Originally from an impoverished family in Penang, Malaysia, Kwan Kew attended Wellesley College on a full scholarship, paving the way to becoming a doctor. In 2006, She left her position as a professor of medicine to dedicate time to humanitarian work: in HIV/AIDS and to provide disaster relief all over the world, during wars, famine, and natural disasters, including the Ebola outbreak, the Syrian, and Rohingya refugee crises, war-torn Libya, and Yemen, and the COVID-19 pandemic in New York and the Navajo Nation. Kwan Kew is a three-time recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award. In addition, Wellesley College awarded her with the Distinguished Alumna Award and Chicago Medical School, the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. Kwan Kew's work has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Infectious Disease Society of America, Science Speaks, MedPage Today, Balloon Literary Journal, Literally Stories, Synapses, Vine Leave Press, and others. She is best known for her recent publications:Â
New book:Â The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly
Other book:Â "Into Africa Out of Academia: A Doctor's Memoir"