Zhanming Liang

Dr. Liang is an accomplished academic and leader in health service management. With a focus on transforming health management education and research in Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific regions, Dr. Liang is dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of health management through evidence-based training and research initiatives.

As a pioneer in health management competency research, Dr. Liang leads the Management Competency Assessment Partnership (MCAP) Program, which developed and validated the Managerial Competency Assessment Tool - a groundbreaking instrument that evaluates the competencies of health service managers. This tool provides essential data to inform health management development and strategies in building management capacity at the organisation and system levels. Over the past ten years, Dr. Liang has partnered with institutions in China, India, Iran, Norway, New Zealand and Thailand, and to strengthen health service management training, education and research in these countries.

Dr. Liang is founder of the JCU Health Management Group and also President of the Society for Health Administration Programs in Education (SHAPE), where she plays a pivotal role in shaping health service management training across the Asia-Pacific. Her expertise spans areas such as evidence-based decision-making, health workforce development, organisation management capacity building, healthcare quality, and project management.

An extensive scholar, Dr. Liang has authored numerous publications on leadership, health system development, and management. Notably, she co-authored the widely used evidence-informed textbook Project management in health and community Services: a contemporary guide to practice, now in its 4th edition, with the 2nd edition translated into Mandarin and published in China. This book is a key resource in Master of Public Health and Master of Health Administration programs across Australia.

Before transitioning to academia, Dr. Liang held senior roles as medical practitioner, health planning consultant and senior health managers, bringing a wealth of practical experience to her research and teaching. After serving as Associate Dean, Research Education for the College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences for 4 years, she joined the College of Business, Law and Governance (CBLG) in January 2025 with a mission of strengthening CBLG's expertise in health system and organisation management development research and training.

Dr. Liang was honored with the La Trobe University Chancellor's Award in 2021 for her outstanding efforts during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Industry Project Grant since 2023

• 2025 - $200,000 'Developing a National Health Commissioning Training program' from National Primary Health Cooperative.
• 2024 - $46,654 'Developing a model for multidisciplinary team-based care for General Practice (Phase one)'
• 2024 - $34,555 'Building PHN's capacity in leading and managing health commissioning' from Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Networks
• 2023 - $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 veterinary groups
• 2023 - $5,000 'Supporting emergency team effectiveness' from JCU Vet