Associate Professor Queenie Li Ling Jun
NUS Visiting Associate Professor/
Associate Professor HongKong University
Queenie Li Ling Jun
Adopting a strong lifecourse perspective, A/Prof Li’s research emphasizes population health with a particular focus on women’s health across pregnancy and into later life. Early in her career, she utilized advanced retinal imaging technology coupled with state-of-the-art computer-based image analysis to investigate pregnancy outcomes and early-life diseases. By examining retinal microvascular structures—a “window” into systemic microcirculation—her work explored their diagnostic and predictive value for maternal conditions such as gestational diabetes and hypertension, as well as child health outcomes including fetal growth restriction and childhood obesity.
Building on this foundation, A/Prof Li’s research program centers on the determinants and transgenerational health consequences of maternal obesity and diabetes, approaching these issues from a life course perspective. Currently, her work primarily focuses on the roles of comprehensive pre-conception and antenatal factors, utilizing biospecimens to elucidate the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes and its long-term impacts on maternal and child health.
In addition to her traditional epidemiological research, her interests now include leveraging digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance patient care. She investigates the development and implementation of feasible, effective intervention programs—including telemedicine approaches—that utilize digital tools to modify personal behaviors in pregnant women at risk of GDM and postpartum women with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. These innovative strategies aim to facilitate early detection, personalized intervention, and continuous monitoring, ultimately improving health outcomes while promoting accessible, technology-driven healthcare.
A/Prof Li’s ongoing research strives to bridge the gap between etiological understanding and practical, scalable interventions through the integration of advanced digital health technologies and AI, fostering personalized medicine approaches in reproductive and maternal health.
Publications
- Li, L. J., Cheung, C. Y., Liu, Y., Chia, A., Selvaraj, P., Lin, X. Y., Chan, Y. M., Varma, R., Mitchell, P., Wong, T. Y., & Saw, S. M. (2011). Influence of blood pressure on retinal vascular caliber in young children. Ophthalmology, 118(7), 1459–1465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.12.007
- Li, L. J., Cheung, C. Y., Ikram, M. K., Gluckman, P., Meaney, M. J., Chong, Y. S., Kwek, K., Wong, T. Y., & Saw, S. M. (2012). Blood pressure and retinal microvascular characteristics during pregnancy: Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) Study. Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979), 60(1), 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.112.195404
- Li, L. J., Tan, K. H., Aris, I. M., Chong, Y. S., Saw, S. M., Gluckman, P., Wang, J. J., & Wong, T. Y. (2017). Gestational retinal microvasculature and the risk of 5 year postpartum abnormal glucose metabolism. Diabetologia, 60(12), 2368–2376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-017-4441-x
- Li, L. J., Tan, K. H., Aris, I. M., Man, R., Gan, A., Chong, Y. S., Saw, S. M., Gluckman, P., Wong, T. Y., & Lamoureux, E. (2018). Retinal vasculature and 5-year metabolic syndrome among women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 83, 216–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2017.10.004
- Li, L. J., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Aris, I. M., Mantzoros, C., Hivert, M. F., & Oken, E. (2019). Leptin trajectories from birth to mid-childhood and cardio-metabolic health in early adolescence. Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 91, 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2018.11.003