David Phillips - Biography#
David R Phillips (BScEcon, PhD, University of Wales) has been Chair Professor of Social Policy at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, since 1997 and Academic Dean of Social Sciences, 2004-2010. He was Head of the Department of Politics and Sociology from 1999 to 2004. Between 2004 and 2008, he was also concurrently Academic Dean of Humanities.
His research and teaching interests are in social policy and behavioural science especially in relation to social gerontology, social epidemiology and health and health. Specific current research interests include social welfare, social protection and pensions; work-life balance; older consumers; global health transitions and health services requirements, and the environment and health. At Lingnan University, he established the Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS) in 1997 and was Founder Co-ordinator of the Asia Ageing Research Network of the Asian Development Research Forum, supported by Canada’s IDRC. Prior to his Lingnan service, from 1990-1994, he was Director of the Institute of Population Studies at the University of Exeter, Reader in Health Studies from 1992, and Director of its World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre in Human Reproduction. From 1994 to 1997, he was Professor of Human Geography at the University of Nottingham, Head of Department, 1996-97, and Director of its WHO Collaborating Centre for Spatial Health Modelling.
He has extensive research experience in Hong Kong and many Asian, African and Caribbean countries. He has current research interests in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and several other Asia-Pacific countries. He has held visiting appointments or external examinerships at universities including the University of Hong Kong, the National University of Singapore, the University of the West Indies and the University of Ulster. He is currently an honorary (adjunct) professor at the University of Nottingham, UK, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia and McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. He was elected Fellow of the Academia Europaea in 1995 and a Corresponding Member of the Royal Belgian Academy of Overseas Sciences in 2008. He has frequently been an adviser or resource person to United Nations organizations such as UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the WHO. He was a member (2006-7) of the US National Academy of Sciences (Washington, DC) review panel of the WHO’s Social Determinants of Adult Health and Mortality. He has recently been involved in research and/or training with the Lingnan Work/Life Balance and Stress Management team. Projects have included occupational health, work-life balance and well-being for a number of organizations in Hong Kong including major corporations, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, the Hong Kong Airport Authority and the Hong Kong Police.
David Phillips has been a Chair of the International Geographical Union Commission on Health, Environment and Development, a Council Member of the Hong Kong Association of Gerontology and he has been a Non-Executive Director of a UK National Health Service family health services authority. He is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Hong Kong College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. From 1989 to 2006, he was an advisory editor to Social Science and Medicine. He is currently Asian regional advisor for Health and Place, an executive editor of the Asian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics and board member of Ageing International and Economía, Sociedad y Territorio. He was previously an editorial board member of International Journal of Population Geography, Asian Geographer and The British Journal of Family Planning. He has published over one hundred and fifty papers and chapters and many reports and occasional papers.
