Dr. Wan-Cheng Tan is Honorary Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, since January 2004. Prior to coming to UBC, she was Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and Consultant Physician and Pulmonologist at the National University Hospital in Singapore. She earned her medical degree from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 1973, and completed her specialty training in Pulmonary Medicine at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Dr Tan is a Past President of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR). Currently, she serves as a member of the advisory group to the World Lung Health committee and the International Relations Committee of the American Thoracic Society. In addition, Dr Tan is chairperson of the Dissemination Committee and member of the Executive Committee of the Global Initiative on Asthma (GINA) and an advisory member of the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).
An author of over 140 publications in peer-reviewed journals, Dr Tan also serves as Editorial Board Member and Reviewer for various journals, including Respirology, Respiratory Medicine, Journal of COPD, Journal of the IUATLD, and CHEST. She has major research interests in the prevalence, mortality and risk factors of hospitalization in COPD, and in the implementation of asthma guidelines. Since joining UBC, she maintains an active role in epidemiological research and is the lead investigator for the multicentre BOLD [Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease] study and a Co-Principal Investigator of the longitudinal Canadian Cohort of Obstructive Lung Disease [CanCOLD] study in Canada.
