She is a health economist, focused on evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of health policies and interventions. From 2011 to 2014, Fan was a research fellow at the Center for Global Development, analyzing value for money of global health policy. She has worked with different nongovernmental organizations in Asia (BRAC, SEWA, Tzu Chi) and at different units at Harvard University (Harvard Initiative for Global Health, Harvard Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University Program for Health Care Financing). She has served as a consultant for the China Medical Board, World Bank and World Health Organization and on studies supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She was trained in mechanical engineering at MIT and epidemiology, health systems, and health economics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.