Ruonan Chen is a medical anthropologist specialising in global health and health workforce strengthening. She earned her doctorate in anthropology from the Australian National University, where her research focused on health workforce performance in Tibetan public hospitals. Her thesis explores various forms of precarity experienced by medical practitioners, employing a phenomenological approach to understand their lived experiences. Through ethnographic research, she examines how health systems interact with broader social structures in marginalised regions and how alternative medicine coexists with biomedicine in global healthcare provision.

With extensive experience in international development, particularly in Tibet, Ruonan brings a nuanced understanding of health systems in complex sociopolitical contexts. She holds dual master's degrees in Cross-Cultural Communication and Education from Newcastle University, UK, and in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages from Liaoning University, as well as a bachelor's degree in Law from Henan University of Economics and Law.

Her research interests include medical and organisational anthropology, international and community development, diversity and inclusion, counterculture, Tibetan culture, and cross-cultural communication. Beyond academia, she specialises in multiculturalism, community development, project management, and stakeholder engagement.