​A/Prof Abhilash Balakrishnan completed his undergraduate medical studies at the University of Singapore following which he attained his post graduate FRCS (Edinburgh) specialist degree. In1990, he completed a clinical fellowship in Paediatric Otolaryngology at the renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London and returned as the first trained Paediatric Otolaryngologist in Singapore. He was previously Acting Head, Department of Otolaryngology, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) from 1995-1996. He was appointed Foundation Head of the Department of Otolaryngology, at the new KK Women and Children’s Hospital (KKH) from May 1997 to December 2006. He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor, National University of Singapore and a Senior Consultant with both the Departments of Otolaryngology, SGH and KKH.

In addition to clinical practice, he volunteers his time in various portfolios and positions, contributing to the development of Otolaryngology in Singapore. He was a Council Member of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore from 1998-2004 and was Chairman, Chapter of Surgeons (1998-2000). Since 2000 he has been a Member of the Specialist Training Committee in Otolaryngology, Ministry of Health and is also on the Examining Board for the Exit Exams in Otolaryngology.

He has published and lectured extensively in the field of paediatric otolaryngology locally, regionally and internationally. He is a regularly invited speaker at the biennial meeting of the Inter-American Association of Pediatric Otolaryngology (IAPO) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In Nov 2008, at their 44th Annual Congress, he was elected a Honorary Member of the South African Society of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery. Locally, he is the Co-Director of the annual Pediatric Airway Workshop at KKH and is also on the teaching faculty of the FESS and Otology & Neuro-otology workshops conducted annually at the SGH ENT Instructional Course week.