Events
CUHK 50th Anniversary Fair Public Lecture by Prof. Emily Chan on "Evidence-based health & medical intervention: How do we do our work in rural ethnic minority communities in China?"
19 Apr 2013
7:00pm
Lecture Theatre, Hong Kong Central Library
Prof. Emily Chan
Professor Chan qualified both as a biomedical engineer and a physician and had undergone academic training in Johns Hopkins University, Harvard School of Public Health, Hong Kong University and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Professor Chan joined the Faculty of School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006 and has been teaching and conducting research in climate change and health, disaster medicine, injury and violence, research methodology, and assessment and evaluation for medical humanitarian assistance in resources deficit settings. She is currently an Associate Professor, as well as the Project-in-Charge of the Public Health Humanitarian Initiatives and Convener of the Climate Change and Health Study Group. In addition, she is an honorary research fellow (emerging infections and emergency preparedness) at Nuffield department of clinical medicine, University of Oxford. Apart from being a public health expert, she has been involved in research projects in humanitarian actions and development and has wide ranging experience with NGOs. She was awarded the Hong Kong Humanity Award in 2007.
In 2011, Professor Chan established the Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response (CCOUC) and serves as the Director. The Centre collaborates with various regional and international institutes to examine human health outcomes in post-disaster or disaster-prone setting, disaster preparedness and response planning, clinical effectiveness of psychological first aid, medical humanitarianism and the relationship of climate change and community help-seeking behavior and risk perception.
In China, non-Han Chinese account for up to 8% of the population and disproportionally live in disaster-prone areas or terrains with extreme climate conditions. With limited community resources, these population subgroups do not always perceive the importance of disaster preparedness and are often left to fend for their own survival.
Prof Emily Chan launched an ‘Ethnic Minority Health Project’ together with her colleagues and students in CUHK with the aim to empower the most marginalized section of Chinese society with evidence-based public health interventions. Over the past few years they have been trailing the rugged landscapes of Gansu, Sichuan, Hainan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces to build disaster and health resilience in local communities. In this public lecture, Prof Chan will share the experience of knowledge transfer, and the passion and challenge of working in these neglected pockets in China.
To view the programme schedule of the 50th Anniversary Fair, please click here.
