Dr Calvin Wai-Loon Ho
JSD, LLM, MSc, LLB (Hons), BSc (Hons), Dip (Statistics), Advocate & Solicitor (Singapore), Solicitor (England & Wales)
Assistant Professor
Tel: 6516 7232
Email: medhwlc@nus.edu.sg
Calvin WL Ho is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS).
He holds a doctorate in juridical science from Cornell University (New York), and was also trained in law at NUS and University of Cambridge (England). In addition, he read sociology and economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). Calvin is qualified as Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and as Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. He has practiced law in London and Singapore, and serves as an Assistant Director with the Legal Aid Bureau (Ministry of Law), and a member of the Singapore Nursing Board. Prior to his current appointment, he was Senior Research Associate (from October 2001 to May 2011) with the Bioethics Advisory Committee, an expert body appointed by the government of Singapore to provide advice and recommendations on human biomedical research.
Calvin is also Co-Head of the World Health Organization Collaborator Centre on Bioethics in Singapore, and Co-Head of the Accountability Policy Task Team of the Global Alliance for Genomics & Health. He is an Ethics Board member of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), a member of the Medicines in Health Systems thematic working group of Health Systems Global, and a Research Associate with The Ethox Centre, University of Oxford. In addition, Calvin is a member of the National Transplant Ethics Panel and advisory committees on genetic testing and transplantation of the Ministry of Health, and serves as a member of the Bioethics Committee of Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and a member of the Paediatric Ethics and Advocacy Centre, National University Hospital.
Calvin is a member of the Editorial Board of Asia-Pacific Biotech News, and Life Sciences, Society and Policy. In addition, he has served as the deputy editor of the Singapore Law Review, associate editor of Cornell International Law Journal, assistant guest editor of Singapore Academy of Law Journal, and guest editor of the Asian Bioethics Review. His research areas are global health law and ethics, research ethics and policy, health policy and governance.
Grants and Consultancies
2016-2017
Principal Investigator. “Understanding and Ensuring Sustainability of Universal Health Insurance Coverage in Singapore”. Social Science Research Thematic Seed Grant. Total Value: S$40,000.
2015-2016
Co-Investigator. “A Longitudinal Study on the Impact of Interprofessional Education on Medical, Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Dental Undergraduates in NUS”. National University of Singapore. Total Value: S$85,000.
2015-2016
Principal Investigator. “Improving Management for Patients with Cancer and Access to Cancer Therapies”. IMS Health. Total Value: S$30,000.
2015-2016
Principal Investigator. “Review of approaches and impact of mainstreaming medical ethics in delivery of routine health services to improve quality and safety of health services”. World Health Organization. Total Value: US$12,000.
2015
Technical Expert. “Pharmaceutical Promotion”. Health Action International. Total Value: US$2,000.
2012-2015
Principal Investigator. “Medical Jurisprudence, Professionalism and Access to Medicines”. National University of Singapore. Total Value: S$200,000.
2012-2015
Collaborator. “Medicines Coverage in Health Insurance Systems in Asia”. National University of Singapore. Total Value: S$120,000.
2014
Technical Expert. “Development of a technical paper on Medical Malpractice”. World Health Organization. Total Value: US$4,000
2014
Principal Bioethics Specialist. “Neuroethics: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues”. Ministry of Health. Total Value: S$30,000.
2012-2013
Co-Investigator. “The Development of Best Practice in End-of-Life Care and an Online Teaching Casebook”. Lien Foundation. Total Value: S$360,000.
2012-2013
Co-Principal Investigator. “International Expert Consultation on Medicines as part of Universal Health Coverage”. World Health Organization. Total Value: S$100,000.
2012
Principal Investigator. “Clinical Trials in Low and Middle-Income Countries”. Novartis Foundation. Total Value: S$30,000.
Calvin has published articles and book chapters, as well as contributed to policy documents, on biomedical law and ethics, access to medicines and intellectual property rights, research ethics and policy, health policy and governance, and global health law and ethics.
Only publications from 2010 onwards are listed. Please contact Calvin for older publications.
Journal Papers
Don Chalmers, Dianne Nicol, Jane Kaye, Jessica Bell, Alastair Campbell, Calvin Ho, Kazuto Kato, Jusaku Minari, Chih-hsing Ho, Colin Mitchell, Fruzsina Molnár-Gábor, Margaret Otlowski, Daniel Thiel, Stephanie M Fullerton, Tess Whitton. Has the biobank bubble burst? Withstanding the challenges for sustainable biobanking in the digital era. BMC Medical Ethics (2016) 17:39 DOI: 10.1186/s12910-016-0124-2.
Ivan SK Thong, Meng Yee Foo, Min Yi Sum, Benjamin Capps, Tih-Shih Lee, Calvin Ho, and Kang Sim. Therapeutic Misconception in Psychiatry Research: A Systematic Review. Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience 2016; 14(1): 17-25
Calvin Ho, Andreas Reis, and Abha Saxena. Vulnerability in International Policy Discussion on Research involving Children. Asian Bioethics Review (2015) 7,2: 230-249.
Kelvin Bryan Tan, Woan Shin Tan, Marcel Bilger, Calvin Ho. Monitoring and Evaluating Progress towards Universal Health Coverage in Singapore. PLOS Medicine (2014) 11, 9: e1001695.
Go Yoshizawa, Calvin Ho, Wei Zhu, Chingli Hu, Yoni Syukriani, Ilhak Lee, Hannah Kim, Daniel Tsai, Jusaku Minari, Kazuto Kato. ELSI practices in genomic research in East Asia: implications for research collaboration and public participation. Genome Medicine (2014) 6:39.
Calvin Ho, Leonardo D De Castro and Alastair V Campbell. Governance of Biomedical Research in Singapore and the Challenge of Conflicts of Interest. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (2014) 23, 3:288-296.
Calvin Ho, The Equity of Universal Health Coverage: Some Reflections from Singapore. Brookings East Asia Commentary Series (December 2013) 69.
Reprinted by Global Studies Institute in Hong Kong in February 2014, and further reprinted for the Meeting of Commonwealth Health Ministers on 18 May 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, as: The Commonwealth, Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2014. Cambridge: Nexus Strategic Partnerships, 2014, pp. 44-47.
Calvin Ho and Klaus M Leisinger, Intellectual Property and Access to Essential Medicines: A Tenuous Link? (2013) Asian Bioethics Review 5,4: 376-382.
Calvin Ho, “Covert Treatment of a Potentially Violent Patient” (2013) Asian Bioethics Review 5,3: 203-211.
Calvin Ho, “Enhancement (of What?) in Aesthetic Medicine” (2012) Asian Bioethics Review 4,4: 272-282.
Jacqueline Chin, Calvin Ho, Hitoshi Arima, Reina Ozeki, Dae-Seog Heo, Michael K Gusmano and Nancy Berlinger, “Integration of palliative and supportive cancer care in Asia” (2012) The Lancet Oncology 13:445-446.
Marie-Charlotte Bouësseau, Andreas Reis, Calvin Ho, “Global Summit of National Ethics Committees: an essential tool for international dialogue and consensus-building” (July-September 2011) Indian Journal of Medical Ethics VIII, 3: 154-157.
Calvin Ho, “Governance Framework for Biomedical Research in Singapore: A Risk-Based Account” (2011) Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal 15, 5: 13-17.
Calvin Ho, “Safeguarding the Integrity of Scientific Research – Build a Maison à Colombage” (2010) Singapore Academy of Law Journal 22: 994-1022.
Calvin Ho, Benjamin Capps and Voo Teck Chuan, “Stem Cell Science and its Public: The Case of Singapore”, East Asian Science, Technology and Society (2010) 4: 7-29.
Calvin Ho, “Utilitarianism and Patents: Justification and Change”, Asian Bioethics Review (2010) 2, 3: 202-217.
Peer-reviewed Books / Monographs
Calvin Ho, Juridification in Bioethics: Governance of Human Pluripotent Cell Research. London: Imperial College Press, 2016.
Commentaries in Jacqueline Chin, Nancy Berlinger, Michael C Dunn, Calvin Ho, Michael K Gusmano (eds.) Making Difficult Decisions with Patients and Families: A Singapore Casebook. Singapore: National University of Singapore, 2014.
Terry SH Kaan and Calvin Ho (eds.), Genetic Privacy: An Evaluation of the Ethical and Legal Landscape. London: Imperial College Press, 2013.
John Michael Elliott, Calvin Ho and Sylvia SN Lim (eds.), Bioethics in Singapore: The Ethical Microcosm. Singapore: World Scientific, 2010.
Book Chapters
Calvin Ho and Karel Caals. Responsibility and Solidarity in Universal Health Coverage: Achieving Lifetime Insurance Coverage in Singapore. In Lutz Bergemann, Andreas Reis and Andreas Frewer (eds.), Global Ethics and Universal Health Coverage – Human Rights in Practice. Würzburg: Koenigshausen & Neumann, 2016, pp. 45-65. (This chapter is a revised and updated version of the chapter published in 2014.)
Calvin Ho and See Muah Lee, “Law and Morality”. In Henk ten Have (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Dordrecht: Springer, 2015, pp.1-10; DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_264-1.
Calvin Ho, “Universal health coverage in Singapore: An ethical reflection”. In The Commonwealth, Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015. Cambridge: Nexus Strategic Partnerships, 2015, pp. 118-21. This publication was prepared for the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting in May 2015 in Geneva, which took place before the World Health Assembly.
Calvin Ho. A Response to the “Dementia Epidemic” in Singapore: Rendering Visible the Caregiver in Universal Health Coverage. In Andreas Frewer, Lutz Bergemann, Martina Schmidhuber (eds.), Demenz und Ethik in der Medizin: Standards zur guten klinischen Praxis? [Dementia and Ethics in Medicine: Standards for Good Clinical Practice]. Würzburg: Koenigshausen & Neumann, 2015, pp. 243-255
Calvin Ho and Karel Caals. Responsibility and Solidarity in Universal Health Coverage: Achieving Lifetime Insurance Coverage in Singapore. In Andreas Frewer, Andreas Reis and Lutz Bergemann (eds.), Gute oder vergütete Behandlung? Ethische Fragen der Gesundheitsökonomie [Good or Paid Treatment? Ethical Questions of Healthcare Economics]. Würzburg: Koenigshausen & Neumann, 2014, pp. 303-323.
Calvin Ho, Jacqueline Chin and Alastair Campbell, “Singapore”. In Henk AMJ ten Have, Gordijn B (eds.), Handbook of Global Bioethics. Dordrecht: Springer, 2014, pp. 1427-1450.
Calvin Ho, Katherine Wright, Christine Grady, Hugh Whittall, Julius Ecuru, Michel Daher, “Research Involving Vulnerable Populations, with a focus on Children”. In National Bioethics Commission of Mexico (ed.), Finding Paths Through the World: 10th Global Summit of National Ethics/Bioethics Committees. Mexico City: National Bioethics Commission of Mexico, 2014, pp. 68-85.
Calvin Ho and Terry Kaan, “The Notion of Genetic Privacy”. In Terry SH Kaan and Calvin WL Ho (eds.), Genetic Privacy: An Evaluation of the Ethical and Legal Landscape. London: Imperial College Press, 2013, pp. 1-24.
Calvin Ho, “Navigating the Privacy Complex of Self, Other and Relationality”. In Terry SH Kaan and Calvin WL Ho (eds.), Genetic Privacy: An Evaluation of the Ethical and Legal Landscape. London: Imperial College Press, 2013, pp. 41-75.
Calvin Ho and Sylvia Lim, “The Coming of Bioethics to Singapore”. In JM Elliott, WC Ho and SSN Lim (eds.), Bioethics in Singapore: The Ethical Microcosm. Singapore: World Scientific, 2010, pp. 1-29.
Calvin Ho and Martin Bobrow, “Norm-making on Human-Animal Chimeras and Hybrids in Singapore, the United Kingdom and the International Domain”. In JM Elliott, WC Ho and SSN Lim (eds.), Bioethics in Singapore: The Ethical Microcosm. Singapore: World Scientific, 2010, pp. 187-234.
Calvin Ho, “Governing Cloning: United Nations’ Debates and the Institutional Context of Standards”. In B Capps and A Campbell (eds.), Contested Cells: Global Perspectives on the Stem Cell Debate. London: Imperial College Press, 2010, pp. 121-154.
International Policies
Global Alliance for Genomics & Health, Accountability Policy.
Policy Papers
World Health Organization (Global network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Bioethics). Global Health Ethics: Key Issues. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2015.
Calvin Ho and Sumytra Menon. Legal and Regulatory Considerations of Neuroscientific Research in Singapore. September 2014. (Position Paper submitted on invitation from the Bioethics Advisory Committee, Singapore.)
Policy Reports
Anita K Wagner, Dennis Ross-Degnan, Calvin Ho, Murray Aitken, Raja Shankar, Maya Malarski, Quinn Kiefer. IMPACT: Facilitating Shared Learning and Collaborative Action Research to Improve Cancer Care. Parsippany NJ: IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, (June) 2016.
Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Children and clinical research: ethical issues. London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics: May 2015. Invited as commentator and reviewer.
Maryam Bigdeli, David Peters and Anita Wagner (eds.), Medicines in Health Systems – Advancing access, affordability and appropriate use. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2014:
World Health Organization, Making fair choices on the path to universal health coverage. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2014. Invited as a commentator.
Thalia Arawi, Mondher Letaief, Sameen Siddiqi, Calvin Ho. Medical Malpractice and Patient Safety: Exploring Uncharted Territory in Eastern Mediterranean Region. 2014. The research and report was commissioned by the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of the World Health Organization.
Calvin Ho, Ethical, Legal and Social Issues in Neuroscience Research. Draft report commissioned by the Bioethics Advisory Committee and submitted to it in June 2014.
Maureen Kelley, Craig E Rubens and the GAPPS Review Group, Global report on preterm birth and stillbirth: ethical considerations. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2010) 10(Suppl 1):S6; DOI: 10.1186/1471-2393-10-S1-S6. Contributed as a member of the working group.
Bioethics Advisory Committee, Ethics Guidelines for Human Biomedical Research, June 2015. Contributed to research on the Guidelines and also in feedback on draft.
Bioethics Advisory Committee, Human-Animal Combinations in Stem Cell Research, September 2010. Researched and contributed to drafting of the Final Report.
Review Papers
Johannes JM van Delden and Calvin Ho. Vulnerability in Healthcare and Research involving Children. Asian Bioethics Review (2015) 7,2:115-125.
Karel Caals and Calvin Ho, “The Questions of Fair Benefits in International Research” (2013) Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal 17,6: 39-42.
Bartha Maria Knoppers and Calvin Ho, “Introduction” (2010) Singapore Academy of Law Journal 22: 759-768.
Review Reports
Calvin Ho, Karel Caals and Sharon Low. Interim Report on Responsible Clinical Trials in Low and Middle Income Countries: Ethical and Legal Considerations. 2012.
Instructional Papers / Professional Development
Calvin Ho. After Ebola, Social Justice as a Base for a Biobanking Governance Framework. Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal (2016) 20,2: 21-23.
Calvin Ho. Universal Health Coverage and the Social Value of Drug Development. Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal (2015) 19,4-5: 51-54.
Calvin Ho. Editorial: Special Issue on Neuroethics. Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal (2014) 18, 6: 3.
Calvin Ho. Ethical Responsibility to Manage Incidental Findings in Brain Imaging Research. Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal (2014) 18, 6: 37-40.
Calvin Ho, Editorial: Special Issue on Corporate Social Responsibility. Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal (2013) 17, 6: 3-4.
Calvin Ho, “Corporate Social Responsibility of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Solidaristic Terms” (2013) Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal 17,6: 49-52.
Calvin Ho, Editorial: Special Issue on Conflicts of Interest. Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal (2012) 16, 4: 3-4.
Calvin Ho, “Conflicts of Interest in Biomedical Research” (2012) Asia-Pacific Biotech News Journal 16, 4: 34-36.
Calvin Ho, “Professional Standards in Decision-Making Involving Persons lacking Mental Capacity” (2011) Clinical Ethics Network for Training, Research and Support Newsletter 10:12-13.
Calvin Ho, “Legal Considerations in the Administration of Non-Standard Treatment” (2011) Clinical Ethics Network for Training, Research and Support Newsletter 8:5-6.
Calvin Ho, “Considering the Legal Limits to the Refusal of Medical Treatment” (2011) Clinical Ethics Network for Training, Research and Support Newsletter 5:5-6.
Online Teaching Casebook
Commentaries in Jacqueline Chin, Nancy Berlinger, Michael C Dunn, Calvin Ho, Michael K Gusmano (eds.) Making Difficult Decisions with Patients and Families: A Singapore Casebook. Singapore: National University of Singapore, 2014. Commentaries include:
National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Centre for Biomedical Ethics
Undergraduate
Courses at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Research Supervision
Graduate
Courses
Research Supervision (PhD level)
National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law
National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law
National University of Singapore, Faculty of Dentistry
National University of Singapore, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Social Work
Teaching Overseas/Overseas Students