Professor Chao Quan earned his bachelor’s (BA) and medical degrees (BM BCh) at the University of Oxford. He did his housemanship training at the London Foundation School, UK. He completed master’s degrees in public health (MPH) and economics (MEcon) and a higher doctorate in research (MD) at the University of Hong Kong. Professor Quan is a clinical specialist in public health medicine, a Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Community Medicine, and a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (Community Medicine). Professor Quan oversees admissions and curriculum development for the Master of Public Health (MPH) Health Economics, Policy and Management concentration. He was previously an honorary physician at the Department of Family Medicine & Primary Healthcare, Queen Mary Hospital.

His research focuses on health policy, healthcare services, and health economics. His expertise in microsimulation led to the development of an externally validated lifetime simulation model for diabetes in East Asia that was subsequently applied to model the health and economic impact of achieving risk factor control across China. He has led many quasi-experimental policy analyses including the earliest impact studies of strengthening road safety policies to counteract alcohol tax deregulation and extending statutory paid maternity leave to improve maternal mental health. His work on programme evaluation of public health policies and modelling of policy interventions applies data-driven approaches to study major modifiable risk factors (such as alcohol and tobacco) and non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes and cancer).

Professor Quan has first/corresponding/last authorship publications in the top journals in the fields of health policy, health services, and healthcare sciences, including Health Affairs, PLOS Medicine, Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific, and Value in Health.

As Principal Investigator, he has been awarded over US$ 6.5 million (HK$ 50 million) including 4 GRF grants from the Research Grants Council. He has also received funding from the Health and Medical Research Fund (Research Fellowship, Investigator-initiated, and Commissioned projects) and the Department of Health.

He is an expert advisor to the World Health Organization on human genomics for public health and is a member of the Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling. He sits on the Hong Kong Government Steering Committee on Health Accounts (health financing) and serves on the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine Governing Council for Young Fellows.

Please contact Professor Quan with a resume for research opportunities: jquan@hku.hk.

Current projects:

• discrete choice experiments in health insurance
• disease-related healthcare expenditure
• health economic evaluation of screening and public health genomics
• spill-over impact of COVID-19 disruptions on healthcare for non-communicable diseases
• economics of caregiving and evaluation of district-based caregiver support

1. Andres EB, Du X, Pang SSL, Liang JN, Ye J, Lee MH, Tarrant M, Yung SS, Johnston JM, Lok KYW, Quan J. Extended paid maternity leave associated with improved maternal mental health in Hong Kong. Health Affairs. 2024 May 6. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00742
   [IF 9.7 (2022), Rank 1/87 Health Policy & Services; 2/106 Health Care Sciences & Services]
2. Zhang Y, Ong XJ, Tang S, Tang YC, Wong CT, Ng CS, Quan J. Comparison of prediction models for cardiovascular and mortality risk in people with diabetes: an external validation in 23,685 adults of the UK Biobank. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2024 Jan 31. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.15474.
   [IF 5.8 (2022), Rank 31/145 Endocrinology & Metabolism]
3. Ng CS, Au M, Kwok HHY, Lau YH, Ong XJ, Quan J. ALDH2 polymorphism, alcohol intake and the attributable burden of cancer in East Asia: systematic review, meta-analysis, and modeling study. Annals of Epidemiology. 2023 Sep 25;85:113-120.e20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2023.05.013.
   [IF 7.0 (2021), Rank 31/210 Public, Environmental and Occupational Health]
4. Ng CS, Au M, Tian LW, Quan J. Impact of alcohol taxes on violence in Hong Kong: a population-based interrupted time series analysis. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2023 Jun 1. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2022-219996
   [IF 6.3 (2021), Rank 21/182 Public, Environmental and Occupational Health]
5. Quan J, Zhao Z, Wang L, Ng CS, Kwok HHY, Zhang M, Zhou S, Ye J, Ong XJ, Ma R, Leung GM, Eggleston K, Zhou M. Potential health and economic impact associated with achieving risk factor control in Chinese adults with diabetes: a microsimulation modelling study. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. 2023 Apr 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100690
   [IF 8.6 (2021), Rank 3/109 Health Sciences & Services; Rank 10/182 Public, Environmental and Occupational Health]
6. Ng CS, Au M, Ma R, Leung JYY, Quan J. The impact of alcohol pricing policies on public health in Hong Kong, China: a modelling study. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. 2022 Sep 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2022.100510
   [IF 8.6 (2021), Rank 3/109 Health Sciences & Services; Rank 10/182 Public, Environmental and Occupational Health]
7. Ng CS, Au M, Leung JYY, Leung GM, Tian L, Quan J. The impact of road safety policies in a deregulated alcohol tax environment in Hong Kong: a 15-year time series analysis. Addiction. 2022 Mar 8. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15866
   [IF 7.3 (2021), Rank 3/37 Substance Abuse]
8. Quan J, Ng CS, Kwok HHY, Zhang A, Yuen YH, Choi CH, Siu SC, Tang SY, Wat NM, Woo J, Eggleston K, Leung GM. Development and validation of the CHIME simulation model to assess lifetime health outcomes of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in Chinese populations: A modelling study. PLOS Medicine. 2021 Jun 24. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003692
   [IF 11.1 (2020), Rank 10/169 Medicine, General & Internal]
9. Mok CH, Kwok HHY, Ng CS, Leung GM, Quan J. Health state utility values for type 2 diabetes and related complications in East and Southeast Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Value in Health. 2021 Apr 10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2020.12.019
   [IF 5.7 (2020), Rank 4/88 Health Policy & Services, 9/108 Health Sciences & Services, 24/377 Economics]
10. Eggleston K, Chen BK, Chen IY, Feenstra T, Iizuka T, Lam JT, Leung GM, Lu JR, Rodriguez-Sanchez B, Struijs J, Quan J, Newhouse JP. Are Quality-Adjusted Medical Prices Declining for Chronic Disease? Evidence from Four Health Systems. European Journal of Health Economics. 2020 Jul;21(5):689-702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-020-01164-1
    [IF 3.7 (2020), Rank 14/88 Health Policy & Services; 74/377 Economics]
11. Quan J, Pang D, Li TK, Choi CH, Siu SC, Tang SY, Wat NM, Woo J, Lau ZY, Tan KB, Leung GM. Risk Prediction Scores for Mortality, Cerebrovascular, and Heart Disease Among Chinese People with Type 2 Diabetes. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2019 Dec 1. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2019-00731
    [IF 5.6 (2018), Rank 22/145, Endocrinology & Metabolism]
12. Quan J, Zhang H, Pang D, Chen BK, Johnston JM, Jian W, Lau ZY, Iizuka T, Leung GM, Fang H, Tan KB, Eggleston K. Avoidable hospital admissions from diabetes complications in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and communities outside Beijing. Health Affairs. 2017 Nov 1. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0479
    [IF 5.7 (2018), Rank 3/81 Health Policy & Services, 3/98 Health Care Sciences & Services]