It's back to teaching for Sophia Chan

The Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan Siu-chee, intends to return to her teaching position at the University of Hong Kong after leaving the government on July 1, sources say.

Before being appointed undersecretary for food and health in 2012, she was a professor in nursing and head of HKU's school of nursing and director of research, as well as assistant dean of the faculty of medicine.

Chan, 64, began as a lecturer at the HKU nursing school in 1995.

Sources say Chan will be going back to HKU after a decade of "no-pay leave" during which she served in the government as undersecretary for food and health between 2012 and 2017, and the head of the Food and Health Bureau since July 2017.

After returning to the university, Chan will continue to support the government in different capacities, sources say.

Chan was trained and practiced general and pediatric nursing in Hong Kong and London.

She holds a master's degree in education from the University of Manchester, and another master's degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her doctoral studies at HKU. Chan received awards for her research. She was awarded a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (distinction) and Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom.

She is also the first nurse in Hong Kong awarded the Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

In 2005, she was recognized with a Faculty Teaching Medal, and in 2009 she received the Outstanding Teaching Award, which is one of the highest honors for teaching achievements conferred by HKU.

Chan's research achievements include tobacco control and smoking cessation promotion. Her team of investigators was one of the top funded researchers, and she published extensively in international journals on nursing, tobacco control and public health.

She will need approval from the advisory committee on post-office employment for former chief executives and politically appointed officials for her next job after leaving the government.

Former officials are usually allowed to teach in universities after leaving the government.