Cheng Chow

Cheng Chow is a current doctoral student at Steve Hicks School of Social Work, and a recipient
of the Graduate School Fellowship. Cheng completed his Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Social
Work and Social Administration at The University of Hong Kong, and his Bachelor of Social
Science in Sociology with First Class Honors at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Born and
raised in a migrant family, Cheng experienced marginalization, discrimination, and exclusion first
as a left-behind child of migrant parents and later as an immigrant himself. These personal
experiences motivated him to advocate for (im)migrant communities.

Cheng served as a community outreach coordinator in Hong Kong, partnering with nonprofits to
support immigrant integration and advocate for their rights. He later became a regional migration
health officer at the International Organization for Migration (IOM, UN Migration Agency), where
he collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNHCR, and other
international partners to deliver comprehensive health programs aimed at improving the physical,
mental, and social well-being of migrants and vulnerable populations across the Asia-Pacific
region. Cheng has also engaged in humanitarian efforts to provide health assistance to crisis-
affected populations, including those experiencing forced migration in low-resource settings.
As a social work researcher, Cheng aims to serve and empower immigrants as well as racial and
ethnic minorities through investigating: 1) how structural racism, civil discrimination, and other
institutional factors contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes; 2) how social
policy reflects and shapes an ideological environment that intertwines with other social
determinants of health and influences the categorization of immigrants, impacting their social and
economic well-being; 3) how to achieve global health equity by including immigrants, refugees,
and other vulnerable populations in comprehensive health frameworks for action.

Cheng is proud to be a first-generation college graduate and was awarded the APPAM Equity &
Inclusion Student Fellowship for his outstanding contributions to research on immigrant and
marginalized communities. His work has appeared in migration and health journals such as the
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and Social Science & Medicine. Cheng aims to translate
research into community resources, fostering an environment of inclusivity and social justice for
immigrants and other marginalized populations. Fittingly, the name Cheng translates into social
justice in his native language, and he strives to inspire the next generation to become changemakers
for greater social impact.