Name Card
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Professor Chan, Sophia Siu Chee 陳肇始

Title:
Senior Advisor
Professor
Principal Professional Practitioner
Master

Contact Information
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Office:
SR3 520 

Professor Chan, Sophia Siu Chee 陳肇始

Title:
Senior Advisor
Professor
Principal Professional Practitioner
Master

Research Interests:(click to check for cognate researchers)

Also Cited As:
Chan, Siu-chee, Sophia
Chan, Sophia SC
Chan, SS
Chan, S

Professional Qualifications
YearAwarding InstitutionQualification
The University of Hong KongPhD
Harvard School of Public HealthMPH
University of ManchesterMEd
The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityPRDHCE
DNA
RN
The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, United KingdomRSCN
RTN
Royal College of PhysiciansFFPH
American Academy of NursingFAAN
Biography

Professor Sophia Chan is currently the Senior Advisor to President’s Office at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and the Professor and Director to HKU Primary Health Care Academy at the University of Hong Kong.

Professor Chan was appointed by the HKSAR Government to be Under Secretary for Food and Health (USFH) from 2012 to 2017, and Secretary for Food and Health (SFH) from 2017-2022. She was the first nurse in Hong Kong appointed in this ministerial position. She has led the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) in making remarkable contribution in the formulation and implementation of various major policies on health, food and environmental hygiene and agriculture and fisheries. During her tenure as SFH, not only has she been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic over 2.5 years, she has also made exemplary efforts and policy initiatives in protecting and promoting the health of the population through major policy initiatives such as reforming a new journey in primary health care by developing District Health Centres (DHCs) in all 18 districts in Hong Kong, laying a strong foundation of developing the first Chinese Medicine Hospital, opening the first Children Hospital, launched the Hong Kong Cancer Strategy 2019, launched the Towards 2025: Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent and Control Non-communicable Diseases in Hong Kong; implemented the Hong Kong Strategy and Action Plan on Anti-Microbial Resistance 2017-2022 and prepared the 2023-2027 Strategy Plan, established the Genome Research Institute, launched the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme, and banned E-cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products in Hong Kong, just to name a few.  

Before the Government appointment, Professor Chan was the Head of Department of Nursing Studies/School of Nursing of HKU from 2000 to 2011 and an Assistant Dean of the LKS Faculty of Medicine of HKU from 2001 to 2012. Professor Chan was trained in and practised general and paediatric nursing in Hong Kong and London. She got her Master of Education from the University of Manchester, Master of Public Health from the Harvard University School of Public Health, and her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Hong Kong.

Professor Chan is one of the leading Nurse Scientists locally and internationally and was named among the world’s top 2% most cited scientists in her specialty areas by Stanford University in 2020. Her research specialises in public health, management of tobacco dependency, prevention of second-hand smoke exposure in children, and primary health care system and policy development. She has always been the top-funded researcher in HKU School of Nursing and has led many external competitive grants including GRF, HMRF, and commissioned grants from the Government, Hong Kong Jockey Club and key foundations and organisations locally and internationally. She is a pioneer and founding directors of a number of signature research and training programmes in tobacco dependency therapeutic interventions, and her research findings has transformed smoking cessation services and tobacco control policies. She developed various novel smoking cessation models through individual and clustered randomised controlled trials and compare ethno-cultural differences between Chinese and other smokers through epidemiological and social science methodologies. She proposes novel scientific insights, and has published extensively with over 240 peer-reviewed scientific papers with more than 3,800 citations. Since she resumed her professoriate position in HKU in July 2022, she has already obtained five donations to fund community-based research projects in promoting healthy ageing, testing effective primary health care models, protecting children from second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure, and nursing leadership development. She serves as Director and Principal Investigator of the Generations Connect Project, the HKU Primary Health Care Academy, Quit-for-Kids, and two new research projects on primary health care and nursing leadership development.

Professor Chan’s pedagogy has been recognised by the award of Best Teacher 1996, Faculty Teaching Medal in 2005 and Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009, one of the highest honour for teaching achievements conferred by HKU. She consults widely nationally and internationally and has represented the University and the Food and Health Bureau of the HKSAR Government in international meetings and invited by the World Health Organization to provide professional advice and leadership on their public health and tobacco control initiatives. She also serves on global academic advisory boards in nursing leadership and primary health care locally, nationally and internationally.

She was first awarded a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (through distinction) and later, an Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Physicians of United Kingdom (FFPH (RCP)(UK)). She was the first nurse in Hong Kong being awarded the Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). Locally, she was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Government for her exemplary contribution to public services; an Honorary Doctor of Social Science (honoris causa) of the Metropolitan University, Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Health Executives, Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing, and an Outstanding Alumni of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 

 
Honours, Awards & Prizes
AwardeesAward DateHonours / Awards / PrizesCategory
2011-09-01Contribution Award for Chinese in tobacco Control: 5th Cross Srait Conference on Tobacco Control
Research Achievement
2005-07-01Award on Outstanding Contribution in Tobacco Control: The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health
Research Achievement
2011-09-01Outstanding Health Promotion Project (Anti-Smoking) Award: Food and Health Bureau, HKSAR Government
Research Achievement
2009-12-01Outstanding Teaching Award, The University of Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong
Teaching Accomplishment
2005-12-01Faculty Teaching Medal: Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
Research Achievement
Jiang, C
2009-10-20Best Poster Presentation Award: "中港合作成立廣州公共醫院戒煙門診": The 3rd Cross-Strait Conference on Tobacco Control, 20-21 October 2009, Hong Kong
Research Achievement
1996-05-01Best Teacher Awards, May 1996: Medical Society, The University of Hong Kong
Research Achievement
2007-11-01Best of Journal of Nursing Scholarship, World Health Category: Sigma Theta Tau International
Research Achievement
LUK, Tzu Tsun
2019-02-01SRNT Travel Award, Chat-based instant messaging support combined with brief advice and active referral for smoking cessation in proactively recruited community smokers: a pragmatic, cluster randomized controlled trial (abstract): The Society For Research On Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) 2019 Annual Meeting, February 20-23, 2019, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Research Achievement
Chan, WF
2015-12-01Best Poster Award, Effectiveness of a Workplace Intervention to Promote Smoking Cessation in Hong Kong: The 6th Hong Kong International Nursing Forum, 10-11 December
Others
Lam, OBC
2015-12-01Best Poster Award, Incentive-Based Smoking Cessation via Quit to Win Contest (2009) in Hong Kong: The 6th Hong Kong International Nursing Forum, 10-11 December
Others
2008-01-26Clinical problem-based learning in undergraduate nursing curriculum: An evaluation of students' critical thinking : Sophia Chan, AFY Tiwari, Patil NG, D Leung, E.Wong: Best Oral Presentation Award, 5th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference, Singapore, 26-27 January 2008 : Presenter : Professor Sophia Chan on behalf of the authors
Research Achievement
Abdullah, ASM
2006-05-22Project "Establishment of a pilot anti-smoking telephone hotline for persons who want to quit or to ask questions about smoking and health" (powerpoint presentation on 22 May 2006): Outstanding Health Promotion Project Award
Research Achievement
2021-11-01The 10th HMRF Anniversary Research Achievement Award. Youth Quitline: An accessible telephone-based smoking cessation hotline for youth: Food and Health Bureau, Government of the HKSAR
Research Achievement
Professional Societies
Term PeriodPositionProfessional Societies
01/2001 - PresentInvited MemberHong Kong Academy of Nursing (HKAN) Steering Committee, Nursing Council of Hong Kong
1999 - 2004Invited MemberWorking Group on Syllabus Review, Nursing Council of Hong Kong
09/2010 - PresentRegional Director (China and East Asia)International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced Diseases (ISPTID)
03/2006 - PresentMemberScientific Committee on Efficacy, Treatobacco.net, Society on Research of Nicotine and Tobacco, USA
1998 - PresentMemberProfessional Women in Health Society Hong Kong
2010Honorary Founding FellowThe College of Nursing Management Hong Kong
01/2010 - PresentMemberSociety for the Study of Addiction
03/2005 - PresentAppointed MemberNursing Council of Hong Kong
01/2002 - PresentHonorary AdvisorHong Kong Geriatric Nurses Association
06/2001 - 05/2004MemberHigher Education Research and Development Society of Australiasia
01/2009 - 12/2010MemberInternational Advisory Board, Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL)
1993 - PresentMemberHong Kong Association for Gerontology
02/2003 - PresentHonorary AdvisorThe Association of Hong Kong Health Care Professional
2007 - 2013Elected Global Board of Trustees, Northern Part of the Western PacificInternational Union for Health Promotion and Education
2001 - PresentElected Board of TrusteesInternational Union for Health Promotion and Education
2004 - PresentReviewerResearch Grants Council, Hong Kong, Competitive Earmarked Research Grant
2000 - PresentInvited Founding Member/Secretary GeneralInternational Society for the Prevention of Tobacco-induced Diseases
03/2004 - 11/2010Appointed MemberMemberAccreditation Committee, Nursing Council of Hong Kong
2004 - PresentAppointed MemberPromotion Sub-committee of the Health Care and Promotion Fund Committee, Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, Government Secretariat
09/2010 - PresentMemberGlobal Alliance for Leadership in Nursing Education and Science (GANES)
01/2004 - PresentHonorary AdvisorHong Kong Society for Nursing Education
2005 - PresentMemberTobacco Control Network
03/2007 - PresentMemberExecutive Board, International Network of Women Against Tobacco (INWAT)
03/2000 - PresentMemberHong Kong Paediatric Nurses Association
03/2010 - PresentConvenorWorking Group on Review of Core competence and Training Requirements of Nurses, Nursing Council of Hong Kong
11/2009 - PresentMemberExpert Panel in Health Behaviour, The American Academy of Nursing
06/2002 - PresentMemberCollege of Nursing of Hong Kong, Accreditation Panel
03/2005 - 11/2010Appointed MemberRegistered Nurse General Examinationa Sub-committee, Nursing Council of Hong Kong
01/2000 - PresentHonorary AdvisorHong Kong Association of Critical Care Nurses
10/2005 - PresentAppointed MemberGrant Review Board of the Research Council, Health and Health Services Research Grant, Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, Government Secretariat
2000 - PresentMemberSociety for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
1996 - PresentAcdemic RefereeHealth and Health Services Research Fund, Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, Government Secretariat
2004 - PresentMemberAmerican Public Health Association
01/2000 - PresentHonorary AdvisorAssociation of HOng Kong Nursing Staff
03/2010 - PresentChairmanEducation Committee, Nursing Council of Hong Kong
01/2001 - 03/2010Appointed MemberEducation Committee, Nursing Council of Hong Kong
2000 - PresentCoordinatorSteering Group on Smoking Cessation Guideline, The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health
1990 - PresentHonorary Advisor and MemberCollege of Nursing of Hong Kong
01/2012 - 12/2012MemberInternational Epidemiological Association
1998 - PresentInvited MemberSigma Theta Tau, Honor Society of Nursing
10/2002 - PresentHonorary AdvisorHong Kong Community Nursing Association
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