhao X, Seah I, Xue K, Wong W, Tan QSW, Ma X, Lin Q, Lim JYC, Liu Z, Parikh BH, Mehta KN, Lai JW, Yang B, Tran KC, Barathi VA, Cheong KH, Hunziker W, Su X, Loh XJ. Adv Mater. 2022 Jun;34(25):e2108360. doi: 10.1002/adma.202108360. Epub 2021 Dec 2. PMID: 34726299. IF: 32.09

  • A bio-functional polymer that prevents retinal scarring through modulation of NRF2 signalling pathway
    Parikh BH, Liu Z, Blakeley P, Lin Q, Singh M, Ong JY, Ho KH, Lai JW, Bogireddi H, Tran KC, Lim JYC, Xue K, Al-Mubaarak A, Yang B, R S, Regha K, Wong DSL, Tan QSW, Zhang Z, Jeyasekharan AD, Barathi VA, Yu W, Cheong KH, Blenkinsop TA, Hunziker W, Lingam G, Loh XJ*, Su X*.
    Nat Commun. 2022 May 19;13(1):2796. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30474-6. PMID: 35589753; PMCID: PMC9119969. IF 14.7

  • Surgical Transplantation of Human RPE Stem Cell-Derived RPE Monolayer in a Non-Human Primates with Immunosuppression
    Liu Z, Parikh BH, Tan QSW, Wong DSL, Ong KH, Yu W, Seah I, Holder GE, Hunziker W, Tan GSW, Barathi VA, Lingam G, Stanzel BV, Blenkinsop TA, Su X. Stem Cell Reports. 2021 Feb 9;16(2):237-251. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.12.007. Epub 2021 Jan 14. PMID: 33450191; PMCID: PMC7878718. IF 7.765

  • Retinal-detachment repair and vitreous-like body reformation via a thermogelling polymer endotamponade
    Liu Z, Liow SS, Lai SL, Alli-Shaik A, Holder GE, Parikh BH, Krishnakumar S, Li Z, Tan MJ, Gunaratne J, Barathi VA, Hunziker W, Lakshminarayanan R, Tan CWT, Chee CK, Zhao P, Lingam G, Loh XJ, Su X. Nat Biomed Eng. 2019 Aug;3(8):598-610. doi: 10.1038/s41551-019-0382-7. Epub 2019 Apr 8. PMID: 30962587. IF 29.23

PATENTS
  • Cord Lining-derived iPS (CLiPS)-RPE: An alternative cell resource for treatment of retinal degenerative disease. (ASTAR Ref No: IMC-P-12049-00-US)
    This describes the generation of a novel somatically pristine, hypo-immunogenic iPSC RPE cell resource generated from human umbilical cord lining for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, without the need for immune-suppression.

  • Topical Polymeric nanomicelles with enhanced anti-VEGF penetration and intrinsic antiangiogenic effects for synergistic treatment of neovascular retinal diseases (A*STAR ref: PAS IMC/Z/12445)
    This patent describes the use of topical polymeric micelles to deliver biologics (e.g. anti-VEGF molecules) to the retina – the holy grail for ocular drug delivery. Results published in our Advanced Material paper (Nov 2021).

  • Patent: Polymer, Related Composition, Methods Thereof and Related Ocular Applications (A Vitreous Substitute). (A*STAR ref: IMR/P/10911/00/SG)
    This patent describes the use of our thermogel technology as vitreous substitute for retinal detachment surgery, and to promote vitreous regeneration in-situ. Results published in Nature Biomedical Engineering (Aug 2019).

A*STAR celebrates International Women's Day

A*STAR Women In Science

From groundbreaking discoveries to cutting-edge research, our researchers are empowering the next generation of female science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) leaders.

Get inspired by our #WomeninSTEM