On 18 August 2026, the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, celebrated the inaugural lecture of Professor Dr Wong Li Ping, Professor in Behavioural Medicine and Epidemiology. Her lecture, titled “Understanding Health Through Behaviour and Belief: The Lens of Behavioural Medicine,” reflected on her research journey and highlighted the important role of behavioural insights in translating scientific advances into meaningful public health impact.
Why Behaviour and Belief Matter in Health
The lecture began by emphasising that health is shaped not only by biology, but also by the complex interaction between human behaviour, beliefs, social networks, cultural norms, environment and access to care. Professor Wong highlighted that even major biomedical advances may fail to achieve their full potential when behavioural barriers are not adequately understood and addressed.
Vaccines, antibiotics, screening programmes and new medical technologies, for example, all depend on public trust, acceptance, appropriate use and adoption. Behavioural medicine therefore serves as an important bridge between scientific advances and real-world health outcomes.
Professor Wong also highlighted the value of combining quantitative and qualitative research approaches—using quantitative methods to measure patterns and generate evidence, while qualitative approaches provide deeper understanding of people’s experiences, beliefs and social contexts. Together, these approaches offer a more comprehensive understanding of health behaviour.
A Journey in Behavioural Medicine Research
The lecture traced Professor Wong’s behavioural medicine research journey, beginning with her early work in sexual and reproductive health. Her research included studies on women’s sexual and reproductive health, men’s health and the Asian Men’s Attitudes to Life Events and Sexuality (MALES) project.
One of her early landmark studies, conducted in 2004, examined knowledge, beliefs and socio-behavioural risk factors related to cervical cancer screening through a multi-centre collaboration involving Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The research demonstrated how knowledge, education and socio-cultural factors influence screening behaviour, while also uncovering barriers such as low perceived risk, embarrassment, fear of pain and the tendency to prioritise family needs over personal health.
Her research subsequently expanded into HIV/AIDS, HPV vaccination and vaccine hesitancy, exploring how knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions influence health-related decisions. Her work on HPV vaccination began when the vaccine became available in Malaysia in 2006 and later expanded through international collaborations, including research in China.
Behavioural Medicine in Infectious Diseases and Pandemics
A significant part of the lecture focused on the application of behavioural medicine to infectious diseases. Professor Wong highlighted her involvement in multidisciplinary research on dengue and Zika, including the LRGS-MYRUN-ZIKA project, which examined knowledge, attitudes, health beliefs and preventive practices alongside biomedical investigations into Zika infection.
The H1N1 influenza pandemic represented another important turning point in her research, generating studies on public information needs, knowledge and attitudes, behavioural responses and influenza vaccine uptake.
This work became even more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when behavioural medicine became central to understanding and supporting pandemic preparedness. Her research examined institutional trust, preventive behaviours, anxiety, risk perception, travel behaviour, vaccine intention and willingness to pay. One early survey conducted at the epicentre of the outbreak received 4,393 responses, finding that higher institutional trust was strongly associated with adherence to preventive practices and seeking hospital treatment.
The lecture also highlighted international collaborations examining behavioural and psychological responses to COVID-19 in Taiwan, Iran and Japan. Across these studies, anxiety and perceived risk were shown to influence preventive behaviours and travel intentions. Her COVID-19 research programme ultimately contributed to 36 publications.
Expanding the Reach of Behavioural Research
Beyond infectious diseases, Professor Wong demonstrated how behavioural medicine can complement biomedical and clinical research across a wide range of health challenges. These include Hepatitis E sero-epidemiology, antibiotic stewardship, migraine and workplace productivity, early cancer diagnosis, digital health and healthy ageing.
Her collaborative work has incorporated behavioural perspectives into studies among Indigenous communities, blood donors and archived samples from the Subang Men’s Health Study. Other collaborations examined behavioural approaches to antibiotic stewardship, the economic burden of migraine, the implementation of the REBUNG early cancer diagnosis care pathway and the adoption of digital health technologies.
She also highlighted interdisciplinary work on senotherapeutics and healthy ageing, where behavioural research was incorporated alongside biomedical and laboratory-based research to understand perspectives of the public and stakeholders towards emerging approaches to healthy ageing.
Beyond Science: Towards Humanistic Medicine
The latter part of the lecture moved beyond conventional behavioural research to explore the humanistic dimensions of medicine, particularly through Universiti Malaya’s Silent Mentor Programme.
Professor Wong reflected on research emerging from the programme, including the psychological impact of programme delays during COVID-19, surgical skills training and studies examining death anxiety among medical students and donors’ family members. Importantly, these studies were driven largely by the volunteerism of programme committee members, participants and donors’ families, illustrating how research can emerge from humanistic values rather than funding alone.
A Legacy Built on Collaboration
Throughout the lecture, Professor Wong acknowledged the many colleagues, mentors, collaborators, students and research assistants who have contributed to her academic journey. Her reflections underscored that behavioural medicine is inherently interdisciplinary, bringing together different specialities and perspectives to better understand and improve health.
In her tribute to the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, she noted that colleagues may come from different specialities, but their ability to work together, support one another and complement each other’s expertise makes their collective work stronger.
Bridging Science and Real-World Health
Professor Wong’s inaugural lecture ultimately presented behavioural medicine as a vital link between what science discovers and what people actually do. From cervical cancer screening and vaccine acceptance to pandemic preparedness, infectious diseases, digital health and humanistic medical education, her research demonstrates that understanding how people think, believe, feel and behave is essential for translating scientific knowledge into meaningful improvements in health.
The lecture was not only a reflection on Professor Wong’s research career, but also a compelling reminder that advancing health requires more than biomedical innovation—it requires understanding people.
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