In May 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of medicine by the Board of Research at Karolinska Institutet. The award was given for Yeo's efforts in building medical research and education in Singapore, in collaboration with leading universities throughout the world, including Karolinska Institutet. He was also cited for helping to catalyse collaborative agreements between Karolinska Institutet and A* STAR, and between Karolinska Institutet and the National University of Singapore. These agreements led to significant exchanges of researchers and students between Singapore and Sweden.