Walter Tsou, MD, MPH is a nationally known consultant on public health and health care reform.  He is a retired Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Pennsylvania where he taught community health at their Center for Public Health Initiatives. He is a Past President of the American Public Health Association and former Health Commissioner of Philadelphia.  He was the founding Deputy Director for Personal Health Services and Medical Director of the Montgomery County (PA) Health Department from 1991-2000.  He has extensive experience in public health and has lectured widely on public health and health disparities.

Nationally, he is a Board Advisor at Physicians for a National Health Program and Healthcare-NOW.  He is Past Chair of the Board of the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum.  Locally he is on the boards of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, Hepatitis B Foundation, Health Care for All Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia County Medical Society.  His medical degree is from the University of Pennsylvania; his MPH is from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and he has an honorary Doctorate in Medical Sciences from Drexel University.

Born in South Korea and raised in the greater LA area, Kevin Riutzel is a family physician currently working in Los Angeles, CA.  The clinic he works at is a federally-qualified health center in LA’s Koreatown primarily serving local Korean-American and local AAPI communities, many of whom are the 1st generation in their families to immigrate to the U.S.

He has served in several roles for the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association including National President for three terms.  He finished his undergraduate studies at UC San Diego and graduate studies at Columbia University.  After graduating from Touro University Nevada, he completed his training in family medicine at UC Irvine with a focus on integrative medicine.  He served as one of the chief residents while at UC Irvine.

Kevin takes a particular interest in mental health in AAPI communities along with providing an integrative and holistic approach to the care he offers to the communities he serves while focusing on a work-life balance to stay energized for the patients he serves.

Hanna Lee (she/her) is a disabled and neurodivergent Korean-American art therapist and art educator with an extensive background in working with people of all ages and abilities. She is a passionate proponent of using the arts to provide a variety of supports for historically marginalized populations and has spoken on this topic through organizations such as the National Art Educators Association, Department of VSA at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the International Conference on Disability Studies, Arts, and Education. Working with and advocating for diverse communities has allowed her to explore art-making as an unlimited means of honest expression and personal growth beyond the social, economic, physical, and intellectual limits to which people are often confined.

Lee’s educational background includes a Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling from Drexel University and a Masters in Art Education with an emphasis on Inclusive Practices from Moore College of Art & Design.  She currently works with Asian Americans as a therapist at Mango Tree Counseling & Consulting and serves as Director of Research at the Asian Americans with Disabilities Initiative to provide investigative research, advocacy, and resources for Asian Americans with disabilities. Lee is also an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Moore, where she is currently establishing an art therapy minor.

Sharon is a Family Nurse Practitioner who provides primary care in Mandarin and English at a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Philadelphia Chinatown. She studied Environmental Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed her nursing education at Columbia University. As a former Care Coordination Nurse and School Nurse in several outpatient settings, she has a special interest in understanding how social, cultural, and environmental factors affect health status. In her spare time, she runs the @ClimateHealthNurse blog and Instagram page, where she writes about sustainability and wellbeing.

Jimmy was born and raised outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  He came to the US in 1995 to pursue his education and after exploring several paths became an EMT. In 2005 he joined the National Guard where he went on to oversee medical logistics for the 111th Medical Group.  He has been working as an EMT or Technician inside the hospital since 2007.  He holds many specialty medical certificates and has wide ranging experience working in the emergency room, trauma department, surgical ICU, and remote medicine.  Jimmy achieved Master Sergeant rank and  teaches several courses through the Air Guard as a 4N, which is the civilian equivalent of an LPN.

Her AMA journey began as President of the LKSOM AMA Chapter during her first year, and she now serves as the AMA-MSS Region 6 Chair and a Delegate in both the MSS and Pennsylvania caucuses to the AMA House of Delegates. Organized advocacy has been the most transformative part of her medical school experience, showing her the power of persistent, diverse voices, even when outnumbered. She is passionate about helping others find their voice and forge their unique path. Outside of work, you can find her at a dance workshop learning a new style, exploring the Philly neighborhoods with her camera, or booking her next flight.

Catherine Freeland is the Associate Director of Public Health Research at the Hepatitis B Foundation. Catherine received her Ph.D. at Thomas Jefferson University, College of Population Health with a concentration in Health Behavior Science and a dissertation on addressing low hepatitis B birth dose uptake in Nigeria. She led the effort to incorporate values and preferences for people with lived experience within the updated 2024 World Health Organization Guidelines and continues to focus on addressing barriers and facilitators to hepatitis B elimination globally.

Pratistha Koirala, MD, PhD, was elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees in June 2021. Dr. Koirala is a gynecologic oncology fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Temple University in Philadelphia.

Dr. Koirala’s health care journey began thousands of miles away, in Nepal, in the foothills of the tallest mountains in the world. In pursuit of education her family immigrated to the United States when she was a child. Her family story, of poverty and a lack of access to health care, inspired her to become a physician. Years later, as a medical student in the Bronx, she cared for patients living in the poorest congressional district in the United States. After witnessing the impact of social determinants of health on both a population and at an individual patient level, she became active in health policy, aiming to better the health and well-being of her community.

When she joined the AMA as a medical student, one of her first endeavors was celebrating and promoting the organization’s accomplishments as a membership recruitment chair. Since then, Dr. Koirala has served in multiple leadership roles in organized medicine; notably, she was a member of the Executive Council of the Medical Society of the State of New York and served on the board of directors of the AMA Political Action Committee.

Dr. Koirala attended college at the University of Connecticut and graduated with a major in biology. She completed her MD, her MS in genetics, and her PhD in molecular pharmacology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her research has ranged from understanding the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in sarcoma to the genetic basis of cardiac development. She completed residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Danbury Hospital and a health equity fellowship at Boston Medical Center. As a physician scientist, Dr. Koirala understands the power the AMA has as a trusted voice in medicine and public health.

Dr. Koirala’s work and accomplishments within the AMA reflect the value she places in diversity in medicine and health equity. Her actions and advocacy are driven by her personal story as an immigrant, as someone who has lived in poverty, as a woman, as a scientist, and as a trainee working with underserved populations.

Minh Than is a third-year Hematology-Oncology fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He was born in Denver, Colorado. He studied molecular biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder before completing a combined MD/PhD at Yale University. He completed Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Pennsylvania. His current interests include basic and translational science for improving therapeutic strategies for solid malignancies. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, board games, and the Philly food scene.

Cecilia Jiang is a fifth-year radiation oncology resident at the University of Pennsylvania. She was born in Pittsburgh, PA and grew up in Edison, NJ. She studied biology at the University of Chicago and worked as a hospitalist scribe at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ for a year after graduation. She then completed her medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine. Her clinical interests include radiation toxicity mitigation and imaging. In her free time, she enjoys visiting bakeries, used bookstores, and picnicking in the park.

Jason Han is currently a cardiac surgery resident at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is in his 8th and last year of training and aspires to be an academic cardiac surgeon with a focus on humanism, education, and writing. He has been recognized for these efforts as the recipient of the Penn Pearl Teaching Award, the Donald Liu Hero of Humanism in Surgery Award, and the Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. As a medical student and resident, he wrote a monthly column for the Philadelphia Inquirer that combined personal experiences with deeper reflections on patient perspectives. He has written over 80 columns to-date and has been featured at various regional and national meetings such as the “Telling Your Health Story” and “Finding Your Voice” conferences. He has written extensively about his identity as a Korean American Immigrant, and how his background influences, and enhances his interactions with patients. In the academic sphere, his writing about surgical education and culture has been featured in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Annals of Surgery.

Dr. Mariam Ansar is an Internal Medicine PGY-2 Resident physician at Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey. She completed her medical school from Medical College & Hospital, in Kolkata, India and has worked there in critical care and emergency medicine for 2 years. She is passionate about community outreach internationally and seeks to impact global healthcare. Recently she was part of a global health elective to native communities in Bocas Del Toro, Panama is association with Floating Doctor’s (a nonprofit NGO). Previous year, she played a crucial part in organizing a ‘Winter coat drive’ organized by Cooper at Mount Cavalry Chruch, NJ. She is the co-president of GME Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council for this session 2024-2025 at Cooper Hospital and is also the founder of Usmle_Helpline, an initiative to mentor students from across the world on a similar journey to residency. She has previously been the College representative for South Asian Medical Student’s Association (SAMSA), Elsevier Student Ambassador, and has organized several health camps in India in association with Child Rights and Youth (CRY) organization.

Hi everyone, I’m Eunice! I’m a PGY-2 Family Medicine Resident at the Jefferson Center City campus. I studied Biology and Health: Science, Society and Policy at Brandeis University. After college, I served as an AmeriCorps VISTA to secure $700,000 in grant funding for a rural behavioral health organization. I then attended SUNY Upstate Medical University, where I contributed over 400 hours of advocacy and community service. Notable moments included representing 17 medical schools at the Medical Society State of New York House of Delegates; teaching medicine to high school students; providing respite to Hospice patients; fundraising for migrant workers; and working with Syracuse University law students to run a COVID-19-based writing competition and publication in the Syracuse Law Review. In 2021, I was awarded the National Health Service Corps scholarship, which paid for two years of medical school in exchange for working as a doctor in a medically underserved community. In residency, I’m working on my MPH at the Jefferson College of Population Health and enjoying going to Washington DC to advocate for our patients. Outside of medicine, I love getting late-night water ice with my church community group, attending free concerts at the Curtis, and going on Philly food adventures with my boyfriend. Would love to talk to you about health advocacy and medicine!

Jessica is a second-year family medicine resident at Bryn Mawr Hospital. She attended Case Western Reserve University for college and received her medical degree from Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in New Jersey. She also doubled as a writer who covered Asian American literature for various publications and explored her identity as a Chinese American immigrant. Her writing has been featured in Zora, Los Angeles Review of Books, and many other publications. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and visiting museums.

Hi! I’m a PGY-2 in the Pediatrics Residency Program at Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. I’m a proud New Jersian, went to Columbia University for undergrad where I majored in economics, and went to Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine for medical school. I plan to apply for pediatric gastroenterology fellowship after residency. Some of my hobbies are traveling, hiking, painting (not well!), and exploring Philadelphia on foot (you never know what interesting things you’ll stumble across). I‘ve been passionate about creating spaces for dialogue about Asian American identity and the Asian American experience since undergrad, both inside and outside the context of medicine. I hope to use my career to support diverse voices and advocate for diverse needs.

TingAnn Hsiao is a first year psychiatry resident at Cooper University Hospital. She was born in southern New Jersey. For college, she attended Cornell University and completed a major in Human Biology, Health, and Society and a minor in Health Policy. Afterwards, she pursued her MD/MPH at Thomas Jefferson University. During medical school, she conducted qualitative research and completed her master’s thesis on fentanyl test strips and other harm reduction strategies in the Emergency Department. Her current clinical interests include consult-liaison and addiction psychiatry. Outside of clinical work, she enjoys fostering cats and taking care of her houseplants.

Christopher grew up in Chappaqua, New York, and attended Haverford College, where he majored in biology and competed in men’s foil as part of the fencing team. After graduation, he spent three years researching breast cancer therapeutics at Thomas Jefferson University, which deepened his passion for medicine and solidified his commitment to the field. Currently, Christopher is a second-year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. He serves as the president of APAMSA at Jefferson, which focuses on addressing healthcare disparities, promoting health equity, and advocating for AAPI health issues. He is also actively involved in JeffHOPE, a student-run organization that provides free healthcare services to underserved and homeless populations in Philadelphia as a Screening and Procedures CM at Our Brother’s Place.

Anuhea Leite-Ah Yo, a proud Native Hawaiian, is currently in her clinical year as a Physician Assistant student at Drexel University. Born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, she graduated from Kamehameha Schools: Kea’au in 2014 and later earned her degree in Biology, with a minor in Psychology, from Wells College in New York. Along her journey, she gained valuable experience working as an EMT-B, Physical Therapy aide, Chiropractic aide, and Registered Behavioral Technician, each role deepening her love for caring for others.

In her free time, Anuhea enjoys being in the ocean surfing, playing volleyball, and cooking with her ‘ohana and friends. Her heart has always been with her Native Hawaiian community, who have helped her become who she is today. Anuhea’s path in medicine is driven by her desire to bring knowledge and care back home to Hawai’i, where she hopes to serve those who need it most and continue the spirit of aloha.

Stephen Chien

Region III Director
Drexel University College of Medicine

Jeffrey Wang

Region III Director

Drexel University College of Medicine

Sandy Yang

Region III Director
Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Jessica Hseuh

Co-Membership VP

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Lillian Phung

DUCOM APAMSA Co-President

Lucy Zhou

DUCOM APAMSA Co-President

Kevin Lim

DUCOM APAMSA Advocacy and Education Chair

Winni Gao

DUCOM Advocacy and Education Chair

Bobby Van

DUCOM APAMSA Community Service Chair

Celter Odango

DUCOM Community Service Chair

Sharon Shania

DUCOM APAMSA Social Chair

Olivia Nguyen

Temple University Pre-Medical APAMSA President