Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Calvin Ho is Associate Professor with the Monash Law School, a Research Fellow of the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law (CMEL) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), a Fellow of PHG Foundation at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health UK. He co-chairs the Expert Group of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the Ethics of Social Listening and Infodemic Management, and is an Ethics Board member of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
Prior to his current appointment, Calvin was Associate Professor with HKU Faculty of Law, and Co-Director of CMEL, which is jointly run by the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Medicine at HKU. Before this, he was Assistant Professor with the Centre for Biomedical Ethics of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore, and also Co-Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Bioethics in Singapore. Calvin has practiced law in London and Singapore with Messrs Linklaters Allen & Gledhill, and served as an Assistant Director of the Legal Aid Bureau (Ministry of Law) in Singapore.
Calvin’s research is on global health law and ethics, law and ethics in the context of emerging health technologies (with focus on Artificial Intelligence and data analytics), and on medical law and ethics. He is an editorial board member of Medical Law Review, Medical Law International and Asian Bioethics Review (formerly Editor-in-Chief). Calvin has served as an expert consultant to WHO and Health Action International, and as an expert witness of the Medical Protection Society. He is the author of Juridification in Bioethics (Imperial College Press, 2016), an author of the WHO Guidelines on Ethical Issues in Public Health Surveillance (World Health Organization, 2017), and an editor of the monographs Genetic Privacy (Imperial College Press, 2013) and Bioethics in Singapore (World Scientific, 2010).
Calvin’s current research projects includes:
- Regulation and governance of medical devices, with focus on Artificial Intelligence and digital health technologies, in respect of which he leads a research project funded by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and the WYNG Foundation, and is also involved in research projects funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Swiss National Research Foundation;
- One Digital Health, or the digitalisation of One Health initiatives in response to public / global health threats like antimicrobial resistance, funded in part by the British Academy; and
- Legal and ethical aspects of public health responses to an infodemic, with initial funding from the WHO.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Professional Certificate in Legal Tech in the Digital Era (PCLT), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Award Date: 22 Dec 2023
Law, Doctorate in Juridical Science (JSD), Cornell University
Award Date: 28 Jan 2013
Financial Economics, MSc, SOAS University of London
Award Date: 1 Aug 2009
Economic Sociology, BSc, London School of Economics and Political Science
Award Date: 1 Aug 2008
Law, LLM, Cornell University
Award Date: 1 Aug 2004
Solicitor, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Award Date: 2 Apr 2002
Advocate & Solicitor, Supreme Court of Singapore
Award Date: 31 May 1999
Law, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Aug 1998
External positions
Fellow, PHG Foundation, University of Cambridge
Dec 2023 → …
Research Fellow, Centre for Medical Ethics & Law, University of Hong Kong
Dec 2023 → …
Co-Chair, Expert Group on Ethical Considerations of Social Listening and Infodemic Management, WHO - World Health Organization (Headquarters)
Jan 2023 → …
Member, Ethics Advisory Committee, Hong Kong Genome Institute
2021 → …
Fellow, Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH)
2021 → …
Member, COVID-19 Ethics & Governance Working Group, WHO - World Health Organization (Headquarters)
2020 → …
Member, GA4GH Regulatory & Ethics Work Stream, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health
2016 → …
Member, Ethics Review Board, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) (Australia)
2015 → …
Research area keywords
- Emerging technologies
- Digital Health
- Global health
- Research ethics
- health law
- bioethics
- Public health ethics
- Genomics
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Active
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Just Transitions to contain antibiotic resistance while minimising potential burdens and harms
Lewycka, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Cheah, P. Y. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ho, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Attuire, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Kirchhelle, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Chandler, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Batheja, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Mutua, E. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ngo, H. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Weed, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Joubert, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Mo, Y. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Qekwana, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Imbach, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Gerrets, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Chan, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Molyneux, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Varadan, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Hinchliffe, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bull, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Naiga, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Ahmed, S. M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
British Academy, University of Oxford
1/01/24 → 11/12/26
Project: Research
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Clinical errors and mistakes: civil or criminal liability?
Lee, A., Anawis, M. A., Beran, R. G., Cheung, T., Ho, C. & Kim, H., Feb 2025, In: Hong Kong Medical Journal. 31, 1, p. 9-11 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Other › peer-review
Open Access -
On religious influence in bioethics: the limits of pluriversalism
Spitale, G., Germani, F., Earp, B. D., Porsdam Mann, S., Barış, M., Annoni, M., Aramesh, K., Lederman, Z., Ho, C. W. L., Caals, K., D'Imperio, A., Ienca, M., Singh, S., Spagnolo, D. & Biller-Andorno, N., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Bioethics. 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Securing the “human” in the generalization of risk stratification algorithms through the human right to science
Ho, C.W.-L., 2025, Promoting the “Human” in Law, Policy, and Medicine: Essays in Honour of Bartha Maria Knoppers. Dove, E. S., Rahimzadeh, V. & Beauvais, M. J. S. (eds.). 1st ed. The netherlands: Brill, p. 342-362 21 p. (Global Health, Human Rights and Social Justice; vol. 1).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Other › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
A just transition for antimicrobial resistance: planning for an equitable and sustainable future with antimicrobial resistance
Just Transitions for AMR Working Group, 29 Jun 2024, In: The Lancet. 403, 10446, p. 2766-2767 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment / Debate › Other › peer-review
14 Citations (Scopus) -
Capability approach to developing global health initiatives for equitable access to vaccines
Ho, C. W. L., 2024, Intellectual Property, COVID-19 and the Next Pandemic: Diagnosing Problems, Developing Cures. Sun, H. & Sunder, M. (eds.). 1st ed. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 217-239 23 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile