AANHPI-HSIG Annual Conference (Speaker Bios)

Dr. Mapuana Antonio is an Associate Professor, head of the Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health Program, and the inaugural Queen Liliʻuokalani Endowed Professor in Native Hawaiian Culture at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Dr. Antonio is a Native Hawaiian scholar dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of Native Hawaiians and Indigenous peoples. Her research takes a strengths-based, holistic, and community prioritized approach by bettering the physical, mental, and spiritual health of Native Hawaiians, with a focus on resilience. Her research expands on definitions of health and resilience to better align with Native Hawaiian worldviews, which demonstrates the importance of maintaining balance and relational ties between Kānaka (people, community) and ‘Āina (land, nature, environment), while addressing core structural and socio-cultural determinants of health. Dr. Antonio is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the NIH-funded project Ke Ola O Ka 'Āina, which explores the role of ‘Āina and ‘Āina connectedness in Native Hawaiian health and resilience.

Dr. Antonio provides lectures at the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty level on Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health. She graduated with her MA and BS in psychology and minor in biology from Washington State University. She earned a DrPH in public health from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where she received a graduate certificate in measurement and statistics, with a focus on psychometrics. She has training and background in psychology, public health, Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health, community-based participatory research approaches, qualitative research, and quantitative research including survey methodologies.

Dr. Bao serves as the Co-Director of the Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She is a past president of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and currently serves as the Co-Chair of the SIO Education Committee. Dr. Bao is a board-certified breast medical oncologist, medical acupuncturist, and integrative medicine physician. Her extensive clinical and research background includes conducting numerous clinical trials investigating the safety, effectiveness, and underlying mechanisms of acupuncture and yoga for enhancing the quality of life of cancer patients and addressing treatment- and disease-related symptoms. Dr. Bao's expertise has led her to serve on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Physician Data Query Integrative Complementary and Alternative Medicine Editorial Board. She is also a member of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Symptom Intervention Committee and regularly participates as a speaker and panelist in NCI workshops on oncology acupuncture and complementary and integrative medicine.

Born and raised in Beijing, China, she received her medical education at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, with residency at John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and medical oncology fellowship at the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her Masters of Science in clinical research is from the University of Maryland. Prior to her position at Memorial Sloan Kettering, she was a joint faculty member at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center and Center for Integrative Medicine. She is board-certified in medical oncology, internal medicine and acupuncturist. She was a joint faculty member at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) Integrative Medicine and Breast Medicine services and the director of Integrative Breast Oncology program at MSK from 4/2014 to 7/2023.

Dr. Chen has been serving as the Director of the Developmental Therapeutics Clinic (DTC) within the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute since 2014. Within the framework of the National Cancer Institute, DTC actively facilitates the exploration and advancement of novel anticancer drugs and drug targets, concurrently pioneering innovative clinical trial designs applicable to the development of molecularly targeted agents. She serves as the co-primary investigator for NCI-MATCH, one of the largest precision medicine trials of its time and ComboMATCH. Dr. Chen also is the Chief Specialty Editor for Frontiers Medicine: Precision Medicine.

Dr. Chen's dedication to the study of rare tumors and sarcoma has led to noteworthy contributions, such as the development of atezolizumab in alveolar soft part sarcoma and the initiation of various sarcoma trials within the Experimental Therapeutic Clinical Trial Network. The pivotal findings regarding the efficacy of atezolizumab in alveolar soft tissue sarcoma, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2023, resulted in the approval of atezolizumab for this specific indication. Her collaboration with the Pediatric Oncology Branch (POB) in this trial marked a significant milestone, representing the first approval of atezolizumab for pediatric patients.

Serena Chu, PhD., is a Scientific Review Officer (SRO) in the Division of Extramural Review at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). She also serves as the Peer Review Diversity Liaison within NIMH, which is charged with ensuring that a diversity of perspectives is represented on review panels. Serena is also active in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues at NIMH. She is a member of the NIMH Disparity Team, the Antiracism Task Force, and work groups that are focused on promoting dialogue among diverse staff and monitoring culture change within the agency. She is also involved in developing Listening Sessions to gain a better understanding of the barriers ethnic minority scientists face when attempting to obtain funding.

Prior to NIH, Serena was a Program Analyst in the Office of Rural Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Serena served as the subject matter expert in the areas of rural mental health, ethnic minority veterans, American Indian/Alaska Native veterans (AI/AN), homelessness, and women veterans. She served on a committee appointed by the Secretary of the VA to examine and make policy recommendations on the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act as it pertained to AI/AN veterans. She also wrote a Memorandum of Understanding between the VA and the Indian Health Services that identified 15 areas that the agencies would collaborate on.

Serena graduated from the Ohio State University, with a B.A. in Psychology, and a minor in Sociology. She then completed her M.A. and PhD in Counseling Psychology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She then completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Health Services Research at Baylor College of Medicine and the Houston VA Medical Center. She is a licensed psychologist.

MyDzung T. Chu, PhD, MSPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Public Health and Community Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine. She is also the Director of the ADAPT (Addressing Disparities in Asian Populations through Translational Research) Coalition at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute. As an environmental epidemiologist, her research focuses on environmental and social drivers of health equity for Asian and immigrant populations. She is currently collaborating with community partners to investigate acculturation and environmental risk factors of gestational diabetes for Asian immigrants; air pollution, heat stress, and urban design disparities across open spaces in Boston’s Chinatown; and cultural responsiveness of mental health resources for Asian populations. Prior to Tufts, she was a postdoctoral scientist at the George Washington University where she examined the impact of federal housing assistance on residential environmental hazards. She has also worked at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Dr. Chu is a JPB in Environmental Health Fellow, a former Agents of Change in Environmental Justice Fellow, and named one of Popular Science’s Brilliant 10 Early Career Scientist in 2023. She received her PhD in Population Health Sciences from Harvard University, a MSPH in Environmental Health and Epidemiology from Emory University, and a BA in Neuroscience from Smith College.

Gordon Nagayama Hall is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon. Dr. Hall received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He started his career as a psychologist at Western State Hospital in Washington state. Dr. Hall later was a Professor of Psychology at Kent State University and Penn State University. He served as President of the American Psychological Association (APA) Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45) and as President of the Asian American Psychological Association. He was Editor of Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. His textbook Multicultural Psychology is in its 4th Edition. Dr. Hall received the Lifetime Achievement Award from APA Division 45 and an APA Presidential Citation for his extraordinary leadership in advancing multicultural psychology. His research interests are in culture and mental health with a particular interest in Asian Americans. He currently has NIMH funding to develop the Mind Boba problem-solving therapy app for Asian Americans (mindboba.com). Dr. Hall serves on the Board of Directors of the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon.

After graduating from Notre Dame of Maryland University in 2018, LCDR Huynh finished her ambulatory care pharmacy residency at the Lawton Indian Hospital in Oklahoma. Upon completing her residency, she stayed with the service unit as a clinical diabetes specialist serving the main hospital and two satellite clinics. In 2022, she transferred to the Commissioned Corps Headquarters, working with the Public Health Emergency Response Strike Team. Currently, she is working as a Consumer Safety Officer within the Center for Tobacco Products of the Food and Drug Administration.

LCDR Huynh has been actively serving the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community since high school and continues to do so with her engagement in the Asian Pacific American Officer Committee. In her current role as the Community Engagement Workgroup Chair, her active focus is on delivering educational and clinical events that further the care of AANHPI members by establishing lasting relationships with local AANHPI organizations.

Dr. Eun-Ok Im is Dean, Professor and Laura Lee Blanton Endowed Chair at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Im is an internationally known methodologist and theorist in nursing science, especially oncology nursing, whose contributions have been profound and groundbreaking. Her two outstanding scholarly contributions to nursing include leading a research program that adopts Internet and computer technologies to eliminate gender and ethnic disparities in midlife women’s health issues including cancer survivorship and articulating situation specific theories providing theoretical basis for targeted/tailored interventions for under-represented racial/ethnic midlife women. She is a pioneer who has taken the lead in this evolving field from the late 1990s, and her studies are among the first of their kind to use these technologies to build nursing knowledge. Over two decades, Dr. Im has successfully solicited NIH funding to support her research, including five R01 studies and one recent R61/R33 study as PI, and has aggressively disseminated her findings, with nearly 240 refereed journal articles. By developing the theoretical and methodological structures and frameworks for ethical and culturally sensitive research in the Digital Age, Dr. Im's studies have led and impacted over 200 students and researchers far beyond the scope of her own work and continuously impact advances in nursing science. Also, her leadership is reflected in her former and current national and international services, including her presidentship of the Asian American Pacific Islander Nurses Association. She has numerous national and international awards including the 2014 International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Award from the Sigma Theta Tau International, the 2020 CANS Outstanding Nurse Scientist award, the 2022 SNRS Distinguished Researcher Award, the 2022 FNINR Faye Glenn Abdellah Award, the 2023 Oncology Nursing Society Distinguished Researcher Award, and the 2023 Helen Nahm Distinguished Researcher Award. She was one of the 2019 NINR Director's lecturers.

Dr. Debra M. Kawahara is the 2025 President for the American Psychological Association (APA). She is also the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Distinguished Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology and Executive Director of the Illumination of Mindfulness Institute at Alliant International University. As a licensed clinical psychologist, her independent practice provides treatment to individuals, couples, and families, as well as conducting trainings for organizations.

Dr. Kawahara is a multicultural feminist scholar whose work centers on intersectionality, Buddhist psychotherapy, feminism and women’s issues, and the application of social justice principles. She is widely published and has presented extensively in these areas with a forthcoming book on Buddhist Psychotherapy. In 2018, she became the Editor-in-Chief for Women & Therapy.

Her previous leadership roles include being a member at large on the APA Board of Directors, a representative to the APA Council of Representatives (COR), an APA Finance Committee member, an Advisory Committee member for the Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology (LIWP), APA Divisions on Social Justice representative, Lead Coordinator for the National Multicultural Conference & Summit, and a National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology delegate.

She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Asian American Psychological Association. In recognition of her work, several awards have been bestowed on her, including an APA Presidential Citation and the Shining Star Award at the National Multicultural Conference & Summit.

Dr. Anna Lau is Professor of Psychology and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence in the Division of Life Sciences. Her research spans across the areas of racial/ethnic disparities in children’s mental health services, cultural variation in risk and protective factors for youth mental health problems, and the community implementation and cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions for immigrant and minoritized youth and families. Dr. Lau has authored over 150 research publications and her ongoing research is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. Her current projects focus on the implementation of strengths-based, trauma-informed interventions in schools to prevent suicide and advance health and mental health equity for young people. She is a Fellow of the Asian American Psychological Association, from which she received the Distinguished Contributions to Research Award in 2017. Dr. Lau served as the President of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (American Psychological Association, Division 53) in 2022. Dr. Lau trains Clinical Psychology Ph.D. students in delivery of evidence-based psychotherapy for youth, and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Psychological Assessment, Asian American Mental Health, and the Psychology of Diversity. She is dedicated to inclusive excellence in higher education and has served on the University of California, Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools.

Minnkyong Lee is the Deputy Chief Engagement Officer for the NIH All of Us Research Program. Since 2017, Minnky has been working with All of Us awardees to identify and disseminate best practices in the engagement and retention of participants and researchers. Prior to All of Us, she worked with animal models and big data at the National Human Genome Research Institute.
As a fervent supporter of STEM education and mentoring, she has taught and volunteered at local institutions, including Northern Virginia Community College, the University of the District of Columbia, the University of Maryland, and the Marian Koshland Science Museum. With her experiences in the laboratory and with diverse communities, she contributes a unique, inclusive perspective as a strong advocate of the program and its ecosystem of invaluable partners.

Jessica is an Engagement Specialist in the Researcher Engagement and Outreach Branch within the NIH All of Us Division of Engagement and Outreach. She is passionate about bridging the gap for minority-serving institutions who have been historically underrepresented in higher education and the biomedical workforce. She leads the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) working group, which identifies barriers facing HSI researchers using the All of Us data, and supports programmatic functions that connect and strengthen the All of Us researcher community.
Jessica has over a decade of program management experience in higher education, supporting awards management for researchers and mentoring undergraduate students. She holds a BS in Architecture from the University of Maryland and has pursued graduate studies in project management and organizational management. She is a proud football mom and enjoys getting her hands dirty in her backyard garden.

Dr. Sunmin Lee is a professor in the School of Medicine's Department of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine), and a co-leader of the Cancer Control Program at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine. As a social epidemiologist and health disparities researcher, Dr. Lee’s research has focused on reducing health disparities among minority and immigrant populations, especially Asian Americans, over the last two decades. Dr. Lee has led multiple NIH- and CDC-funded epidemiologic and intervention studies. These studies aim to comprehensively examine the etiologies of health disparities and design and implement randomized controlled trials that are culturally and linguistically appropriate to reduce health disparities.

Some of Dr. Lee’s current NIH-funded studies include “Implementing and evaluating a randomized controlled trial to increase colorectal cancer screening among Chinese and Korean primary care patients” and “Examining longitudinal effects of immigrant stressors on sleep and cardiometabolic health disparities among Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans.” Throughout her career, Dr. Lee has led multidisciplinary teams across multiple institutions to conduct highly innovative, scientifically rigorous, and collaborative research. Dr. Lee has published over 90 papers in high-impact journals and served on numerous NIH Study Sections. Dr. Lee and her team have established successful partnerships with more than 70 community and physician organizations to engage underserved Asian Americans and clinicians in health disparities research. Dr. Lee has actively contributed to mentoring over 100 students and junior investigators, many of whom are from under-represented minority groups.

Dr. Lee received her doctoral degree in social epidemiology from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and she completed her postdoctoral training in Aging at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lee received her M.P.H. in Health Policy and bachelor’s degree in English from Seoul National University in South Korea.

Douglas R. Lowy, M.D., has served as principal deputy director since July 2010, helping to lead NCI’s key scientific initiatives. He has previously served as acting director three times during his tenure, most recently from April 2022 through September 2022.
As an NCI leader, Dr. Lowy has supported NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, increased investment in health disparities and pediatric oncology research, and tirelessly championed investigator-initiated research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Lowy led the evaluation of various SARS-CoV-2 commercial antibody testing devices submitted to the FDA. He was also appointed as co-chair of the SARS-CoV-2 Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) Vaccines Working Group, which published authoritative articles on topics such as the importance of enrolling high-risk participants and underrepresented minorities in COVID-19 vaccine trials.
As NCI acting director from 2015 to 2017, Dr. Lowy led key initiatives, including the Precision Medicine Initiative and Cancer Moonshot℠. In the Precision Medicine Initiative, the NCI-MATCH trial was the first of its kind to use genomic sequencing to plan treatment and one of the fastest-accruing NCI clinical trials. Its results led to several FDA approvals. In the Cancer Moonshot, the ongoing ESCUDDO trial is studying whether one dose of the HPV vaccine works as well as two doses. Findings could influence how many people get and have access to HPV vaccinations, both nationally and worldwide.
Dr. Lowy received his medical degree from New York University Grossman School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine at Stanford University and dermatology at Yale University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Medicine of the NAS.

Dr. Wei Lu is a senior investigator at NINDS, NIH. His laboratory is interested in identifying and characterizing novel GABAA receptor auxiliary subunits and developing new GABAA receptor psychopharmacology, and determining the molecular and systems mechanisms underlying stress, alcohol action, general anesthesia and sleep.

Dr. Yuan Luo is a Program Director of the Clinical Interventions and Diagnostics branch in the Division of Neuroscience at NIA. She oversees the Division’s technology portfolio, such as using technology for early detection, monitoring and interventions for aging brain, MCI, AD, and other dementias. Dr. Luo also manages some of the Branch's career development and Fellowship programs, and initiatives on validation of plasma-bases biomarkers for AD/ADRD
Before coming to NIA, Dr. Luo was a Scientific Review Officer at the Center for Scientific Review managing the Emerging Technology and Training in Neuroscience study sections. She also served as a member of multiple trans-NIH committees.
Dr. Luo received her BS and MS in Biochemistry & Toxicology from Peking University in China. After a one-year UNESCO-sponsored training in Hungary Academy of Sciences, she obtained Ph.D. in Neuroscience from SUNY Upstate Medical University. She then accepted two postdoctoral fellowships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining NIH in 2010, Dr. Luo spent more than 10 years as a NIH-funded principal investigator and an Associate Professor at The University of Southern Mississippi, and the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Her laboratory research interest was on neuroprotection in relation to aging and Alzheimer’s disease using animal models and human study. She supervised more than a dozen Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows and author/co-authored over 50 research articles and book chapters.

Daniel Moretti, MSc (all pronouns) is Community Engagement Lead at PRIDEnet, based out of Stanford University School of Medicine. His work focuses on connecting LGBTQIA+ community members with ways to participate in research, such as The PRIDE Study and the All of Us Research Program. Daniel has more than fifteen years of experience working at the cross sections of community engagement, social justice, research, and film in diverse locations including San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, London (UK), and Cebu (Philippines).

Dr. Pao is Clinical and Deputy Scientific Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. She was Chief of the Psychiatry Consultation Liaison Service in the NIH Clinical Center 2008-2019 and still serves as an Attending Psychiatrist. Dr. Pao attended Wellesley College before completing a BA/MD program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed Pediatric, Psychiatric and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A Clinical Professor on the faculty at Georgetown University, George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine, Dr. Pao studies coping and adaptation by youth to medical illness. She has published more than 150 research articles and chapters and co-edited the Quick Reference for Pediatric Oncology Clinicians: The Psychiatric and Psychological Dimensions of Pediatric Cancer Symptom Management, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, 2015. Dr. Pao helped develop the ASQ (Ask Suicide-Screening Questions) and Voicing My CHOiCES, an advance care planning guide for adolescents and young adults. In 2008, she received the NIH Asian and Pacific Islander American Organization Outstanding Management Achievement Award. She received the 2012 AACAP Simon Wile Award in consultation-liaison and the AACAP Virginia Anthony Award for Women's Leadership in 2022. She is the immediate past President of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. She received a Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Commendation in 2023 in recognition of exceptional leadership and dedicated service to the Department and to the Nation during the declared public health emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable is Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He earned his B.A. in chemistry in 1974 and M.D. in 1978 from the University of Miami. He then completed his primary care internal medicine residency and a research fellowship in general internal medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) before joining the faculty as an assistant professor in 1983. Dr. Pérez-Stable practiced primary care internal medicine for 37 years at UCSF. His research interests have centered on improving the health of individuals from racial and ethnic minority communities through effective prevention interventions, understanding underlying causes of health disparities, and advancing patient-centered care for underserved populations. Recognized as a leader in Latino health care and disparities research, he spent 32 years leading research on smoking cessation and tobacco control in Latino populations in the United States and Latin America. Dr. Pérez-Stable has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers.

Lieutenant Commander Vinh Phung is currently a supervisor in the Division of Filing Review, Office of Regulatory Operations, Office of Generic Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He manages a team of reviewers and collaborates with scientists and regulatory counsels to ensure that generic drug applications meet the statutory and regulatory requirements. Furthermore, he has developed resources to optimize consistent, regulatory decision-making and garnered expertise in drug product formulations to assist industry with developing complex generics. These endeavors are critical to facilitate competition in the generic market which advances affordable and accessible generic drugs to the American public. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2010 and commissioned into the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 2017. Collectively, he has over 13 years of experience in varying capacities. He started with the FDA as a reviewer and then, progressed to project manager and team leader positions. Prior to joining FDA, LCDR Phung served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force where he held a spectrum of clinical, administrative, leadership, and management roles.

He is the co-chair of the Community Engagement Workgroup (CEWG) within the Asian Pacific American Officers Committee (APAOC). CEWG's mission is to increase public awareness of the Commissioned Corps, provide opportunities for engagement in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities, and facilitate the development of consistent, high-quality, evidence-based presentations for effective community outreach and collaboration, primarily focusing on the priorities of the Office of Surgeon General (OSG) and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH).

Jongeun Rhee, Sc.D., M.S., is a Research Fellow in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute. Dr. Rhee She is an environmental & cancer epidemiologist and health equity researcher who aims to promote environmental health equity. Dr. Rhee investigates cancer risks associated with various environmental exposures, including persistent chemicals (e.g., per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and air pollution. She is particularly interested and committed to studying environmental carcinogens and relevant cancer risk in AANHPI populations. Dr. Rhee has received multiple intramural research grants and co-founded the DCEG Cancer Health Disparities Interest Group and NIH Environmental Justice and Health Interest Group. Dr. Rhee completed her Sc.D. in environmental, occupational, and molecular epidemiology and her M.S. in environmental health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

Nina F. Schor, MD, PhD is currently NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research, a post she has held since August 2022. In that position, she is responsible for oversight of research conducted by the 27 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health. Before coming to NIH, Dr. Schor spent 20 years on faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, ultimately becoming the Carol Ann Craumer Professor of Pediatric Research, Chief of the Division of Child Neurology in the Department of Pediatrics, and Associate Dean for Medical Student Research at the medical school. In 2006, Dr. Schor became the William H. Eilinger Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, and Pediatrician-in-Chief of the Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester, posts she held until January 2018, when she became Deputy Director of the NINDS. For 27 years in academia, her research on neural crest development and neoplasia was continuously funded by NIH. At NINDS, she led the Division of Intramural Research and the Ultra-Rare GENe-targeted Therapies (URGenT) Network and strategic planning and career development programs. She currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Jean Shin, Ph.D., is Deputy Director in NIH’s Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD) office, where he provides oversight or serves as primary liaison for a host of data-related projects, communication tools, virtual conferences and events, and DEIA-oriented committees and working groups. Prior to joining the NIH staff, he served as Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the American Sociological Association (ASA). He joined the ASA Executive Office from McDaniel College in Maryland, where he was Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for First Year Students and an Associate Professor of Sociology. He has been a co-PI for NSF-funded research projects on the links between teaching innovation and social networks, as well as the impact of mentoring on the trajectories of early-career STEM faculty. Dr. Shin received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Indiana University, all in sociology.

Jaimie Z. Shing is a Staff Scientist at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, where she completed her postdoctoral fellowship training. In 2017, Dr. Shing received a dual B.S./M.P.H. in health promotion and behavior with a concentration in epidemiology from the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, where she was inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. In 2021, Dr. Shing earned her Ph.D. in epidemiology from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Her doctoral research focused on assessing population-level human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine impact and improving surveillance of cervical premalignant lesions using claims-based prediction models. Currently, Dr. Shing conducts national and global studies on HPV-related cancers and health disparities. Her research focuses on evaluating HPV vaccine efficacy, investigating biomarkers to identify HPV-related cancers, and examining HPV-related cancer health disparities, particularly among Asian American and Pacific Islander populations. In 2023, Dr. Shing was awarded the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics Fellows Award for Research Excellence and the Fellowship Achievement Award.

Grace started at BCNC in 2014, as a Family Connector. Prior to taking on the role of Chief Program Officer, she was the Director of Family Services where she led a team of staff and interns to provide culturally responsive and linguistically accessible behavioral and mental health support services. Under her leadership, she successfully grew the Family Services team from 2 staff and 2 interns to 9 staff and 7 interns, implemented Mental Health First Aid trainings to 120 people across BCNC and the community, launched the Parenthood and Me program for new parents, the Asian American Mental Health Coalition for providers, and the Mental Health First Aid Trainers Network for Chinese-speaking instructors.
She has also co-led and participated in research studies on Asian immigrant parents discussing discrimination and cultural identity with their children, the cultural responsiveness of the Mental Health First Aid curricula, and Asian American women’s health. Grace holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Development and a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Health and Mental Health from Boston College, and she is currently completing a Doctorate in Clinical Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania.

Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D. is the Principal Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He served as Acting NIH Director from December 20, 2021, to November 8, 2023. Dr. Tabak was appointed as the NIH Principal Deputy Director and the Deputy Ethics Counselor in August 2010 following his tenure as Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2000-10.

Dr. Tabak continues to lead an active research laboratory within the NIH intramural program studying glycoprotein biosynthesis and function in addition to his administrative duties.

Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Tabak was the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Dentistry and Biochemistry & Biophysics in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester, New York.

Dr. Tabak is an elected member the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies. He received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York, his D.D.S. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Buffalo.

Dr. Kekoa Taparra is a Native Hawaiian born and raised in Mililani, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and has dedicated his life’s mission to providing high-quality cancer care to the communities that nurtured him. After graduating from the Kamehameha Schools in Kapālama, he eventually obtained his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and his MD from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, where he received a certification in the Science of Healthcare Delivery. Dr. Taparra currently serves as a resident physician and postdoctoral medical fellow in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford Health Care. He is a Master of Public Health Merit Award scholar at Hawaiʻi Pacific University and a member of the inaugural cohort of the President Barack Obama Foundation Leaders USA program.

Dr. Taparra leads a laboratory with over 20 talented Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and ally scholars across the nation, focusing on revealing health disparities that have been long overlooked within his communities. His research interests include Pacific Islander cancer disparities, combating Indigenous erasure and structural racism through data inclusion, and the development of sustainable, climate-resilient healthcare systems. These efforts are informed by the lived experiences of his community, which shaped pertinent research questions.

Dr. Taparra is the inaugural ASCO Dr. Judith and Alan Kaur Endowed Young Investigator Award recipient and has received awards from organizations including ASH, ASTRO, NMF, and AACR. Dr. Taparra's work has been published in journals including The Lancet, NEJM, JAMA, JAMA Oncology, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Health Forum, JNCI, and JCO Oncology Practice. As a champion for Pacific Islander health equity, Dr. Taparra actively engages with community partners, federal agencies, and academic institutions, thereby raising awareness of the unique health concerns of Pacific Islanders while working to improve the overall health of the Pacific Islander community.

I. Tapu was born and raised on the island of O'ahu with family ties to Samoa and Tonga. He is a first generation college graduate and is now a lawyer focusing on complex commercial litigation with a robust pro bono practice. Prior to moving to Los Angeles with his husband, Tapu was a board of director for the Hawai'i LGBT Legacy Foundation and also participated in the PRIDEnet Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander SGM Advisory Group. He formerly clerked with three different judges at three different court levels and was a lecturer at law at the University of Hawai'i William S. Richardson School of Law.

CDR Nancy Tian currently serves as a senior program management officer at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Office of Business Informatics. Her role encompasses leading and managing critical initiatives that underpin the informatics infrastructure of the CDER. These technology modernization efforts have revolutionized the landscape of drug evaluation and monitoring, playing a pivotal role in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceuticals for American consumers.
CDR Tian’s commitment to public service and disaster response has been exemplified by her 18+ deployments to respond to natural disasters, public health emergencies, and national security events, totaling over 240+ days of service. CDR Tian’s passion for community service and improving public health is evident in her leadership roles. In 2019, she spearheaded the establishment of the Federal Asian Pacific American (FAPAC)-FDA Chapter and has organized more than 10 events and workshops to recognize the invaluable contributions of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. CDR Tian's extensive experience, leadership in program management, and dedication to community service and public health make her a vital asset to the FDA.

Xenia T. Tigno is the Associate Director for Careers at the Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. Prior to her current position, she was a Program Officer at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH and the National Institute for Nursing Research. Dr. Tigno has published in the areas of the biophysics of the microcirculation, obesity, diabetes, aging, community-based epidemiology, chaos analysis, herbal medicine, and women’s health. She taught medical physiology for nearly 30 years, including serving as Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology, the University of
the Philippines College of Medicine, and coordinator of the Medical Physiology course at the University of South Florida. A native of Manila, Philippines, Dr. Tigno obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Master’s degrees in both Physiology and Epidemiology from the University of the Philippines, and her Doctorate in Natural Science degree (with high honors) from the University of Wurzburg, Federal Republic of Germany. As a bench scientist, she has worked in various laboratories, including at the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva; at the Physiological Institutes in Wurzburg, Munich, and Berlin; and at the National Cardiovascular Institute in Osaka. She has edited a book for the American Physiological Society on Sex-based Differences in Lung Physiology (2021) and a textbook on integrative physiology. Dr. Tigno’s current efforts are directed toward supporting the advancement of women in biomedical careers and promoting diversity and inclusion in academia.

Jacqueline B. Vo, Ph.D., R.N., M.P.H., is an Assistant Clinical Investigator in the Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Vo earned her B.S. in nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2014. After graduation, she worked as a cardiothoracic intensive care nurse and community oncology nurse. Dr. Vo received a Ph.D. in nursing science at UAB in 2018, earned an M.P.H. in quantitative methods from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and completed an NCI Cancer Prevention Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2022. In 2023, Dr. Vo was selected for the National Institutes of Health Distinguished Scholars Program in recognition of her accomplishments both in scientific research and in promoting diversity and inclusion. As a nurse scientist and clinical epidemiologist, Dr. Vo studies treatment-related adverse effects among cancer survivors including cardiovascular disease and subsequent malignancies. Across both areas of science, Dr. Vo is working to advance health equity among cancer survivors and the disaggregation of Asian American from Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander individuals.

Anil Wali is a Program Director in the Integrated Networks Branch of the NCI’s CRCHD since 2009. In this role, Dr. Wali contributes to the grants management of CRCHD’s Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program. He also provides technical and scientific expertise to the Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (CPACHE U54) program.

Prior to joining NCI, Dr. Wali served as Associate Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Pathology at the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit Michigan. While at Wayne State University, Dr. Wali served as Principal Investigator on a Veterans Administration Merit Review award funded project on the Role of Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway in Mesothelioma Carcinogenesis. Dr. Wali conducted NCI Clinical trial on asbestos exposed patient populations to determine their risk for developing Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma using high throughput Genomics and Proteomics technologies.

Dr. Wali received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Kashmir, in Srinagar, India. He earned his Ph.D. at the Postgraduate Institute in Chandigarh, India. Dr. Wali completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute for Environmental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; at the FELS Institute for Cancer Research at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA; and in the Department of Pathology at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.

Dr. Karriem S. Watson, DHS, MS, MPH, is the Chief Engagement Officer of the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. Karriem leads the All of Us Research Program’s efforts to foster relationships with participants, communities, researchers, and providers across the United States to help build one of the largest, most diverse health databases of its kind to study health and illness.
Prior to joining the NIH, Karriem spent over 15 years as a community-engaged research scientist with research funding from the NIH addressing cancer prevention and control. Karriem also held administrative roles in leading research and engagement in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the Chicagoland area.

Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD is Director of Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Stanford University. He is the current President of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Wu received his MD from Yale University and PhD (Molecular & Medical Pharmacology) at University of California, Los Angeles. He is board certified in cardiovascular medicine.

His lab works on cardiovascular genomics and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The main goals are to (i) understand basic disease mechanisms, (ii) accelerate drug discovery via “clinical trial in a dish” concept, and (iii) implement precision medicine for patients. Dr. Wu has published >600 manuscripts with H-index of 133 on Google scholar. He is listed as top 0.1% of highly cited researchers by Web of Science for past 6 years (2018-2023).

Dr. Wu has received several awards, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, NIH Roadmap Transformative Award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) given out by President Obama at the White House, American Heart Association (AHA) Distinguished Scientist Award, AHA Merit Award, and Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Innovation in Regulatory Science Award. Dr. Wu serves on the FDA Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. He is on the Board of the Keystone Symposia and American Heart Association.

Dr. Wu is an elected member of American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), Association of University Cardiologists (AUC), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Association of Physicians (AAP), Academia Sinica (Taiwan), National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

Dan Xi is Program Director, Director of Research Development and Support Program at OCCAM/DCTD/NCI. She manages research grants and cooperative agreements of cancer complementary and integrative medicine research to enhance optimal health outcome for cancer patients, such as lifestyle (nutrition, exercise, & sleep), chronotherapy, meditation, manual-therapy, traditional medicine, microbiome-based therapeutics, herbal medicine and non-conventional practices etc.
She received Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology & Pathobiology from the Medical University of South Carolina. Since then, she worked in the fields of neuroscience and cancer at NINDS and NCI, with extensive research experience in molecular/cellular biology, e.g. high-throughput technologies and bioinformatics (built 35 K human cDNA microarray-fabrication facility for transcriptome molecular classification of Glioblastoma in 2002), single-neuron gene expression quantification, neurotransmitters/transporters and neurotoxicology, drug discovery, and pharmacology.
She organized 2016 NCI cancer CAM therapeutics strategic workshop and leads the NCI Integrative Oncology Working Group. On September 27-28, 2017, she chaired first-ever trans-NIH " Circadian Rhythm, Chronomedicine for Cancer and Other Diseases in the Area of Precision Medicine " strategic workshop. She was a member of planning committee of 2017 NIH Microbiome Common Fund 2nd Trans-NIH microbiome workshop "The Human Microbiome: Emerging Themes at the Horizon of the 21st Century". She leads a trans-NIH Microbiome-targeted intervention cancer clinical network working group. She was a member of the NIH nutrition research task force writing group contributed to NIH Nutrition Research 2020-2030 Strategic Plan. She is a member of "NCI clinical trial stewardship committee" and involves NIH aging and elderly care committee. She is the founding director of NCI-NIH Integrative Medicine Course (IM) training for NIH fellows through NCI Center for Cancer Training and leads the Trans-NIH IM course training committee. She is founding Chair of NIH Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Health-Scientific-Interest Group and leads NIH Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander working group.

Tiffany Yip, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) is a Professor of Psychology at Fordham University. She is a developmental and community psychologist and received her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Cornell University, earned her PhD at NYU, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on health disparities in sleep, discrimination, ethnic identity and adjustment among minoritized adolescents and young adults and she has over 100 publications in outlets such as Sleep Health, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, The American Psychologist and Current Directions in Psychological Science.

She is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine and Research. Dr. Yip was also the inaugural recipient of the Early Career Achievement Award from the Asian Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development awarded in 2011 and received the Outstanding Contribution to Research on Asian/Asian Americans Award in 2021. In 2022, Dr. Yip received the Society for Research on Adolescence Excellence in Leadership award, and the Outstanding Mentor Award in 2023.

Dr. Yip was a former associate editor at several peer-reviewed journals including Developmental Psychology, Child Development, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, and the Asian American Journal of Psychology. She is currently editing The Cambridge Handbook of Ethnic/Racial Discrimination and Youth Development.

She is a featured expert on Psychology Today, and her work has been highlighted in the New York Times, CNN, The Hill, The Los Angeles Times, and NPR. Dr. Yip’s research has been funded by NIMHD, NICHD, NIMH and NSF. She is currently serving on the NIH MESH (mechanisms of emotion, stress and health) study section.

James Yu, MD, MHS, is a practicing radiation oncologist at Saint Francis Hospital, Department of Radiation Oncology, in Hartford, CT.
He is a former Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Yale School of Medicine, and former Associate Chief Medical Officer of the Smilow Cancer Hospital and Care Centers. He was most recently the Executive Vice Chair of Columbia University Irving Medical Center Department of Radiation Oncology.
Dr. Yu specializes in treating genitourinary cancers such as kidney, bladder and prostate, central nervous system cancers and cases requiring stereotactic radiosurgery, and has presented and lectured internationally on these subjects. He also treats rectal, breast, and lung cancers at Saint Francis Hospital.
As a former Yale Center for Clinical Investigation scholar and member of the Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy, and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center at Yale, Dr. Yu’s research centers on the comparative effectiveness of new radiation technologies and how these new technologies are adopted nationally.
Dr. Yu is currently the Editor-in-Chief of JNCI Cancer Spectrum and Deputy Editor-In-Chief of the journal Practical Radiation Oncology.
He has published over 350 original manuscripts and co-edited the textbook Pocket Radiation Oncology and Principles of Clinical Cancer Research. He is the radiation oncology co-chair for the Southwest Oncology Group Genitourinary Cancers Committee, and a nationally recognized expert in patient reported outcomes.

Amy is a second year medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. Amy completed her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Global Health at Duke University and spent her gap year working at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. At UMMS, Amy is a former president of the United Asian American Medical Students Association, and she is passionate about raising awareness of health issues within the AANHPI community. She is also involved in environmental health research and incorporating climate change advocacy into medical education and practice

Lan N. Ðoàn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Section for Health Equity at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and part of the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH). Her research is centered on the structural determinants of health with a focus on cardiovascular disease and psychosocial factors. She is a social epidemiologist with expertise in data disaggregation and conducting community-based participatory research (CBPR) working with minoritized racial and ethnic, low-income, and immigrant communities. Her research examines Asian American older adults and how neighborhood environments affect health across the life course. Dr. Ðoàn also works in close collaboration with Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community partners and is part of the Resource Network for the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Data and Research Council (DaRC).

She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Population Health Section for Health Equity at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Ðoàn earned a BA in Integrative Biology and Asian American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, MPH in Community Health and Education from Touro University California and PhD in Health Promotion and Heath Behavior and minor in Biological Data Sciences from Oregon State University.