Dr Shanker is an accomplished specialist in keyhole surgery for gastro-esophageal conditions including obesity, cancer, acid-reflux and hernia. He has an excellent safety record and is at the forefront of the latest surgery treatment for diabetes, also known as metabolic surgery. Up to 80% of individuals suffering from diabetes may be able to reduce or eliminate medication to control their blood sugar levels after a metabolic surgery. That is the reason many people are calling metabolic surgery a cure for diabetes.

Dr Shanker started the comprehensive metabolic-bariatric surgery service at Singapore General Hospital and gradually rose to be the director of the LIFE Centre. Under his leadership, the Obesity and Metabolic Unit at SGH grew exponentially, receiving approximately 1,000 referrals annually.

An ASEAN scholar, Dr Shanker read medicine at the National University of Singapore, graduating in 1995. He completed his training in general surgery in Singapore and the UK, obtaining his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow in 1999. The same year, he also obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

He underwent training in advanced keyhole surgery techniques for gastro-intestinal and vascular conditions in France and Germany in 2006-7. In Strasbourg, France, Dr Shanker completed a Diploma in Laparoscopic Surgery at the Université Louis Pasteur, accredited by the French Society of Digestive Surgery (SFCD). He was certified to operate with the daVinci surgical robot in 2007.

On his return to Singapore he performed the first laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and laparoscopic gastric bypass at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in 2008. He also performed the first laparoscopic pancreatectomy and laparoscopic-assisted aortic aneurysm repair the same year.

Dr Shanker is a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). He was the past president of the Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia (Singapore chapter) and the Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of Singapore (OMSSS). He is often invited to teach and conduct workshops locally and overseas and is an international faculty member at the Asian Institute of Telesurgery (AITS), Taiwan.