ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9792-2372
Scopus Author ID: 57211628895
ResearcherID: B-4611-2018
Google Scholar Profile: 7KMr2j8AAAAJ

Metrics for Academic and Research Impact

• Ph.D. (2017-2022), University of Toronto, Canada
• Visiting Academic (2024), University of Oxford, UK
• Visiting Scholar (2025), Harvard Medical School, USA

• 2022.09 to Present: Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong
• 2024.05 to 2024.08: Visiting Academic, Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford
• 2025.06 to 2025.08: Visiting Research Scholar, Brigham and Women's Hospital-Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School

Prof. Lin, Shen (Lamson) holds the visiting academic position at the University of Oxford's Institute of Population Ageing (May to July 2024). As the principal investigator, Prof. Lamson Lin is currently leading a Health Bureau-funded Project eHealth for Healthy Ageing (2025-2027) to leverage inclusive digital healthcare solutions for older adults in the HK community. Prof. Lamson Lin has served as the Associate Editor for npj Digital Public Health (Springer Nature Journal) since 2025.

Prof. Lamson Lin joined the City University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor (tenure-track) in 2022, right after completing his doctoral education in Canada (2017 - 2022). Prof. Lamson Lin earned his Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto (UofT)'s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW), where he received a competitive 5-year doctoral fellowship (for international trainees) from UofT.

With interdisciplinary training in social work (FIFSW), gerontology (Institute for Life Course & Aging), and population health (Dalla Lana School of Public Health), Lamson's scholarship centers around social determinants of health (in)equity, population ageing, and artificial intelligence methodologies to social sciences. Before joining CityU, he was a course instructor teaching Social Work Practice in Health (MSW postgraduate course) at FIFSW in 2020.

Prof. Lin's research article on vaccine hesitancy and stigma during the COVID-19 pandemic won 2023 GADE Student Award for Social Work Research in the United States. His research on pandemic loneliness was featured by CityU News in 2022. Prof. Lin now serves as the mentor for HK Tech 300 (CityU's flagship entrepreneurship programme) for two seed fund teams.

Scholarly Interest: As a gerontologist and social epidemiologist, Prof. Lamson Lin's research aims to advance healthy ageing via statistical and machine learning techniques to examine how social and structural determinants (e.g., race/ethnicity, migration, disadvantaged socioeconomic status/poverty) influence disparities in health care access/utilization (e.g., mental health consultations, unmet care needs, long-term care services) and health equity (e.g., multimorbidity, chronic illness, functional disability, depression) among older adults. Additionally, his scholarship investigates risk and protective factors through which the COVID-19 pandemic affects individuals' psychosocial well-being (e.g., anxiety disorders, loneliness, stigma, and vaccine hesitancy). 

Research Impact: To date, Prof. Lamson Lin has published 22 SCI/SSCI-indexed scholarly articles, and his eleven representative papers (i.e., single-authored) can be found in top-tier peer-reviewed journals across health and social sciences, including the Journal of Affective Disorders, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (Oxford University Press), Ageing & Society (Cambridge University Press), Journal of Social Work, Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. He also provided consultancy services for the Government of Canada's Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for a funded research project on "Interventions to Mitigate COVID-19 Related Mental Health Risks".

Editorship: Prof. Lin serves as an Associate Editor for the Springer Nature journal - npj Digital Public Health.  He is also an editorial board member of the Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (HSS Communications, SSCI-indexed, 2-year IF=3.5). He is guest editing a Collection (special issue) on the topic: Humanising epidemiology: non-medical investigations into epi/pandemic phenomena (Call for submission). 

Knowledge Transfer: Lamson's research has been featured by multiple international media channels, including MIC News (09-Feb-2022), Miami Herald (11-Feb-2022), News Medical, Neuroscience News, CTV News (24-Jan-2020), Toronto Star (16-May-2022), Research2Reality (01-Dec-2022), Healthing.ca (08-Nov-2022).

Awards: Prof. Lamson Lin has received multiple academic awards from professional organizations in North America, including the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE) - 2023 GADE Student Award for Social Work Research; the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) - 2018 Best Abstract Award (Gero-Ed Track); Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR)- 2019 Travel Grant; Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers (SRHP)- 2019 Best Original Research Award; and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) - 2020 Travel grant for CPHA Conference.

Collaboration & Opportunities: Prof. Lamson Lin welcomes students, potential Ph.D. trainees, and scholars with shared research interests as well as a social justice lens to join his research team, in which innovative, leading-edge, and equity-driven population health research is nurtured. We celebrate the success and impact of researchers shaping the frontiers of health and social sciences. Please see "Positions Available" above to join Prof. Lamson Lin's research Lab - Pursuing Equitable Ageing Research Lab (the PEARL).

Representative papers: Sole or First authored (N=13)

Notes: IF=impact factor; * indicates corresponding author; SCI=Science Citation Index Expanded; SSCI=Social Science Citation Index; JCR=Journal Citation Reports

1. Lin, S. Lamson* (2024). Immigrant and Racialized Populations’ Cumulative Exposure to Discrimination and Associations with Long-Term Conditions During COVID-19: A Nationwide Large-Scale Study in Canada. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (SSCI, JCR Q2, 54/180 Public, Environmental & Occupational Health, IF=3.9). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-024-02074-1

2. Lin, S. Lamson* (2024). Inequities in Mental Health Care Facing Racialized Immigrant Older Adults with Mental Disorders despite Universal Coverage: A Population-based Study in Canada, Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences (SCI & SSCI, IF=6.2, JCR Q1, 5/37 Gerontology,中科院分區-老年醫學1區-醫學2區Top). https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad036
3. Lin, S. Lamson* (2023). Healthy immigrant effect or under-detection? Examining Undiagnosed and Unrecognized Late-life Depression for Racialized Immigrants and non-immigrants in Canada, Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences (SCI & SSCI, IF=6.2, JCR Q1, 5/37 Gerontology, 中科院分區-老年醫學1區-醫學2區Top).  https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad104
4. Lin, S. Lamson* & Fang L. (2023) Chronic care for all? The Intersecting Roles of Race and Migration in Shaping Multimorbidity, Primary Care Coordination, and Unmet Healthcare Needs among Older Canadians, Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences  (SCI & SSCI, IF=6.2, JCR Q1, 5/37 Gerontology, 中科院分區-老年醫學1區-醫學2區Top). https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac125
5. Lin, S. Lamson* (2022). The “loneliness epidemic”, intersecting risk factors and relations to mental health help-seeking: a population-based study during COVID-19 lockdown in Canada. Journal of Affective Disorders (SCI & SSCI, IF=6.53, JCR Q1,中科院分區-醫學2區Top). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.08.131
6. Lin, S. Lamson* (2022). Generalized anxiety disorder during COVID-19 in Canada: Gender-specific association of COVID-19 misinformation exposure, precarious employment, and health behavior change.Journal of Affective Disorders (SCI & SSCI, IF=6.53, JCR Q1, 中科院分區-醫學2區Top).   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.100
7. Lin, S. Lamson*, (2021) Access to health care among racialized immigrants to Canada in later life: A theoretical and empirical synthesis, Ageing & Society (SSCI, IF=3.71, Q2)., 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X20001841
8. Lin, S. Lamson* (2022). COVID-19 pandemic and im/migrants’ elevated health concerns in Canada: Vaccine hesitancy, anticipated Stigma, and risk Perception of accessing care. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (SSCI, IF=2.01, Q3). https://org/10.1007/s10903-022-01337-5
9. Lin, S. Lamson* (2022). Functional disability among middle-aged and older adults in China: the intersecting roles of ethnicity, social class, and urban/rural residency. International Journal of Aging and Human Development (SSCI, IF=2.24, Q3). https://doi.org/10.1177/00914150221092129
10. Lin, S. Lamson*, (2021). Social work indigenization in Mainland China: Towards a state-led decolonizing framework, Journal of Social Work (SSCI, IF=2.29, Q2). https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017320981707
11. Lin, S. Lamson* (2020). Inequities in Access: The Impact of a Segmented Health Insurance System on Physician Visits and Hospital Admissions Among Older Adults in the 2014 China Family Panel Studies. International Journal of Health Services (SSCI, IF=1.85, Q4), 50(2), 184-198. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731419867529
12. Lin, S. Lamson*, Kobayashi K., Hongmei T., Davison, K. M., Simran R. A., Fuller-Thomson E (2020). Close Relations Matter: The Association between Depression and Refugee Status in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (SSCI, IF=2.05, Q3). https://org/10.1007/s10903-020-00980-0
13. Lin, S. Lamson* (2018) “We work like ants…we avoid being troublemaker”: An exploratory inquiry on resilience of Chinese street vendors in the urban village, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy (ESCI, IF=2.7), https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-01-2018-0008

Co-authored papers (N=9)

1. Hongmei T., Lung. Y., Lin, S. Lamson, Kobayashi K., Davison, K. M., Fuller-Thomson E* (2021). Refugee Status is Associated with Double the Odds of Psychological Distress in mid-to-late life: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)Canadian Refugees, International Journal of Social Psychiatry (SSCI, IF=10.46). https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020971003
2. Davison, K.M., Hyland, C.E., West, M.L., Lin, S. Lamson, Kobayashi K., Hongmei T., Fuller-Thomson, E*. (2021).Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in older adults differs by immigrant status and ethnicity, nutrition, and health characteristics in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.56 (SSCI, IF=4.52). 963–980. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-02003-7
3. Davison K.M.*, Thakkar V, Lin, S. Lamson, Stabler L, MacPhee M, Carroll S, Collins B, Rezler Z, Colautti J, Xu C, Fuller-Thomson E, Hey B, Kelly K, Mullaly L, Remick R, Ravindran A, Paric A, D’Andreamatteo C, Smye V. (2021) Interventions to Support Mental Health among Those with Health Conditions that Present Risk for Severe Infection from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Scoping Review of English and Chinese-Language Literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (SSCI, IF=4.61). 18(14):7265. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147265
4. Stabler, L., MacPhee, M., Collins, B., Carroll, S., Davison, K.*, Thakkar, V., & Lin, S. Lamson, Hey, B. (2021). A rapid realist review of effective mental health interventions for individuals with chronic physical health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic using a systems-level mental health promotion framework. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (SSCI, IF=4.61), 18(23), 12292. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312292
5. Davison, K. M., Y., Lin, S. Lamson ,Kobayashi K., Hongmei T., Fuller-Thomson, E.* (2020) Psychological distress in older adults linked to immigrant status, dietary intake, and physical health conditions in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), Journal of Affective Disorders (SCI, IF=6.53) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.01.024 
6. Fuller-Thomson, E., Davison, K. M., Lin, S. Lamson, Kobayashi K., Hongmei T., (2020) Nutrition, Immigration and Health Determinants are Linked to Verbal Fluency among Anglophone Adults in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA),  Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging (SCI, IF=5.8), 24,672–680 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1402-8
7. Davison, K. M., Lin, S. L., Tong, H., Kobayashi, K. M., Mora-Almanza, J. G., & Fuller-Thomson, E*. (2020). Nutritional Factors, Physical Health and Immigrant Status Are Associated with Anxiety Disorders among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Findings from Baseline Data of The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (SSCI, IF=4.61), 17(5), 1493.. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051493      
8. Davison, K. M., Yu, L., Lin, S. Lamson. Kobayashi K., Hongmei T., Fuller-Thomson, E.* (2019), Depression in middle and older adulthood: The role of immigration, nutrition, and other determinants of health in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, BMC Psychiatry (SSCI, IF=4.14), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2309-y
9. Ngai, S. Y.*, Cheung, C. K., Yuan, R., Lin, S. Lamson. (2016). Work motivation of unemployed youths: Moderating effects of financial dependence on parents, Children and Youth Services Review (SSCI, IF=2.39), 71, 157-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.11.005

Welcome to Pursuing Equitable Ageing Research Lab (the PEARL)!

We have ample learning opportunities here to make progress together.

Please email your application package directly to Dr. Shen (Lamson) Lin ([email protected]). 

I. Student helpers/Internship opportunities (for undergraduate/postgraduate students): Please email your CV 

II. Research Assistant

(for master's degree holder): Please email your CV; Researchers with training in biostatistics (e.g., with an MSc degree in Biostatistics) are strongly encouraged to apply. A competitive salary package will be provided.

III. Ph.D. student positions with a full scholarship

1) Prestigious HKPFS fellowship (HKD$27,600 per month)

The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) aims to attract the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their PhD studies in Hong Kong's universities.

• • Application: Outstanding candidates are strongly encouraged to approach me earlier by October (the latest) for this competition. Applicants could choose only one HK university as the hosting institute for the HKPFS application. The applicant also needs to submit the initial application for HKPFS to RGC’s online system by 12:00 noon HK time on December 01.
  • Criteria: 1) Academic excellence (i.e., GPA >3.8/4); research ability (e.g., top-tier publications); 2) Cultural diversity (e.g., international or exchange backgrounds); 3) Leadership abilities (volunteering experiences); 4) Communication and interpersonal skills (strong reference letter). 
  • Benefits: The Fellowship provides awardees with a monthly stipend of HK$27,600 (~US$3,538) and a conference & research-related travel allowance of HK$13,800 (~US$1,760)

    Fellowship recipients at CityU will be awarded a scholarship which covers students' tuition and on-campus hostel accommodation fees in their first year of research studies.   

  • Department nomination due date: December 01 every year.
  • For more information, please check this link

2) Normal Route Admission (HKD$ 17,800 per month)

Please email your research interests, CV, writing sample, English-language test (if applicable), and solid statistical skills preferred. 

• • Application: Please approach me earlier by November 25 for this competition. 
  • Criteria: Academic performance: GPA >3.5 out of 4; > 85 average scores; English: valid IELTS test (>6.5 for overall and all sub-categories), except for those with overseas degrees.
  • Department nomination due date (for main round intake): December 08 each year. 

3) Joint PhD program with National Taiwan University (Social Work)

4) Joint degree with Mainland University

• • Eligibility: 9 partnered universities (and 14 partner universities in collaboration restricted to limited A+/A disciplines).
  • Students should be current PhD students at these partner universities (or be admitted to a PhD student  in the upcoming academic year)
  • Application: 1) Students should first notify and discuss this joint program with their own supervisors; 2) After seeking approval from the supervisor, you could then connect me via Email with your supervisor; 3) submit the application materials to both CityU and your home university latest by November 30, 2023. 
  • Duration: Joint PhD Programme is 4 years. Students will study at their home university, CityU’s main campus in Hong Kong and designated study locations in Mainland China.
  • Benefits: The monthly studentship is HK$17,800* (~US$2,282) during studies at the Hong Kong main campus of CityU, RMB3,000 during studies at USTC–CityU Joint Advanced Research Centre (Suzhou) and RMB5,000 during studies at CityUSRI (Shenzhen).
  • English: a minimum TOEFL score of 88 (internet-based test), with a minimum of 21 for Reading, 21 for Listening, 25 for Writing, and 21 for Speaking; or a minimum IELTS 6.5 for overall band score and for the sub-categories of Writing, Speaking, Listening and Reading. 

IV. Postdoctoral fellowship positions

Please email your CV, research interest, writing sample/representative publications, and prior experience in grant proposal writing. 

• Healthy Ageing: Social Medicine; Gerontology; Geriatric psychiatry; Multimorbidity; Late-life mental disorders; Long-term care 
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: Cross-cultural/Multicultural social work; Immigrant & ethnic minority health; Anti-discriminatory practice
• Health Inequality: Social determinants of health & illness; Health service research; Social epidemiology
• COVID-19 Pandemic: Pandemic anxiety; Pandemic loneliness; Social isolation; Infodemic; Health behavioural changes
• Statistical Methods: Large-scale population-based survey; Quantitative Intersectionality; Machine Learning/Artificial intelligence

Teaching & Supervision:  Prof. Lamson Lin teaches undergraduate- and postgraduate-level courses in health and social sciences (5 courses in Sem B 2023), in which he embraces a student-centered pedagogy that provokes critical thinking and an evidence-based practice-informed approach. He is now supervising three postgraduate students' master's thesis projects, mentoring four doctoral students (as teaching assistants), and sitting on the dissertation supervisory committee of one doctoral student at CityU. 

Undergraduate Courses (Course leader role): 

1. SS3285 - Human Behaviour in Social Environment (2022/23 Sem B)
2. GE2226 - Ageing Society: HK & Beyond (2022/23 Sem B)
3. GE1226 - Youth in a Changing Society (2022/23 Sem B)
4. SS1012 - Youth in a Changing Society (2022/23 Sem B)
5. SS5111 - Social Welfare Policy System and Reform [Tutorial] (2022/23 Sem B)

Postgraduate Courses (Course leader role):

1. SS6403 -  Master’s Integrative Projects (2022/23 Sem B)
2. SS5212 - Human Behaviour and Diversity (2022/23 Sem A)

Associate Editor

• npj Digital Public Health - Springer Nature Journal

Editorial Board Member

• Humanities & Social Sciences Communications - Springer Nature Journal - SSCI-indexed (Impact factor=3.5)

Reviewer

• Journals of Gerontology Series B (SSCI-indexed)
• Psychological Medicine (SSIC-indexed)
• American Journal of Preventive Medicine (SSIC-indexed)
• British Journal of Social Work (SSIC-indexed)