Teaching & Learning

Programme(s) examined:

• Nursing (Master's degree)

Professor Sally Chan is a global healthcare educator and researcher.  She has extensive experience in the higher education sector. Sally’s career influences the tripartite mission of research, education, and practice. She focuses on translating evidence to improve healthcare practice outcomes, implementing teaching innovations, and mentoring new generations of healthcare professionals. Sally has proven ability as an academic leader. She is a highly skilled manager who maintains positive relationships with internal and external parties. Supported by more than 120 funded studies (more than US$19 million) and more than 400 publications in international healthcare journals and international presentations, Sally has developed and sustained international inter-institutional partnerships. The results of her sustained research agenda and scholarship have significantly impacted healthcare practice and education in the Region. She was the Deputy Director of the Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research from 2016-2020 at the University of Newcastle, Australia. At present, she is the Co-Director of the Translational Centre for Digital Mental Health at Tung Wah College since 2023. She has been named by the Journal of Advanced Nursing (JAN) as one of the top 10 Australian and New Zealand Professors with the highest education-focused citations (JAN 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13698).  She is on the list released by Stanford University of the World's top 2% of Scientists (2020) and the top 2% most-cited scientists in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 (Ranks 93rd in the world in the field of ‘nursing, the highest among nursing scholars in Hong Kong). She has successfully supervised 69 doctoral and master research higher degree students to completion.

Sally has rich leadership and management experience in higher education institutions. Before she returned to Hong Kong in 2021 as President of Tung Wah College, she served as the Pro Vice-Chancellor (PVC) of the University of Newcastle (UON) Singapore Campus (UON Singapore); she successfully led the University to achieve prudent growth in student population and financial capacity despite COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, she was the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery of UON in Australia from 2014 to 2019. She led the School to rank worldwide in the top 47 in Nursing (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019). The school’s research was ranked well above the world standard, and it obtained the highest score of 5 in Excellence in Research for Australia for consecutive terms in 2015 and 2018. 

Sally has served on the editorial and advisory boards of many renowned journals. She was a World Health Organization (WHO) Primary Care Consultation Group member for the Revision of ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorder. She was also a member of the Council of Deans of Nursing & Midwifery in Australia & New Zealand. Her leadership is evident in her former appointment as chair of the East Asian Forum of Nursing Scholars (EAFONS), a member of the Expert Group on Mental Health Services by the Hong Kong Government, and the National Nursing Task Force by the Singapore Government. She has also been an expert witness in the court.

Sally started her academic journey in 1992. She worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the National University of Singapore and nurtured generations of nurses over the years. She has also been a visiting professor/adjunct professor at different universities across China, Malaysia, and Australia. Besides, she has extensive experience working with multiple stakeholders from government, healthcare, education, and business sectors.

Sally has been honoured for her significant and sustained contribution to nursing, improving the profession and the people it serves. 2013, the Sigma Theta Tau International Honours Society of Nursing awarded her the ‘International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame’. She was also inducted into the American Academy of Nursing Fellows in 2013.  

Sally has extensive accolades. In 2024, she received the Hong Kong Australian Consul-General’s Outstanding Alumni Award from the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. In 2023, she received the Senior Fellowship Award from Social Enterprise Research Academy Asia. In 2022, she received the Honorary Fellowship awarded by the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing as well as Fellow Ad Eundem by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in recognition of her achievements in nursing and midwifery, healthcare, education, and research. In 2018, she received the Research Supervision Excellence Award from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle. She also received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Hong Kong College of Mental Health Nursing.  In 2017, she received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for her significant achievement and contribution to nursing development and the Hong Kong community. In 2016, she received the University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor’s Award for International Engagement and the Faculty of Health and Medicine International Award for her exceptional achievement in building and sustaining international relations and engagement for the University. 

Her extensive accolades include the Chinese University of Hong Kong 'Teacher of the Year' awards in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006, and the 'Master Teacher' in 2007 by the institute's Faculty of Medicine.