Ashley Tam, Social Media Co-Director
Network Director
Hello! My name is Ashley Tam and I’m a third year medical student at Oregon Health & Science University. As a child of immigrants I was constantly surrounded by Chinese culture and traditions, but it wasn’t until undergrad when I was surrounded by AANHPI peers and I realized how important that was to me. After being a Director for the 2023 National Conference, I’m really excited to continue working with APAMSA! When not running around for rotations I like to play phone games, bake Chinese pastries, watch anime, and try out new restaurants.
Ming Lin, Region VI Co-Director
Network Director
Hi everyone! My name is Ming Lin, a second year medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin. I was born in Zhaoqing, China, sprouted in Minnetonka, MN, and completed my prior higher education in Boston, MA. I graduated from undergrad in 2014 at Tufts University and subsequently completed a master’s in 2018 at Boston University School of Medicine. Very excited and honored to be a part of the APAMSA family. I look forward to working together to elevate AANHPI voices. We are stronger together!
Karen Qi, Mental Health Director
Network Director
Hello! My name is Karen Qi, and I’m excited to serve as APAMSA’s Mental Health Director this year! I grew up in the Bay Area, went to college at Rice University, then worked in adolescent mental health research for a couple of years in DC. Currently, I’m a medical student at Hopkins. Outside of school, I’ve been involved in research on Baltimore’s history of deinstitutionalization, MedChi (Maryland’s physician society), and Bamboo Sprouts (a student organization that helps connect Asian adoptees with their cultural backgrounds). In my free time, I love to dance, collect records, and snowboard!
Zheng Hong Tang, Director of Organized Medicine
Network Director
Hi! My name is Zheng Hong Tan and I am a 6th year MD/PhD student at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. I was born and raised in Singapore and came to Columbus, OH for college and never left! In my free time, I like to backpack and eat and explore new food places – so much so that I actually did my initial filter of med school applications wayyy back based on the food that is available!
Jonathan Weng, Membership Co-Vice President
Network Director
My name is Jonathan Weng, and I am an MS3 at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. I grew up in the Midwest as a child of Taiwanese immigrants, and the tension of living in the narrow space between “Asian” and “American” bruised my bicultural self-identity as an incomplete member of either. Finding a niche as a leader in the AANHPI community during my undergraduate years facilitated my discovery of the beauty in each culture and compelled me to embrace the peculiar opportunity of simultaneously indulging in both. More recently, my experiences as a Regional Director and Membership Vice President have afforded me the rewarding opportunity of collaborating with AANHPI students and leaders in medicine across the nation who have a similar heart and mind for bettering AANHPI health. Outside of medicine, some of my interests include music, basketball, and theology. I look forward to working with and learning from each of you as we seek to understand, appreciate, and leverage the gift of our cultural identities in the context of medicine!
Nicholas Wu, Region VI Co-Director
Network Director
Hi APAMSA! My name is Nicholas Wu, but I go by Nick. I’m currently a first-year at Saint Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri, and serve as the chapter Co-President for APAMSA as well as Regional Director for Region VI. I’m originally from the Bay Area, and graduated from UCLA with a degree in Molecular Biology and double minors in English and Biomedical Research in 2019. In my free time, I love learning about music production and practicing my skills as an amateur DJ!
Statement on Christina Yuna Lee and Michelle Alyssa Go
In the early hours of February 13th, Christina Yuna Lee, a 35-year-old Korean American woman, was followed into her New York City Chinatown apartment and stabbed to death by a stranger. Last month, Michelle Alyssa Go, a 40-year-old Asian American woman, was pushed to her death while waiting for a southbound R train at Times Square (1). APAMSA grieves these recent tragedies and recognizes them as the latest in a painfully long list of attacks against Asian Americans even as they have not yet been officially charged as hate crimes (2).
Just as we have in our previous statement, APAMSA denounces these horrifying crimes and all such senseless acts of violence, regardless of their legal designations (3). Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on the rise since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with New York City alone experiencing a 361% increase over this past year, leaving Asian Americans across the country fearful for their safety (4). APAMSA firmly and unequivocally opposes every racist act, and we call all our allies to stand in solidarity with the AANHPI community.
Comprehensive anti-racist policies that improve upon the reporting and prevention of all racist hate crimes must be implemented. We will continue to demand that our politicians and legislators acknowledge the tragedies of Lee and Go’s deaths, as well as their broader context of the pandemic of anti-Asian hate that persists.
APAMSA offers its support to all of its members during these difficult times. We have listed below several helpful resources for your reference, and we invite you to reach out with any specific ways we can further assist your chapters.
For questions or concerns about this statement, please reach out to Eric rapidresponse@apamsa.org
If you do not yet have access to our Anti-Asian Racism Toolkit, please fill out this form to request access.
If you or your local chapter wants to get more involved with our advocacy efforts and the AANHPI community, please reach out to Brandon healthpolicy@apamsa.org and Kevin AANHPI@apamsa.org
Please reach out to Nathan mentalhealth@apamsa.org if you are interested in exploring additional ways APAMSA can lend our support during these trying times.
- https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/nowhere-safe-asian-women-reflect-brutal-new-york-city-killings-rcna16173
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/us/asian-american-attacks.html
- https://www.apamsa.org/2021/02/15/rapid-response-statement-on-the-recent-violence-against-apia-communities/
- https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/585405-anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-nyc-rose-361-percent-police
Women in Medical Student Leadership Panel
Date: Feb 21, 2022 8:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
STREAM HERE: https://bit.ly/3HrMxK
Spend an evening with the student leaders from the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA), Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), Medical Student Pride Alliance (MSPA) and the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) as they discuss the road to national leadership, their roles and how they push their organizations forward while balancing the demands of medical school.
Madeleine Wong, Communications Vice President
Network Director
Hello! My name is Madeleine Wong, I also go by Maddy! I am a fourth year medical student at New York Medical College (NYMC). This is my second term serving as the Communications Vice President, and third term on the National Board. My journey with APAMSA started as a mere local chapter member at NYMC from which I succeeded as chapter president. I participated in the 2019 National Conference as a member of the House of Delegate (HOD), became involved as a Hepatitis B/C Conference committee member, and officially joined National APAMSA as one of the Hepatitis B/C Directors before becoming the Communications Vice President. I am so grateful to have been apart of the APAMSA family throughout my medical school career, and so excited to see what’s more to come! Experiences in healthcare inequity, especially those unique to the AANHPI population, are no stranger to me or my family. Being able to contribute to an organization that addresses these disparities to empower the community of which I grew up in, has been a privilege. In my free time, I am an artist by nature – I love photography, graphic design, painting, drawing, you name it! Additionally, I am a dog-lover and spend a lot of time with my Australian Shepherd, Bourbon.
Statement on White House AANHPI Initiative
APAMSA Applauds Return of White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to Health and Human Services
On December 9th, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the relaunch of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI), housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Like other communities of color, AANHPI communities have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the exacerbation of long-standing health inequities, we have seen a spike in racist rhetoric, xenophobia, and violence. This public health crisis highlights issues our leaders must address: anti-Asian bias and violence, data disaggregation, the model minority myth, language barriers, and health equity.
APAMSA applauds the Initiative’s return to HHS and the expansion of its name to explicitly include Native Hawaiians–a significant step in reinvigorating this historic endeavor. We look forward to seeing how the Biden-Harris Administration will address the vital concerns of everyone in our communities.
For more information on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, see www.hhs.gov/whiaanhpi
For questions or concerns, please reach out to rapidresponse@apamsa.org