Dr Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan PhD, FHEA

• PhD in Criminology (University of South Florida, FL, USA)
• MA in Forensic Psychology (Marymount University, VA, USA)
• BA in Psychology (Bemidji State University, MN, USA)

Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Birmingham (previously affiliated with the Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences at City University of Hong Kong). He received his Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of South Florida, FL, USA, and was a recipient of the Outstanding Criminology Ambassador Award in 2012 and Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021. To date, Dr Chan was presented with nine awards to recognize his exemplary contributions to research and professional education; for instance, the Early Career Award (2014, Research Grant Council of the University Grants Committee, Hong Kong Government), The President’s Award (2017, Office of the President, CityU), CLASS New Researcher Award (2017, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences [CLASS], CityU), Outstanding Supervisor Award (2018, the Provost Office, CityU), and CLASS Teaching Innovation Award – Team Award (2019, CLASS, CityU). When he was in the U.S., Dr Chan interned and later employed by the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Case Review Units as one of its first two Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Violent Criminals Apprehension Program (ViCAP) analysts. 

Dr Chan is listed among the Top 2% of the most highly cited scientists in the world (in the sub-fields of criminology, legal and forensic medicine, and social sciences) based on the metrics compiled by Stanford University (six consecutive years; 2020-2025 iterations). Importantly, he is ranked Top 0.5% in the sub-field of criminology. 

Dr Chan’s research focuses on sexual homicide, sexual offending, stalking behaviour, juvenile delinquency, psycho-criminology, and Asian criminology. As of December 2025, Dr Chan has published over 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He has since published 10 academic books, with three as the sole-authored monographs on sexual homicide and sexual offending (Wiley, 2023; Springer Nature, 2019; and Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), and another seven as the (lead) co-editor of edited volumes on youth deviance, crime and justice (Wiley, 2025), ex-partner stalking (Wiley, 2024), school violence and bullying (Edward Elgar, 2024), animal abuse and interpersonal violence (Wiley, 2023), the African mental health and criminal justice system (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), the international perspective of stalking behaviour (Wiley, 2020), and the psycho-criminological perspective of Asian criminal justice (i.e., police, correctional, and legal psychology; Routledge, 2017). His book on the stalking behaviour was selected and awarded the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2020.

Research Topics of Interest

• Sexual and Violent Offending
• Stalking Behaviour
• Juvenile Delinquency
• Psycho-Criminology
• Asian Criminology

Research interests

• Sexual Homicide
• Sexual Offending
• Stalking Behaviour
• Violent Offending
• Juvenile Delinquency
• Psycho-Criminology
• Asian Criminology

• External Examiner, King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, BSc Psychology and Criminology (2025-)
• External Examiner, Hong Kong Chu Hai College, B.A. (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice (2025-)
• Member, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Talent Peer Review College (2025-) 

• Book Series Editor, The Wiley Series in the Psycho-Criminology of Crime, Mental Health and the Law (John Wiley & Sons)
• Co-Editor, Behavioral Sciences and the Law (John Wiley & Sons)
• Section Editor, Heliyon (Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry Section) (Cell Press)
• Senior Editor, Cogent Social Sciences (Law, Criminology, and Criminal Justice Section) (Taylor & Francis)
• Associate Editor:

1. Sexual Abuse (SAGE Publications)
2. Frontiers in Psychiatry (Forensic Psychiatry Section) (Frontiers)
3. Frontiers in Psychology (Forensic and Legal Psychology Section) (Frontiers)

• Editorial Advisory Board Member:

1. Journal of Criminal Justice (Elsevier)
2. Journal of Criminal Psychology (Emerald Publishing)

• Editorial Board Member

1. Journal of Sexual Aggression (Taylor & Francis)
2. Behavioral Sciences (Social Psychology Section) (MDPI)
3. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (SAGE Publications)
4. International Journal of Applied Violent and Criminal Behavior (Scilight Press)

• Editorial Review Board Member

1. Advancing Corrections Journal (International Corrections and Prisons Association)

• Ad-hoc reviewer for over 100 peer-reviewed journals, publishers and funding agencies 

• Elected Member of Presidium, The General Assembly of Asian Criminological Society (ACS) (2022-2024; 2019-2021; 2016-2018)
• Appointed Member of the Research and Development Committee (R&D Committee) of International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) (2013-)