Teaching Faculty

Dr Rebecca Coles-Gale is a qualified clinical and health psychologist working in the United Kingdom with a specialist interest working in specialist palliative care, intensive care units, oncology departments and occupational health services. She offers psychological experience and expertise for people and their families in receipt of care and for staff working in each of these settings. Her skills are in offering specialist psychological assessment, one-to-one, couple and family therapy, consultation and clinical supervision, teaching and training. She is currently working for the British National Health Service (NHS) and at the same time, practising in her own private clinical psychology.

Sumy Menon spent her childhood years in Singapore but lived and worked in England for 15 years before returning home. She was called to the English Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) after she graduated with an LLM (Commercial and Corporate Law) from Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London, and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Birmingham. Prior to moving back to Singapore, she lived in London where she worked in-house reviewing, negotiating and drafting contractual agreements. She started her teaching career at the NUS Faculty of Law in 2004 in the Legal Skills Programme and on the LLM (International Business Law) Programme.

From 2008-2009, Sumy was appointed as Legal Consultant to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports to draft the Code of Practice for the new Mental Capacity Act. This sparked a developing interest for her in health law, specifically the law relating to mental capacity and end of life care.

Sumy is a Member of the Joint Steering Committee for Advanced Care Planning where the mandate is to recommend, implement and evaluate policies that pertain to the ACP programme management across the care continuum in all healthcare settings. She has delivered numerous talks and led workshops to train health professionals on the legal and ethical aspects of mental capacity and end of life care.

Dr Jan Maree Davis is an enthusiastic teacher, with a great interest in education & training in palliative medicine. She is the Director of Palliative Care Services at Calvary Hospital Sydney; she is the Area Director of the Palliative Care Services for the South-Eastern Sydney Local Health District (southern sector). She is President of the New South Wales (NSW) Society of Palliative Medicine.

She has played a major role in the design & implementation of the University of New South Wales Medical School curriculum. She is a conjoint lecturer in the UNSW School of Public Health & Community Medicine, and is actively involved in medical student teaching. She has presented at many palliative care conferences within Australia, and internationally. Dr Maree has a great interest in promoting the understanding of palliative care in culturally and linguistically diverse settings. The design and implementation of the End of Life Care Clinical Pathway Project at St George Hospital has been a major work of hers over the past more than ten years.

Liese Groot-Alberts is a grief-therapist in private practice, a lecturer, public speaker, clinical supervisor and team-trainer. Her passion is working with people who are dealing with trauma, loss and bereavement. Liese has specialised in conducting training and seminars in trauma, loss, grief and bereavement as well as palliative care and resilience in the workplace. She also conducts public speaking engagements on topics such as: Facilitating Hope, Strengthening Resilience, Mindfulness, Empathy and Compassion. In her speaking presentations she uses images, poetry, humour and music on the topics presented.

Professor Chow is the Head of the Department, Si Yuan Professor in Health and Social Work and Master of the University’s New College. She has a background as a registered social worker specializing in bereavement counselling and is the founder of the first community-based bereavement counselling centre in Hong Kong. She has formerly acted as Secretary of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and Board Member of the Asia Pacific Hospice Network (APHN). As a recognised translational scientist in thanatology, Professor Chow was elected as the Chairperson of the prestigious International Workgroup on Death, Dying and Bereavement. Currently, within the university, Professor Chow is the Director of the Jockey Club End-of-Life Community Care Project and Associate Director of Sau Po Centre of Ageing. She serves the Lotteries Fund Advisory Committee as well as Boards of Directors of other NGOs in Hong Kong. She is also the first and current Chairperson of the Steering Committee of the Hong Kong Academy of Social Work.
Professor Chow’s scholarship and contribution to social work practice have been recognized by the following awards: Cross-Cultural Award, (ADEC) (2005); Cadenza Fellowship (2008); Best Abstract Award (Researcher) (2010); Distinguished Alumni Award (2013) (CUHK); Rainbow of Life Outstanding Individual Award (2013); Outstanding Social Worker Award (2014); Outstanding Teaching Award of the University of Hong Kong (2014); Outstanding Research Output Awards (2017-2018) (University of Hong Kong) and Research Recognition Award (ADEC) (2020).

Dr Gilbert Fan, RSW, FAPA is a Clinical Supervisor (Satir), Fellow of the American Psychotherapy Association (USA), Registered Social Worker and Member of the International Workgroup on Death, Dying & Bereavement. He is appointed Master Social Work Practise Leader by the Ministry of Social & Family Development (2015 to Mar 2020) and Fellow of the Social Service Institute (2016 – 2019; 2020-2023). Gilbert’s professional doctorate is in Social Work & Future Studies. He has extensive experience as medical social worker, having worked in both general and tertiary hospitals and a short teaching stint at the Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) lecturing in Behavioural Sciences. He continues to teach in various capacities in social work and counselling programmes at both local and foreign universities namely the National University of Singapore (NUS) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He is appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor in Social Work, NUS with effect from Jan 2023.
Gilbert is currently the Chair for Volunteer Engagement, Institution Wellness Officer, Master MSW of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology, and HR Counsellor & Trainer (Employee Relations), Human Resource at the National Cancer Centre Singapore. His clinical interest is in griefwork, experiential counselling and groupwork, particularly in the application of experiential counselling of patients with advanced cancers. His research interests include the study of coping behaviours, meaning making and intervention models in cancer care.

Dr Noreen Chan is based in the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) where she heads the palliative care service at the National University Hospital. She received her medical training in England, Singapore and Australia, and is a passionate advocate for education and training at all levels. Her other interests include the interface between oncology and palliative care, spiritual care, clinical decision making and ethics at the end of life. Her goal is access to palliative care for all who need it, when and where they want it.

Dr Chan Mei Yoke graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1987 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). She trained in Paediatrics and obtained her Masters of Medicine (Paediatrics) from the Postgraduate Medical School in National University of Singapore in 1992 and her Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) (London) in 1994. From 1993 to 1997, she trained in Paediatric Haematology/Oncology in Royal Marsden Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, United Kingdom. She has been a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (FRCPCH) since 2010. She has also been a Specialist in Palliative Medicine since 2010.

She has a special interest in the holistic care of children with cancer and other chronic life-limiting illnesses, which encompasses palliative and hospice care, as well as attention to the psychosocial aspect of care. She also has a keen interest in clinical ethics and obtained a Masters in Bioethics from Harvard University in 2022.

Dr Chan is currently Senior Consultant in Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Paediatric Palliative Service in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore; and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at National Technological University and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Centre for Biomedical Ethics in National University of Singapore. She is currently the Chairman of the KKH Clinical Ethics Committee.