Ko, Kwan Ki Karrie

	Title		: Clinical Assistant Professor
	Address		: Department of Microbiology, Division of Pathology, Singapore General HospitalAcademia, Diagnostics Tower, Level 720 College Road, Singapore 169856
	Email		: karrie.ko.k.k@singhealth.com.sg
	Current Position		: Consultant, Department of Microbiology, Singapore General Hospital Director, Genomics, Pathology Academic Clinical Programme (ACP) Clinical Assistant Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School

Research interest:

Dr. Ko’s research focuses on harnessing next-generation sequencing, metagenomics, and artificial intelligence to improve the diagnosis, surveillance, and management of infectious diseases. She is particularly interested in developing clinical-grade microbial genomics workflows that can be integrated into routine hospital practice, enabling faster outbreak detection, more precise antimicrobial resistance prediction, and real-time public health responses. Her work spans translational research, from assay validation and regulatory compliance to the design of scalable digital infrastructure for clinical microbial genomics, with the overarching goal of advancing precision infection management and strengthening preparedness against emerging infectious disease threats.

Selected Publications:

Ko, K.K.K., Chng, K.R., Nagarajan, N., 2022. Metagenomics-enabled microbial surveillance. Nat Microbiol 7, 486–496.2.
Suphavilai C*, Ko KKK*, Lim KM, Tan MG, Boonsimma P, Chu JJK, Goh SS, Rajandran P, Lee LC, Tan KY, Shaik Ismail BB, Aung MK, Yang Y, Sim JXY, Venkatachalam I, Cherng BPZ, Spruijtenburg B, Chan KS, Oon LLE, Tan AL, Tan YE, Wijaya L, Tan BH, Ling ML, Koh TH, Meis JF, Tsui CKM, Nagarajan N. Detection and characterisation of a sixth Candida auris clade in Singapore: a genomic and phenotypic study. Lancet Microbe. 2024 Sep;5(9):100878. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(24)00101-0. Epub 2024 Jul 13. PMID: 39008997.3.
Tan, C.C.S., Ko, K.K.K., Chen, H., Liu, J., Loh, M., SG10K_Health Consortium, Chia, M., Nagarajan, N., 2023. No evidence for a common blood microbiome based on a population study of 9,770 healthy humans. Nat Microbiol 8, 973–985.4.
Chng, K.R., Li, C., Bertrand, D., Ng, A.H.Q., Kwah, J.S., Low, H.M., Tong, C., Natrajan, M., Zhang, M.H., Xu, L., Ko, K.K.K., Ho, E.X.P., Av-Shalom, T.V., Teo, J.W.P., Khor, C.C., MetaSUB Consortium, Chen, S.L., Mason, C.E., Ng, O.T., Marimuthu, K., Ang, B., Nagarajan, N., 2020. Cartography of opportunistic pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in a tertiary hospital environment. Nat. Med. 26, 941–951.5.
Ko, K.K.K., Chio, M.T.W., Goh, S.S., Tan, A.L., Koh, T.H., Abdul Rahman, N.B., 2019. First Case of Ceftriaxone-Resistant Multidrug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Singapore. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 63.