Alden Lai

Assistant Professor of Public Health Policy and Management

Professional overview

Alden Lai studies how the jobs and work environments of health care workers can be improved to increase employee outcomes (e.g., wellbeing, retention) as well as organizational performance (e.g., program implementation, patient safety). He uses theories and frameworks from psychology, organization science, and health services research in his work. Dr. Lai's research has appeared in both management and health care journals, including Academy of Management Discoveries, Health Care Management Review, Medical Care Research and Review, and The Milbank Quarterly. He has an affiliated faculty appointment in the Department of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern.

At GPH, he teaches courses on management, leadership, and strategy in public health.

Dr. Lai has advised federal and state governments, health systems, international and non-profit organizations, corporations, and philanthropies internationally. His professional experiences include being a management consultant, social enterprise strategist, and education researcher. He currently serves as Executive Advisor to the Global Wellbeing Initiative, a collaboration between the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation and Gallup Inc. to foster a more globally inclusive understanding of wellbeing for research, practice, and policy. Dr. Lai also serves as Chair of the Health Care Research Stream for the Industry Studies Association. He is Co-Editor of an upcoming book by Springer on professional development for early career researchers. Previously, he served as Chair of the European Health Psychology Society’s early career researcher division, and was an executive committee member in the Academy of Management's Division of Health Care Management.

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

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 Workforce

Managerial Cognition

Patient Safety

Population Health

Primary Care

Proactivity at Work

Qualitative and Mixed Methods

Qualitative Research

Well-Being at Work

Consulting and Community Engagement

Asian Venture Philanthropy Network
Carnegie UK Trust
Clinical Directors Network Inc.
Earth Company
G1 Institute Japan
Gallup Inc.
Harvard University Human Flourishing Program
John Templeton Foundation
Unson Foundation
National Healthcare Group
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
New York City Health + Hospitals
New York City Office of Labor Relations
Nikkei Inc.
OECD Statistics and Data Directorate
OECD Center for Well-Being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity
Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Oxford University Wellbeing Research Centre
PERSOL Holdings
Physician Affiliate Group of New York
Templeton World Charity Foundation
The Consumer Goods Forum
Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation
Woodlands Health Campus
World Happiness Council

Publications

Publications

A multidimensional assessment of global flourishing: Differential rankings of 145 Countries on 38 wellbeing indicators in the Gallup World Poll, with an accompanying principal components analyses of the structure of flourishing

Forging hospital and community partnerships to enable care coordination for opioid use disorder

What makes proactive behaviors at work effective? Perspectives of health care executives

Barriers and Facilitators to Establishing Partnerships for Substance Use Disorder Care Transitions Between Safety-Net Hospitals and Community-Based Organizations

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

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

Proactive behaviors and health care workers: A systematic review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Thoughts

Global Trends of Mean and Inequality in Multidimensional Wellbeing: Analysis of 1.2 Million Individuals From 162 Countries, 2009–2019

Racial/ethnic disparities in the availability of hospital based opioid use disorder treatment

Setting Up for a Thriving Career

State-level unemployment and negative emotions throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States

Survival Guide for Early Career Researchers

Trends in negative emotions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Work Engagement and Patient Quality of Care: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review