Alden Lai

Alden Lai

Alden Lai

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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

Towards a greater global understanding of wellbeing : A proposal for a more inclusive measure

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Perceived Unintended Consequences of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs

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Collaborative Processes of Developing A Health Literacy Toolkit : A Case from Fukushima after the Nuclear Accident

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Prescription drug monitoring program design and function : A qualitative analysis

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Identifying teaching award criteria for health professional educators

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Leveraging Public Health Nurses for Disaster Risk Communication in Fukushima City : A Qualitative Analysis of Nurses’ Written Records of Parenting Counseling and Peer Discussions

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Health literacy training for public health nurses in fukushima : A multi-site program evaluation

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Health literacy training for public health nurses in Fukushima : A case-study of program adaptation, implementation and evaluation

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Leveraging public health nurses for disaster risk communication in Fukushima City : A qualitative analysis of nurses' written records of parenting counseling and peer discussions

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Non-adherence in patients on peritoneal dialysis : A systematic review

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Communicative and critical health literacy, and self-management behaviors in end-stage renal disease patients with diabetes on hemodialysis

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Perspectives of patients, families, and health care professionals on decision-making about dialysis modality-the good, the bad, and the misunderstandings!

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Starting on haemodialysis : A qualitative study to explore the experience and needs of incident patients

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A Global Understanding of Work Enjoyment and Individual Wellbeing

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Modes of adjustment: There's more than one way to organize for resilience

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Contact

aldenlai@nyu.edu 708 Broadway New York, NY, 10003
NYU School of Global Public Health
708 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

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