Stephen Jan CV- Click Here!
My name is Stephen Jan, and I’m a Sydneysider living with my partner, three kids, and a dog. I was born in Australia and have a Chinese background. Outside of work, I enjoy cycling, cricket, and watching movies. I currently hold several academic roles, with my primary position as Director of Health Systems Science at the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney. I’m also Conjoint Professor at the University of New South Wales; Professor of Health Systems at Imperial College London; and Adjunct Professor at City University of Hong Kong and Walter Sisulu University in South Africa.
Early in my career, I had the amazing privilege of completing a PhD at the University of Sydney under Professor Gavin Mooney, a pioneering figure in health economics. Prior to my current role, I worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of Sydney, and the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation. I’ve been a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences since 2019 and was a member of the Lancet Taskforce on NCDs and Economics in 2018. I’m best known for studies examining the household economic impact of NCDs, including large multi-country cohort studies such as ACTION and EPICOR Asia. My research interests span health systems, economic evaluation, health financing, choice experiments, and health sector priority setting; with a great deal of my research being done in the Asia-Pacific, particularly India and China where I have many longstanding collaborations. Over my career, I’ve supervised more than 25 PhD students from many countries and taught hundreds of others.
Recent activities include leading a submission to the World Bank Pandemic Fund on behalf of the Solomon Islands Government, and conducting research studies such as evaluations of the Health Promoting Schools and PEN primary care programs in Fiji, benefit and financing incidence studies in Fiji, Indonesia and Timor Leste, and the NCD RESIST primary health care strengthening program in the Asia Pacific region.
● Previous involvement in IHEA activities
I have been a member of IHEA since 1999 and a regular attendee at IHEA Congresses. Over the years, I’ve contributed to scientific committees and special interest groups. At the recent Bali Congress I was involved in organising a capacity building workshop on economic modelling of infectious diseases.
● Statement on why you would like to serve on the IHEA Board and why IHEA members should vote for you
My priorities would be to:
- Encourage stronger representation of health economists and health systems researchers from under-represented regions in IHEA membership, panels, conferences, and special events; with particular emphasis on Pacific nations within my (Oceania) region.
- Strengthen regional collaboration on shared policy issues such as institutionalisation of HTA, national insurance rollout, primary health care reform, strategic purchasing, and digital health/AI technologies, supported through workshops, special events.
- Promote postgraduate and postdoctoral opportunities for early-career researchers in low and middle income countries, with a more active role for IHEA in connecting prospective students with scholarship and research sponsors and supervisors.
- Foster regional hubs that bring together health economists, government officials, civil society, and international agencies to enhance the translational impact of research at national and regional levels.
With a career working with many international institutions and across regional partnerships, I’m committed to helping IHEA become a truly global organisation that reflects the diversity of health economists across all regions. If elected to the IHEA Board, I will work to expand inclusive membership, foster regional collaboration, and champion opportunities for early-career researchers worldwide.