region5

Dr. Anita Somani is currently serving her first term as State Representative for Ohio’s 11th House District, which includes the cities of Dublin and Hilliard. She is running for re-election in District 8 which encompasses Worthington and parts of Dublin and Columbus.

For the last 32 years, Dr. Somani has worked in Columbus as a highly respected healthcare professional, currently as an OBGYN at OhioHealth.  She earned her M.D. from the Medical College of Ohio and completed her residency in OB/GYN at Mt. Carmel Medical Center in Columbus. She has her certification in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery( MIGS). Dr. Somani is a past board member of the Columbus Medical Association and Planned Parenthood. She is currently a Board Member of LEAD Ohio. 

Dr. Somani ran for office because she believes the state of Ohio has gone down the wrong path regarding prominent issues such as health care, increasing abortion restrictions and the loosening of gun laws, all of which disproportionately affect marginalized communities. As a physician and legislator, she has used her medical background to improve the public health of our state and to create evidence-based legislation that helps everyone in our community.  She serves on the Health Policy, Health Providers, Families & Aging and Insurance Committees. She is the ranking member on Health Providers. She has sponsored many health related bills including the Reproductive Care Act (HB343), the Protect IVF technology(HB502) and the funding of Crisis Pregnancy Centers(HB565). She strongly believes in the separation of church and state. Public school funding should not go to school vouchers. 

Dr. Somani lives in Columbus with her husband where they raised their son, an engineer and their daughter, an OB/GYN. She is a first-generation immigrant from India, and her father was the first Asian to serve in a Governor’s cabinet. On a personal level, she has completed 10 half marathons and still enjoys running. She is an avid reader and one of her biggest stress reducers is baking.

Assisting women through pregnancy and birth and optimizing  a woman’s health status through the tumultuous changes that can occur during her life are both reasons Dr. Linbee Sayat loves being an OB/GYN. Dr. Sayat studied biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame and received her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. During medical school she was inspired to pursue OB/GYN thanks to a rotation she spent at a rural Ohio hospital performing deliveries as well as a mission trip to the southern Philippine islands where she was able to participate in gynecological surgeries in a primitive setting. Dr. Sayat spent her first post-grad years as a physician at the Columbus Neighborhood Health Centers where she worked to meet the access to healthcare challenges of the underserved. She then served for a decade as teaching faculty at The Ohio State University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She joined Avina Women’s Care in 2014 and has continued in private practice since that time.  Dr. Sayat’s husband Jason is also an OBGYN physician at Avina Women’s care. They have 2 grown children, Jacob and Alana.

For Dr. Jason Sayat, the decision to become a doctor was simple. From an early age, his mother, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and his father, a general surgeon, exposed him to medicine. Raised in Cambridge, Ohio, Dr. Sayat studied biology and neuroscience at Duke University. He then moved back to his home state to complete his medical training and later residency at The Ohio State University. Prior to joining Avina Women’s Care, he was in academic practice at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. His specializations include minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, robotic surgery, in-office procedures and general women’s healthcare. Today, Dr. Sayat resides in Columbus with his wife, also a physician within our practice, and two children.

Dr. Anh Thu Thai is from Columbus, Ohio. She has a background in respiratory therapy and her master’s and doctorate in healthcare administration. She currently works at The Ohio State University in research focused on adolescents and mental health. She serves as the Executive Director of the Ohio Asian American Health Coalition and is an active member of the American Public Health Association as the Caucus Director for Asian and Pacific Islanders. Her professional interests focus on addressing health disparities for Asian Americans, immigrants, and refugees. A few of her projects include: Discover Feminine Kits and Education for Mothers and Daughters, Franklin County Public Health Covid-19 Care Kits, Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services Mental Health Resource Guide and a Statewide Mental Health Providers Directory, and USAging Vaccine Initiative for Seniors.

Elizabeth Miu-Lan Young co-founded InterChange Consultants in 1987.
She is a specialist in cultural competencies training focusing on diversity issues at work. She has been active in the New York City Asian American Community for the past 40 years. One of the organizers of the initial Chinatown Health Fair which eventually led to the establishment of the Chinatown Health Clinic (now called the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center), she also taught the pilot Asian American Experience course at Hunter College and the University of Southern California. Liz served as the first Director of Project Reach – a Chinese-American Planning Council program working with Chinatown at-risk youth. She also worked in a garment sweatshop to better understand the immigrant experience. She was a senior research associate with an Affirmative Action consulting firm headed by Dr. Kenneth Clark.
Liz has presented “Political Savvy” and “Kick Butt!! Just Not Your Own” workshops for affinity groups of color at Lucent Technologies, AT&T and Verizon. She has co-facilitated similar courses in Hong Kong and Jakarta and provided cross-cultural teambuilding and civil-capacity building in East Timor.
She has also trained administrators, faculty and students in cultural competencies at Fashion Institute of Technology, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, New York University, Spelman, Princeton, the University of Connecticut, Brown University, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and new medical/dental students at Stony Brook University School of Medicine.
For the NCAA, Liz has co-facilitated the weeklong Leadership Intensive for the Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minorities and Division III’s groundbreaking Ethnic Minority and Women’s Internship Program joint orientation for interns, their supervisors and mentors. She currently serves as a staff developer with the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, training public school educators, staff and students in restorative practices and Social and Emotional skills.
She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and has received extensive training in Organizational Development.

Karen Jiobu, DLM (ASCP), presently is a Health Care adviser, served as an Interim Executive Director (2018-2021) of Asian American Community Services ( founded in 1976) and continues to serve the Asian American community.  www.aacsohio.org. Her community service started as a volunteer with the Asian Festival (29 years) serving as the Vice chair of the first board, treasurer and performance chair.  She also started the Asian Festival Dragon Boat race event in 2010.  She started screening for hepatitis B in 2006 at the Asian Festival and after 2008 at AACS, working with OSU medical students and the Asian and Somali ethnic communities has facilitated over 2000 screenings.  She was awarded the Hepatitis B United Champion Award in 2013 in Washington, D.C. for her work in education, awareness, screening, and linkage to care for hepatitis B. and currently serves as an adviser at the National Hepatitis B Task Force.  She was inducted into the Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work with hepatitis B as well as her  speaking about the Japanese American Internment in schools, libraries, and other organizations .  On March 26, 2024, Karen was presented the Community Action Award by the Ohio Commission on Minority Health.

Prior to her retirement and community service she was Laboratory Director at Mount Carmel Health System starting out as a medical technologist then supervisor of Microbiology and then lab director of 100 staff associates and 10 managers. She was instrumental in the consolidation of the laboratories at Mount Carmel West, Mount Carmel East, and St Ann’s Hospitals  and then becoming the Director of the Rapid Response Laboratories at all 3 hospitals before retirement.  She worked as a technologist at the Los Angeles County General Hospital, Norfolk General Hospital (Virginia) and the Bellin Memorial Hospital (Green Bay, Wisconsin)

Sofia Negash is the current Program coordinator of the AACS Hepatitis B minigrant.  She is a recent OSU Master’s of Public Health Graduate.   At this year’s Asian Festival, she contributed to enhancing data collection improvement and storage for the APIDA community for the Columbus Asian Festival.

My name is Thanh Ma, the oldest son of the ten siblings. Growing up in the South Vietnam, I completed
the 7 th  grade schooling. My father was an official of the South Vietnam government.
I set out a journey as one of “the Boat people” for the whole family to escape from Vietnam since the
Communist controlled. Came to the United States, in February 1985 my first job was at the Baker Pride
Oven Co. as a beginner welder > Machinist > Leadman of the Machine department. Working in the day
time, ESL class in the evening for about 2 hours a week, I obtained a GED certificate in May 1987 from
City of New York Board of Education. Enrolled in Rockland Community College in 1988 and College Of
Aeronautics in Flushing New York in 1989. School in the day time and work in the evening, at night and
weekends to support myself and my family. Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical
Engineering in May 1993.
In September 1993, I entered in to the competitive and challenging world, got a job as an IT
Engineer.  Work and continue education, gained a Master’s degree in Computer Networking in August
1998. In 2000, I worked at Cap Gemini, Earnest and Young as a Technical Support manager Data Center
NY-NJ that supported Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke and Roosevelt Medical Center, Long Island
College Medical Center, King Highway Hospital and many other hospitals within the network. In 2006, I
set out as a business investment until today. The Covid-19 really turned things upside down. Starting
from the COVID-19 outbreak, I have worked with different charities and volunteer agencies and now I
am with Asian American Community Services (AACS) as a coordinator and program manager for Asian
Free Clinic.
Life is very interesting, sometimes things go well “nice and smooth” other times things rough like an
“angry ocean!”

Justin is a graduate of OSU College of Medicine, where he served as a former chapter president of APAMSA. He plans on pursuing Hem/Onc fellowship after residency.

I am a plastic surgeon who specializes in reconstructive procedures, including general reconstruction, top surgeries for transgender patients and breast reductions. When patients come to see me, they can trust that I will care for them as I would my own family members.

My enthusiasm for plastic surgery began in medical school when I learned how reconstruction could significantly improve quality of life for burn patients and I have felt called to this specialty ever since. It is a privilege to use my skills to help bring a sense of normalcy to patients impacted by trauma, cancer or a congenital anomaly.

I am also passionate about transgender care and helping people become their true selves. I serve as co-chair of the outreach program for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group and volunteer at community events. My research is focused on reducing health care disparities and expanding medical education to underserved groups.

In addition to my clinical work, I am the associate program director for the Plastic Surgery Residency Program and an advisor for the Plastic Surgery Interest Group at Ohio State. I love working in academic medicine because helping to train and inspire future generations is one of the most fulfilling opportunities available.

When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, volunteering and meeting new people. I stay active and healthy by running, which helps me regroup and focus on what truly matters. I also enjoy a good cup of coffee and trying diverse types of food.

Emily Chen

Region V Director
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

Logistics Coordinator

Sunshine Liu

Region V Director
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Communications Coordinator

Jordan Sontz

Region V Director
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Programming Coordinator

Jessica Hsueh

Membership Vice President
Georgetown University School of Medicine

Amy Lin

Med Chapter President

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Communications Committee

Fumiya Abe-Nornes

Med Chapter Vice President

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Logistics Committee

Kelly Hao

Med Chapter Treasurer

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Communications Committee

John Huang

Med Chapter Community Outreach Coordinator

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Logistics Committee

Rita Suzawa

Med Chapter Mentorship and Development 

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Programming Committee

David Kim

Med Chapter Community Outreach Coordinator

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Programming Committee

Sooho Myoung

Med Chapter First Year Liaison 

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Jasmine Yang

Med Chapter First Year Liaison

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Jaden Zelidon

Ohio State University — Pre-Med

Programming Committee