Dr Feng Lei
MBBS (China), PhD (S’pore)
Principal Investigator & Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Profile
Dr Feng Lei received his medical and psychiatric trainings in Shandong, China and obtained his PhD from the National University of Singapore in 2009. He has worked as a lecturer of medical psychology at Weifang Medical University in Shandong province, China from 2000 to 2004, where he also provided counselling and psychotherapy services. He received research training on functional neuroimaging, at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge in 2013 and conducted visiting research on cognitive aging at the Aging Research Center (ARC), Karolinska Institute (KI) in 2016. Dr Feng is currently a Principal Investigator and Research Assistant Professor at Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore.
His primary research interest is the epidemiology and prevention of cognitive decline and dementia in late life. He also conducts research on brain magnetic resonance imaging and intranasal oxytocin.
He has been involved in cognitive aging and dementia research for over 15 years. He is currently leading several community-based studies in Singapore: The Diet and Healthy Aging (DaHA) study, the Aging in a Community Environment Study (ACES), the Choral Singing for Dementia Prevention Trial. He is a collaborator of several large Asian cohorts such as the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS), the Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS) and the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). He is a core team member of the Gerontology Research Program (GRP) and the emerging SG90 and SG70 cohorts.
Actively engaged in research, Dr Feng is a successful investigator with over 90 research publications on ageing, psychiatric, and neuroscience research studies and is a regular peer reviewer for top journals such as the British Medical Journal.
He has won numerous awards like the Alice Lim Memorial Fund Award in 2010, the NUHS Academic Medicine Development Award in 2013, and the NUHS Clinician Scientist Program Award in 2014. He was chosen to receive the NMRC Clinician Scientist Transition Award in 2017.
Selected Publications:
- Feng L, Lim WS, Chong MS, Lee TS, Gao Q, Nyunt MSZ, Feng L, Kua EH & Ng TP (2016). Depressive symptoms increase the risk of mild neurocognitive disorders among elderly Chinese.The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 21(2), 161-164.
- Feng L, Isaac V, Sim S, Ng TP, Krishnan KR & Chee MW (2013). Associations between elevated homocysteine, cognitive impairment, and reduced white matter volume in healthy old adults.The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 21(2), 164-172.
- Feng L (2010).Ginkgo biloba and Cognitive Decline. JAMA, 303(15), 1477.
- Feng L, Li J, Yap K, Kua EH & Ng TP (2009). Vitamin B-12, apolipoprotein E genotype, and cognitive performance in community-living older adults: evidence of a gene-micronutrient interaction.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89(4), 1263-1268.
- Feng L, Ng TP, Chuah L, Niti M & Kua EH (2006). Homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B-12 and cognitive performance in older Chinese adults: findings from the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Study.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 84(6), 1506-1512.
Research Focus
- Epidemiology and prevention of Late-life Cognitive Decline and Dementia
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain
- Intranasal Oxytocin
Academic Appointments
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
Honors & Awards
Alice Lim Memorial Fund Award, Gerontological Society of Singapore (2010)
Academic Medicine Development Award, National University Health System (2013)
Clinician Scientist Program Award, National University Health System (2014)
Clinician Scientist Transition Award, National Medical Research Council (2017)
Professional Education
MBBS, Jining Medical College, Shandong, China
PhD, National University of Singapore