Professor Wendy Lam
Associate Professor, Head of Division of Behavioural Science, and
MPH Programme Director, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong
Director, The University of Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Cancer Care
Associate Professor, Head of Division of Behavioural Science, and
MPH Programme Director, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong
Director, The University of Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Cancer Care
Professor Wendy Lam is an Associate Professor and Head of the Division of Behavioural Sciences at the School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). She is an Academic Director of the Master of Public Health programme and Founding Director of the HKU Jockey Club Institute of Cancer Care (JCICC). She is the Past President of the International Psycho-oncology Society (IPOS), the first Asian to lead the organisation. IPOS fosters psychosocial oncology to improve care for people affected by cancer worldwide. In 2018, she led the HKU team to host the 20th IPOS World Congress, attracting over 600 participants from 58 countries. Through IPOS, she advocates integrating psychosocial care into routine cancer treatment. She was a member of the WHO Rehabilitation Programme's Peer Review Group for cancer rehabilitation interventions. She leads IPOS in establishing international consensus core competencies for psychosocial oncology care and indicators for integrating psychosocial care into cancer treatment. Regionally, Professor Lam was a Founding Member of the Asia-Pacific Psycho-oncology Network, supporting psycho-oncologists in developing evidence-based services for cancer patients and caregivers.
Professor Lam received the 2007 Hiroomi Kawano Young Investigator Award from IPOS and the 2023 Distinguished Merit Award from the International Society of Nurses Cancer Care. Her research focuses on psychosocial adaptation and service optimisation in cancer patients. She leads studies on fear of cancer recurrence, return to work after diagnosis, symptom distress screening, and cancer survivorship. She is developing a care model integrating psychosocial services into routine cancer care at JCICC. JCICC recently established Hong Kong's first cancer survivorship clinic offering post-treatment symptom management, personalised diet, and physical activity advice. She has produced over 200 outputs, co-edited the 4th Edition of Psycho-oncology Textbook, and is an Associate Editor for Psycho-oncology and Patient Education and Counselling.