President Halimah Yacob has appointed Associate Professor Benjamin Ong as a member of the Public Service Commission (PSC) for a five-year term from yesterday.

Prof Ong, 63, is senior vice-president (health education and resources) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) as well as senior consultant with the division of neurology at the National University Hospital.

He chairs the 14-member expert committee appointed by Ministry of Health (MOH) on Oct 5 to make recommendations on Singapore's Covid-19 vaccination strategy.

On the appointment, Prof Ong said: "I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute, as part of the team at the PSC, to help ensure that Singapore continues to have the breadth and depth of talent we need for the increasingly challenging times we face as a country."

Between January 2014 and January this year, Prof Ong played a key role in improving Singapore's healthcare system as director of medical services at MOH.

He helped set up the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, which opened last year, and led the transformation of healthcare models to meet the needs of the ageing population. He also strengthened healthcare regulatory and health technology assessment capabilities, and helped expand healthcare manpower attraction, development and retention efforts.

Before his MOH appointment, Prof Ong was chief executive at National University Health System and senior vice-president of health affairs at NUS.

In recognition of his contributions to public service, Prof Ong was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2009, the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2015, and the Meritorious Service Medal this year.

PSC chairman Lee Tzu Yang said: "I warmly welcome Prof Ong to the commission. With his wealth of experience and interests, he will bring his own perspectives and ideas to enrich the PSC's discussions on talent identification and selection."