Alden Lai

Assistant Professor of Public Health Policy and Management

Professional overview

I study how workers exercise agency over their work lives across a range of occupational groups, from structurally disadvantaged workers to those in complex, knowledge-intensive roles. I approach this as a public health problem: the quality of jobs and work environment are important but underutilized levers for advancing people’s psychosocial health and wellbeing. My research has been published in health care and management journals, including Academy of Management Discoveries, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. I am an editorial board member for Health Care Management Review and Medical Care Research and Review, and have served as an expert for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Gallup on worker wellbeing issues. I am an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern.

At GPH, I teach courses on management, leadership, and strategy in public health.

I have worked with governments, health systems, international and non-profit organizations, corporations, and philanthropies internationally. I am currently a board member for the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation, whose mission is to foster a more globally inclusive understanding of wellbeing for research, practice, and policy.

Education

BA, Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore

MPH, Social & Behavioral Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan

PhD, Health Policy & Management (Organizational Behavior), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Honors and awards

Outstanding Early Career Educator Award, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2025)

Early Career Teaching Excellence Award, NYU GPH (2025)

Early Career Achievement Award, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2024)

“40 Under 40 in Public Health” Award, Boston Congress of Public Health (2023)

Denny Gioia Award for Best Qualitative Paper, Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, Academy of Management (2023)

“Best Paper” (top 10%), Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, Academy of Management (2023)

Goddard Faculty Award, NYU GPH (2023)

NYU GPH Leadership Development Award (2021)

19 Washington Square North Faculty Fellowship (2021)

Outstanding Paper based on a Dissertation Award, Division of Health Care Management, Academy of Management (2021)

Show Chwan Scholar in Health Care Management (2018)

Sir Arthur Newsholme Scholar (2015)

The University of Tokyo President Award (2013)

University of Copenhagen-International Alliance of Research Universities Scholar (2012)

Government of Japan Monbukagakusho Scholar (2011)

Sato-Yo International Foundation Scholar (2009)

Areas of research and study

Health Care Management

Health Care Workforce

Knowledge Workers

Primary Care

Proactivity at Work

Qualitative Research

Well-Being at Work

Work Design

Consulting and Community Engagement

1199 Benefit and Pension Funds
Ajinomoto
Ando Foundation
Ashoka
Asian Venture Philanthropy Network
Australian Sports Commission
Carnegie UK Trust
Clinical Directors Network Inc.
Columbia University Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
Diplomatic Courier
Earth Company
G1 Institute Japan
Gallup Inc.
Government of Australia, Treasury
Harvard University Human Flourishing Program
John Templeton Foundation
Katsuiku Foundation
Learned Society of Wales
National Healthcare Group
Nestle
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Bureau of Equitable Health Systems
New York City Health + Hospitals
New York City Office of Labor Relations
New York City Department of Education, Office of School Health
Nikkei
OECD Center for Well-Being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity
Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Oxford University Wellbeing Research Centre
Permanent Delegation of Japan to the OECD
PERSOL Holdings
Physician Affiliate Group of New York
Prime Minister’s Office, Iceland
Tecnologico de Monterrey, Human Flourishing Projects
Templeton World Charity Foundation
The Consumer Goods Forum
The Hastings Center
The HOW Institute for Society
The Leadership and Happiness Laboratory, Harvard Kennedy School
KRC Research and United Minds, The Weber Shandwick Collective
UNICEF Office of Global Insight and Policy
United Nations Human Development Report Office
United Nations Statistics Division
Unson Foundation
WHO Commission on Social Connection
Woodlands Health Campus
World Happiness Council

Publications

Publications

Clinician Trust in Healthcare Organizations Expert Working Group, George Washington University Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity, American Board of Internal Medicine, and The Hastings Center (2024)

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Expert consultant to OECD Report "An OECD survey of employee wellbeing: An instrument to measure employee wellbeing inside companies"

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Lai, A. Y. (2024, Feb 8). Uncertainty and Curiosity. Gallup Global Learning Day, Gallup Inc. Virtual.

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Lai, A. Y. (2024, Oct 2). Consequences of burnout and implications for equity. The Impact of Burnout on Gender Equity in Science, Engineering, and Medicine: A Workshop. Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. National Academies of Scienc

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Lai, A. Y. (2025, Apr 2). Job burnout, employee wellbeing, and work design. Latin American Initiative for Health Management and Innovation Annual Summit 2025, INCAE Business School, La Garita, Costa Rica.

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Lai. A. Y. (2024, December 5). Discussion on Mapping human flourishing research in Mexico. International Seminar on Human Flourishing in Latin America, Tecnológico de Monterrey and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Monterrey, Mexico.

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Love over gold and mind over matter? Identifying capabilities that preserve medical assistants' sustainable employability

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Love over gold and mind over matter? Identifying capabilities that preserve medical assistants’ sustainable employability

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Managing Surges in Demand : A Grounded Conceptual Framework of Surge Management Capability

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Proactive behaviors and health care workers : A systematic review

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Rural-urban disparities in the availability of hospital-based screening, medications for opioid use disorder, and addiction consult services

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Building student competencies to address healthcare’s grand challenges: Lessons from an international collaboration

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Complexifying Individualism Versus Collectivism and West Versus East : Exploring Global Diversity in Perspectives on Self and Other in the Gallup World Poll

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Delivering High-Quality Primary Care Requires Work That Is Worthwhile for Medical Assistants

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MODES OF ADJUSTMENT : THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO ORGANIZE FOR RESILIENCE

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Rural-urban disparities in the availability of hospital-based screening, medications for opioid use disorder, and addiction consult services

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Starting from scratch : New work design to enact entrance screening during the COVID-19 pandemic

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The world prefers a calm life, but not everyone gets to have one : global trends in valuing and experiencing calmness in the Gallup World Poll

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A double-edged sword : The effects of social network ties on job satisfaction in primary care organizations

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Association of Implementation and Social Network Factors With Patient Safety Culture in Medical Homes : A Coincidence Analysis

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Balance and harmony in the Gallup World Poll : The development of the Global Wellbeing Initiative module

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Balance and harmony in the Gallup World Poll: The development of the Global Wellbeing Initiative module

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Being "low on the totem pole" : What makes work worthwhile for medical assistants in an era of primary care transformation

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Challenges and Strategies for Patient Safety in Primary Care : A Qualitative Study

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Clarifying the concepts of joy and meaning for work in health care

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