More info on Soonman Kwon

Biographical note

Soonman Kwon is Professor and Deputy Dean of the School of Public Health in Seoul National University (SNU). He is also the Director of the BK (Brain Korea) Center for Aging and Health Policy. Formerly he was the Chair of the Dept of  Health Policy and Management at SNU and the editor-in-chief of the Korean Journal of Public Health. After he received his Ph.D. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he was assistant professor of public policy at the University of Southern California in 1993-1996. Prof. Kwon has held visiting positions at the Harvard School of Public Health (Takemi Fellow and Fulbright Scholar), London School of Economics and Political Science (Chevening Scholar), University of Toronto, University of Trier in Germany (DAAD scholar), University of Bremen in Germany, and Hosei University in Japan. He is on the editorial boards of Social Science and Medicine (Elsevier), Health Economics Policy and Law (Cambridge U Press), and Health Systems in Transition (HiT from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies). He is a member of the STAC (Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee) of the WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. He is also a member of the IAC (Independent Assessment Committee) of the GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) AMC (Advance Market Commitment) (For a CV, see www://plaza.snu.ac.kr/~kwons).

Main areas of interest

Prof. Kwon's major areas of interest are in health economics and finance, comparative health policy and welfare state, pharmaceuticals, aging and long-term care, and health systems of low-income countries.  He has served on numerous health policy committees of the government of Korea, and has occasionally worked as a short-term consultant of WHO, World Bank, Asia Development Bank, and GTZ (German Technical Cooperation) to provide policy advice to the governments of Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Malaysis, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Uganda, and Vietnam. He was also a short-term consultant of Korean government to evaluate its development aid programs to Norh Korea, Ecuador, Fiji, Mexico, and Peru.