Zhanming Liang

Dr. Liang joined James Cook University (JCU) at the beginning of 2021 and established the JCU Health Management Group in early 2022. With a vision of providing targeted and effective management training for health managers and developing health management research capacity in Northern Queensland and the Asia-Pacific region, Dr. Liang has made significant contributions to the field. 

As a leading researcher in health service management competency studies, Dr. Liang heads the Management Competency Assessment Partnership (MCAP) Program. This initiative has resulted in the development and validation of an evidence-based Managerial Competency Assessment Tool, which assesses the competence of middle and senior-level managers in the health sector, providing evidence to guide management training and development. Over the past three years, Dr. Liang has collaborated with partners in China, Iran, New Zealand, Norway and Thailand to build capacity in health service management training, education, and research in these countries. In the past two years, she has expanded the work to the Veterinary industry to build leadership and management capability of veterinary care. 

In her role as President of the Society for Health Administration Programs in Education, Dr. Liang has played a pivotal role in shaping health service management training and development in the Asia-Pacific region. Her expertise extends to teaching and researching in areas such as evidence-informed decision-making, health management workforce development, healthcare quality and safety, and program planning and evaluation.

Dr. Liang has published extensively in the areas of leadership, management, and health system development. Her notable work includes co-authoring the book Project Management in Health and Community Services: Getting Good Ideas to Work, which has been adopted as a textbook by the majority of Master of Health Administration Programs in Australia. The book's 2nd edition was translated into Mandarin and published by The People’s Medical Publishing  House in China in 2018, with the 4th edition set to be published in early 2025.

Prior to her academic career, which began in 2005, Dr. Liang worked in diverse roles including as a medical practitioner, planning and evaluation consultant, and senior health service manager.

Industry Project Grant from 2023 onward: 

2024 - $34,555   'Building PHN’s capacity in leading and managing health commissioning' from Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Networks

2023 - 2024 - $23,000 - 'Building hospital leadership and management capacity' from Jianghai District Health Department 

2023 - $45,000 - 'Developing leadership and management capacity in the Veterinary Industry - a pilot study' from five industry partners for project 

2023 - $5500 - 'Supporting emergency team effectiveness' from JCU Vet for the project 

External PhD supervision as secondary supervisor (MCAP study in Norway and New Zealand)

‘Leadership competency in the health service’, Molde University College, Norway. Since Feb 2022

‘Leadership competency development amongst nursing directors’, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Since March 2023