Curtin University awarded Ms Tang one of two scholarships for students from the Sichuan Province so she could return home after her study to research and teach public health in case of potential disasters in the future.
Ms Tang, 29, said she lived with her parents in Jiangyou, a rural area of the Sichuan Province, which suffered extensive earthquake damage.
She said one of her primary school friends was killed during the earthquake.
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READ NOWThe Sichuan earthquake in 2008 killed 70,000 people and rendered 2 million homeless.
Ms Tang said public health has always been a strong interest of hers.
‘Infant feeding is important as it could affect the quality of the rest of a person’s life,’ she said.
She began her PhD in public health in 2009, examining the ethical issues in infant feeding after disasters and then she graduated.
The Cannington resident said she would travel to China for an academic conference but will return to Perth to finish writing her research results for publication.