Lydia Gan
Dr. Lydia L. Gan is currently Associate Professor of the Department of Economics, Finance, and Decision Sciences at the School of Business, University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Prior to that, she was Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, from 1998'2007, and Assistant Research Fellow at Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research in Taipei, Taiwan, from 1986'1988. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas in 1997, and earned both her Master of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Her current research interests include medical tourism, profiling of consumer behavior, Internet pricing behavior, and issues relating to intellectual property rights. Her research has been published in international journals such asEconomics e-Journal, Journal of Services Marketing, Information and Management, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, The Open Management Journal, Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, Economic Outlook, Asia Pacific Journal of Economics and Business, and Asia Pacific Business Review.
Dr. Gan is currently conducting significant research on the four modes of medical tourism, focusing on estimating its demand function and cost comparisons across countries and regions. She is also interested in the industrial organizational aspects and strategic partnership of key market players such as medical tourism facilitators, U.S. and foreign healthcare providers, and U.S. employers and insurance companies. She won the 'Best Teacher of the Division' Award from the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, in 2002, and has taught graduate courses in Managerial Economics, Foundation of Analytical Methods, and undergraduate courses in Internet Economics, Industrial Organization, Mathematical Economics, Development Economics, and the Principles of Economics. Dr. Gan was included in 'Who's Who in the World' (Marquis) in 2009 as well as in 'Who's Who in Social Sciences Higher Education (WWSSHE) in 2006. She is also a member of the American Economic Association, the Economic Society of Singapore, and the Association of Christian Economics.
Kang Chen
Dr. Chen Kang received his B.Sc. in mathematics from Xiamen University in 1982, his M.Sc. in applied mathematics from Ohio University in 1984, and his Ph.D. in economics and applied mathematics from The University of Maryland at College Park in 1990. He worked at the World Bank's Socialist Economies Reform Unit and subsequently taught at the National University of Singapore (NUS). In 1994, Dr. Chen moved to Nanyang Technological University (NTU), where he was appointed first as Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer, and later Associate Professor; he was also the Head of the Economics Division from 1999 to 2005. Dr. Chen is also the Wang Yanan Chair Professor of Economics at Xiamen University.
From 1996 to 2004, Dr. Chen was the Head of the Econometric Modelling Unit of NTU, which maintained a quarterly econometric model of Singapore, released biannual forecasts for the Singapore economy, and provided policy analyses and recommendations, which were frequently reported by major news media including Reuters, Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, and Agence France Presse. Since 2005, he has led a joint research effort to build a quarterly econometric model of China and used the model for forecasting and policy simulations. Dr. Chen has also served as a consultant to Asian Development Bank, Singapore Trade Development Board, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Housing & Development Board, Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, and several multinational corporations.
Dr. Chen has published widely on issues relating to macroeconomic modeling, economic reform and development, and the economic role of government in professional journals, including Journal of Comparative Economics, European Journal of Political Economy, China Economic Quarterly, International Journal of Public Administration, and Economic Modelling. He is author of The Chinese Economy in Transition: Micro Changes and Macro Implications (Singapore University Press, 1995). His current research interests include agent based models, macroeconomic models, and China's economic reform. Dr. Chen served as vice president of the Economic Society of Singapore and director of the East Asian Economic Association. He currently serves on the editorial board of the European Journal of Political Economy, the advisory board ofChina Economic Quarterly, and the Singapore Economic Review.