Kowkam (Shuyuan) Zhang

I’m a PhD Student in Health Systems Research (Health Economics Emphasis) at the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, University of Toronto. My research interests lie in health economics, labor economics, and environmental economics, with a particular focus on primary care, health inequality, health disparity, underserved populations, and technological innovation. To date, my work has been published in Finance Research Letters and Labor Economic Review (CSSCI-indexed), and I have several additional working papers in progress.

I earned my Master of Health Science degree (Global Health Economics Track) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and then stayed on as a full-time Research Associate at the Johns Hopkins Primary Care Policy Center. Throughout my time at Johns Hopkins, I had the privilege of working with and being advised by Prof. Leiyu Shi, who changed the course of my life. Prior to that, I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Sichuan University, where I ranked first in my major based on overall academic performance, and received the Chinese National Scholarship.

I have also maintained a long-standing interest in the translation and investment of medical technologies. As team leader, I won a National Gold Award in the Science and Technology Track of the 2025 “Chuang Qingchun” China Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition¹, and Global Silver Awards in the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition² in both 2024 and 2025. Previously, I was part of teams that won National Gold Awards in the same competition in 2022 and 2023.

As a first-generation college student, I am deeply grateful to my parents, advisors, friends, and alma mater for helping me transition from a small county in Northeast China to world-leading academic institutions.