Conference

Sandra L. Wong, MD, MS, an accomplished surgical oncologist and health services researcher who joined Emory School of Medicine as Dean in March 2024. She also serves as the chief academic officer for Emory Healthcare.

Dr. Wong is a surgical oncologist specializing in the management of soft tissue sarcomas, melanoma and non- melanoma skin cancers. She is among the most widely recognized health services researchers in academic surgery, with an extensive record of research funding and more than 250 peer-reviewed studies to her credit. She has held leadership positions in several prominent professional organizations including the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Society of University Surgeons, and the Society of Surgical Chairs. Wong has been honored with numerous medical student and resident teaching awards.

She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of California Berkeley. After receiving an MD from Northwestern University Medical School, she completed a surgical residency at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Wong spent a decade at the University of Michigan where she was an instrumental leader as a vice chair of academic affairs and an associate chief of staff. As chair of the Department of Surgery at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, she was responsible for overseeing all aspects of research, education and clinical operations. During her tenure at Dartmouth, she co-founded the federally-funded Center for Rural Health Care Delivery Science, which provides infrastructure to train junior investigators who focus on solving challenges associated with the provision of equitable health care.

Amy Y. Chen, MD, MPH, MBA, FACS is the Willard and Lillian Hackerman Professor and the Inaugural Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion of the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at The Emory University School of Medicine.   She serves as the Director of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery and was the Program Director for the Head and Neck Surgery Fellowship.   Her expertise is in thyroid and parathyroid surgery.  She has also served as Director of Health Services Research in the Department of Surveillance and Health Policy Research of the American Cancer Society.  She serves on the Board of the American Thyroid Association, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence, and the Partnership for Southern Equity.

Dr. Chen has been instrumental in developing a team approach to patient care.  She developed and currently leads the multidisciplinary thyroid and head and neck tumor conferences.  Her primary focus of research is in measuring outcomes of oncology treatment as well as measuring determinants of successful outcomes of care.  Dr. Chen’s research agenda is to create a multi-disciplinary, multi-site center dedicated to health services research, outcomes, and quality of care.  Her secondary focus of research is directed toward translational research of head and neck and thyroid malignancies.  She is also an implicit bias facilitator and a diversity, equity and inclusion champion.  

Dr. Chen joined the Emory faculty in 2001 after a fellowship in Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  Prior to that fellowship she was a resident in Otolaryngology and General Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, also in Houston.

She is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology and holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health.  She also recently completed her Master of Business Administration at Goizueta Business School at Emory.   Dr. Chen has received numerous awards and honors, among them the Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award, Emory Eminent Physician Award, the Margaret Butler Award for Outstanding Mentor of Women Head and Neck Surgeons, Emory School of Medicine Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award, Top Atlanta Doctor, Gussack Memorial Award for Teaching, Percy Memorial Research Award, the Rande Lazar Health Services Research Award, the American Head and Neck Society Scholarship Award, and The Women’s Fund for Health, Education and Research Grant.  She is married and birthed two daughters.  She misses her recently deceased rescue yellow Labrador retriever.  

In January 2025, she will be moving to City of Hope Cancer Center in Newnan, GA as Chief of Surgery and Director of Thyroid Oncology.   

​​Bill Eley is a native of Georgia who received his Bachelor of Arts in chemistry, Doctor of Medicine, and Master of Public Health from Emory University. He holds faculty appointments of Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health. A Board-certified medical oncologist, he has practiced oncology within Emory Healthcare and at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Eley was initially appointed in the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) where he investigated disparities in cancer survival.  He has taught medical students clinical epidemiology and served on the Admissions committee at the Emory University School of Medicine (SOM).  In 2000 he became Associate Dean and Director of Admissions in School of Medicine and in 2004, he was appointed Executive Associate Dean for Medical Education and Student Affairs.  In his current role he oversees the six degree programs within the School of Medicine and the Graduate Medical Education programs and is overseeing the Medical Education Curriculum Transformation Initiative.

Dr. Eley is committed to the spread of compassion – compassion for others and self, as embodied by the Cognitive Based Compassion Training (CBCT) course developed at Emory.  He is privileged to teach CBCT within the School of Medicine and is interesting in incorporating compassion training in the field of medicine.

Dr. Reena Hemrajani completed medical school at Florida State University and internal medicine residency, followed by chief residency at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She subsequently served as an academic hospitalist and in residency education leadership at George Washington University and VCU. In 2017, Dr. Hemrajani moved to Atlanta to be an academic hospitalist in the inaugural Hospital Medicine Program at Grady Memorial Hospital. At Emory, she has held roles as the Associate Division Director for Faculty Development in Hospital Medicine and Associate Program Director for the residency. In 2022, she stepped into the role of the Internal Medicine Residency Program Director at Emory and values her role in supporting residents to achieve their goals. In her free time, she is an avid city walker in the vibrant neighborhoods of Atlanta, enjoys trying out new local restaurants, and takes advantage of opportunities for travel.

Emily Herndon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine at Emory and currently serves as a Staff Physician at Emory Student Health. She, along with a registered dietician and chef, teaches a second-year elective on Culinary Medicine. She is a graduate of Emory School of Medicine, a past Small Group Advisor and Clerkship Director, and practicing community physician for over 20 years.  Much of her clinical experience was working at a Grady Neighborhood Center that served many immigrants and people from a wide variety of cultures. She enjoys traveling, cooking, dancing and yoga. 

Contact Information:  eherndo@emory.edu

Dr. Wei Huang is an Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. She received her medical degree in Shanghai, PhD in Neuroscience/Psychology at Vanderbilt University, and residency training at UNC Chapel Hill. Besides being a Board-certified physiatrist, Dr. Huang is also certified in Integrative Holistic Medicine and is a certified acupuncturist in Georgia. She is the founding physician of the first acupuncture clinic and the first integrative medicine clinic at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, and often acts as a consultant to regional medical centers about acupuncture services. She is currently co-Medical Director of Emory Acupuncture Service. Dr. Huang serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of PMR. Her own research and publications have been in sleep, pain, traumatic brain injury, and geriatric medicine; but her long-standing passion is to integrate the best of world’s traditional medicines with Western Medicine in clinical practice.

Dr. Abhi Kole received his MD from Emory and PhD in Immunology from the University of Oxford. He is a graduate of the Internal Medicine residency program at Emory and was subsequently a fellow with the HEAL Initiative (Health Equity, Action, and Leadership) through UCSF and spent two years in India with this program. He returned to Grady as a hospitalist in 2020. He also teaches the Community Learning and Social Medicine course for first-year medical students. His areas of interest are in addressing structural causes of inequity in our healthcare system. 

Contact Information: akole@emory.edu

Dr. Gerald Lee, MD is an associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. He is an allergist/immunologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Grady Memorial Hospital. He completed his Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency at Saint Vincent’s Hospital in New York City and an Allergy/Immunology fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.  He is the director of the Emory allergy/immunology fellowship and the preclinical immunology thread for the medical school. His academic interests are medical education, quality improvement in allergy/immunology, and hosting the AllergyTalk podcast.  

Dr. Sanders has served as Emory Pediatrics Residency Program Director since 2021. She works as a hospitalist for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at both the Hughes Spalding and Arthur M Blank campuses. She has a strong interest in curriculum development, particularly in improving mental health care education for pediatric residents and fellows. In her spare time she loves reading, gardening, and building Lego.

Dr. Wu was born in Los Angeles, CA but moved to Houston, Texas at a young age. She then spent the next twenty-years in the Lone Star state, where she acquired her love for country music, football, and BBQ (mostly the sides!). She attended The University of Texas-Austin (Hook ‘em!) and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry with a minor in Business Administration. After doing a year of research at MD Anderson, Jessica attended The University of Texas Medical Branch – Galveston for medical school.

At this time, Jessica decided it was time to explore places outside of Texas. She left the great state of Texas and moved back to Los Angeles for her General Surgery training at USC. During her residency at USC, Jessica developed an interest in hernia surgery and bariatric surgery. Her research focused on optimizing hernia surgery and bariatric surgery outcomes at a safety-net hospital. Given such interest, Jessica is currently pursuing a MIS fellowship at Emory University with hopes of becoming a future hernia, foregut, and bariatric surgeon.

Ju Zhang is a postdoctoral fellow in bioethics at the Emory University Center for Ethics. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from The University of Texas at Austin in 2022. Her current research focuses on developing and defending a trust-oriented model of the patient-physician relationship. Her goal is to promote reasonable patient-physician trust by modifying relevant concepts such as patient autonomy, informed consent, and justified intervention in light of her model. She intends to extend her research on patient-physician trust to nonexpert-expert trust in general and to trust between a relatively disadvantaged individual/group and a relatively advantaged individual/group. She is also interested in studying trust and cooperation among communities, societies, and nations, believing that reasonable trust is key in tackling global issues such as climate change and pandemics.

Email: ju.zhang@emory.edu

Christopher Doan is a an MS4 from UTMB Galveston and has recently been recognized as a member of the GHHS and AOA. He grew up in the Dallas metroplex and attended UT Dallas for his undergraduate degree. He is currently one of the National APAMSA Hepatitis Initiative Directors and has research interests in AANHPI disaggregation of cancer data, cancer screenings, and medical humanities. Previously, he also served as a local chapter president and was one of the founding members of the Hepatitis B screening initiative with outreach to Asian immigrant fishermen working in the Galveston port.

Amelia Huynh

Membership Co-VP
Pacific Northwest University
of Health Sciences

Paul Tominez

Membership Co-VP
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

James Chen

Region IX RD
University of Texas Medical Branch – John Sealy School of Medicine

Daiana Takashima

Region IV RD
Emory University School of Medicine

Jerry Liu

Region IX RD
Texas A&M School of Medicine

Yuna Seo

Region IV RD
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (North Georgia)

Francis Khuong

Region IX RD
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Neil Vuppala

Region IV RD
Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine

Brandon Lee

Emory University School of Medicine

Janet Mao

Emory University School of Medicine

Katherine Tong

Emory University School of Medicine

John Choi

Emory University School of Medicine

Hithardhi Duggireddy

Emory University School of Medicine

Max Su

Emory University School of Medicine

Margaret Lim

Emory University School of Medicine

Akshay Nair

Emory University School of Medicine

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

Paul Tran is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Phoenix Childrens, where he has been practicing since summer of 2022 after finishing his fellowship training in Pediatric Gastroenterology at Children’s Hospital Colorado. He earned his medical degree from University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed pediatric residency at Children’s Health/University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas Texas.

He considers himself a dedicated medical educator, with formal roles as a Pediatric Clerkship Co-Director and doctoring faculty at UACOMP and Clinical Skills faculty at Creighton University.  He is passionate about mentoring and coaching medical students, residents, and fellows and promoting a culture of kindness, encouragement, and empowerment in medical education. Outside his practice, Dr. Tran enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons – exploring the outdoors and trying out new restaurants.  Paul also enjoys connecting with a broader audience through social media, where he shares his experiences and insights in the medical field.

Dr. Rosanne Kho serves as Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix. Prior to 2023, she was Head of the Section of Medical Gynecology and Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS) at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and sub-specialty board certified in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS). Dr. Kho focused her clinical and academic career in the field of pelvic surgery. She was involved in the early use of robotics in gynecology and had published on the techniques and appropriate application of the technology. She writes and teaches extensively on the adoption of surgical innovation and techniques to facilitate the performance and teaching of vaginal hysterectomy. She served for 10 years as one of four senior editors for the Journal of MIGS (2022 IF 4.3). In 2015, she founded the FMIGS subsection of the Fellows Pelvic Research Network, a fellows’ forum with senior mentorship for the conduct of multicenter trials to elevate the quality of fellows research work in MIGS. She has over 90 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and serves as research mentor for the residents and fellows.

Dr. Kho also served as the fellowship director for FPMRS and later in MIGS at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Columbia University Medical Center in New York. In 2015-2017, as president of the fellowship in MIGS, she organized teams to revamp the fellowship program site requirements, learning goals and objectives, core curriculum and reading list. Additionally, the formal process to seek ABOG recognition of MIGS as a focused field in OB/GYN was instituted.

She currently serves as the President for the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons. She was recently appointed as the Director of AAGL Practice Guidelines Committee for the development of clinical practice guidelines in MIGS.

Peter Nakaji, MD, is an internationally known neurosurgeon, who has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and holds more than two dozen patents. Dr. Nakaji has received a number of teaching awards and has served for nearly a decade as the program director for the Neurosurgery residency at Barrow Neurological Institute. In his current role as department chair and program director for the Neurosurgery residency at Banner Health, Dr. Nakaji extends neuroscience training for medical students, residents and fellows. In addition to treating complex diseases of the brain, Dr. Nakaji is a pioneer in the area of neuroendoscopy for “keyhole” treatment of conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia and colloid cysts. He has a passion for technically demanding brain surgery and is a respected authority in the treatment of aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, cavernous malformations, moyamoya disease, extracranial-intracranial bypass, carotid artery disease, as well as brain and skull base tumors. Dr. Nakaji completed his residency at the University of California – San Diego. He received additional fellowship training in endoscopic neurosurgery at the Centre for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery in Sydney, Australia, under the direction of Charles Teo, MD. He completed a second fellowship in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix under Robert Spetzler, MD, before joining the staff as an attending neurosurgeon in 2004.

Dr. Alice Lee is an emergency physician in Mesa, AZ. She received her medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University, graduated from Creighton University EM Residency (formerly Maricopa Medical Center EM Residency) and has been in practice for 32 years.  She is highly experienced in the care of geriatric emergencies, emergent airways, ED acute stroke care, and ED cardiopulmonary resuscitations. In 2017, she joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix faculty as an Assistant Clinical Professor where she assists in the Simulation Lab and the Anatomy Lab. In 2023, she added to her breadth of expertise by working as an aviation telemedicine physician consultant for MedAire/MedLink, Phoenix, AZ, providing medical direction in real-time for in-flight medical events. She is passionately bringing awareness of the little known health disparity of lung cancer in nonsmokers in the AANHPI population since surviving the disease in 2021. She has appeared on KevinMD podcasts and given lectures on this topic. She was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US with her family at the age of 9. She is competent in conversational Chinese (Mandarin.)

Vivian Huang, MD, MPH is dual boarded in internal medicine and preventive medicine with over 10 years experience in clinical medicine, international & domestic public health. She has a Masters of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Vivian’s domestic current and past experience includes working to support Native Americans in the US Southwest; in large urban hospital systems; academic centers; New York City Health Department and Federally Qualified Health Center. Vivian’s international experience includes working with Doctors Without Borders (Syria & Swaziland), Partners in Health (Sierra Leone), Columbia University Global Brigades (Honduras) and The Marshall Islands Government. Dr. Huang’s specialties/interests are Internal Medicine, Public Health, TB, Diabetes, Hepatitis B, Ebola, Immunizations, Vulnerable Populations/Health Inequities. She speaks 3 languages: English Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. She enjoys scuba/free diving, yoga, running & hiking.

Thy Nguyen, OMS-I

Region VII Director, Registration Liaison

A.T. Still University – School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona

Phil Nguyen-Powanda, MS-III

Region VII Director

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Lyndon Bui, MS-IV

Region VII Director

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Amelia Huynh, OMS-IV

Membership Vice President

Pacific Northwest University – College of Osteopathic Medicine

Stephen Yao, MS-III

Director of Conference and Planning

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Brittnay Hong, MS-III

Director of Conference and Logistics

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Euwie Park, MS-II

Director of Speaker Relations

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Khang Dao, MS-III

SIM Workshop Director

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Taylor Lee, MS-II

Doctoring Workshop Director, Director of Marketing and Design

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Chynna Nguyen, MS-II

Volunteer Liaison

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Van Dexter Calo, MS-II

Director of Communications

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Victoria Wang, MS-II

Director of Research

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Teresa Tran, MS-II

Director of Marketing and Design

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

University of Arizona – College of Medicine (Phoenix)

Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

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.