Established in 1997, the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), which is the research arm of the Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC), has become one of the top centers for eye research in Southeast Asia. Because of research carried out at SERI and SNEC, Singapore now ranks as the world's top publisher of ophthalmology research on a per capita basis. Under the leadership of SERI director Donald Tan (recently succeeded by Wong Tien Yen) and scientific director Roger Beuerman, SERI has focused on the ocular surface, with particular emphasis on stem cell research, wound healing, and inflammation.