APICHA

     APICHA - Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS is a non-profit organization providing HIV/AIDS related services, education, and research to Asian and Pacific Islander Communities in New York City.  APICHA's mission is to combat AIDS-related discrimination and to support, empower, and enhance the quality of life of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the New York City area - particularly community members living with AIDS and HIV infection - through client services, education, training and technical assistance, community organizing, coalition building, policy analysis, and research.

Speakers from APICHA include Dr. Victor Inada and Mr. Bric Bernas

Victor K. Inada, M.D., Medical Director, APICHA Primary Care Clinic

     Dr. Inada is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine.  He received his training at the Residency Program in Social Medicine, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York.  His medical training was at the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine.  He received his Master's degree at the University of California, San Diego and his Bachelors' degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Dr. Inada is a member of the American Academy of HIV Medicine and the Physicians’ Research Network—an organization providing ongoing training for HIV specialists.  Dr. Inada’s role as APICHA’s Medical Director is to oversee the clinical operation of the APICHA Primary Care Clinic, provide HIV Primary Care to APICHA’s clients, perform STD screening and treatment, and coordinate the quality assurance and continuous quality improvement efforts of the clinic and APICHA’s HIV testing program.

Bric Bernas, ICTR (Infoline, Counseling, Testing, Referral) Program Manager

     Mr. Bernas, has 7 years of experience in HIV testing and counseling.  He has responsibility over the implementation of the ICTR unit’s activities, which include a multilingual Infoline service and HIV counseling, testing, referral  services, both on- and off-site.  He supervises 2 full time HIV testing counselors and 4 part time peer counselors.  Mr. Bernas collaborates with APICHA’s Prevention Intervention Unit, Clients Services, and the Primary Care Clinic to refer and intake HIV testing clients.  He coordinates with other community-based organizations and the New York City Department of Health to conduct off-site HIV testing events.  Mr. Bernas represents APICHA at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (NYCDOHMH) Commercial Sex Venue Working Group, the National Development and Research Institute (NDRI) advisory group, the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research advisory group, and Project Wave of New York State DOH AIDS Institute.  He received his Bachelor’s degree in Community Health from William Paterson University of New Jersey.  He speaks fluent Tagalog.

Col Charles Beadling, MD USAF

     Colonel Charles W. Beadling is the Academic Division Director, Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda , MD, which is also where he went to medical school. In this capacity he provides oversight to all courses taught to students throughout their four years of study in the DoD’s only medical school.  Col Beadling entered the Air Force in 1975 after completing his Bachelor of Science degree in Life Sciences at the USAF Academy.  In medical school, Col Beadling completed the Primary Course in Aerospace Medicine from the US Air Force’s School of Aerospace Medicine , Brooks Air Force Base, TX . Upon graduating from medical school in 1984, Col Beadling began a residency in Family Practice at David Grant Medical Center , Travis Air Force Base, CA. In 1987, Col Beadling transferred to Florennes Air Base, Belgium , where he served in a dual role as Chief, Aerospace Medicine and Family Practice. In 1989, he moved to the US Air Force Clinic, Hurlbert Field , Florida as Chief of Flight Medicine. While at Hurlbert Field, Col Beadling was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM. Following his return from Saudi Arabia in 1991, he was assigned as Chief, Wing Medical Division, US Air Force Survival School, Fairchild Air Force Base, WA. He held this position until 1993 when he received an academic appointment as Assistant Professor of Military and Emergency Medicine, along with an assignment to the USUHS . In 1995, Col Beadling returned to Fairchild Air Force Base, WA as Commander, 92d Aerospace Medicine Squadron and Deputy Commander, 92d Medical Group. In July 1999, he was transferred to the 48th Medical Group, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, as the Deputy Commander and Chief of the Medical Staff until his assignment as Commander, 95th Medical Group, Edwards Air Force Base, CA in July 2000. He left Edwards AFB to take command of the 375th Medical Group, Scott Air Force Base in July 2002. From February to June 2004, Col Beadling deployed as the Central Air Forces Surgeon (Forward), coordinating medical support for Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM. He is a Fellow of the American Board of Family Practice and holds aeronautical ratings as a Chief Flight Surgeon, with over 2,000 hours in a wide variety of aircraft, and a basic parachutist.

Bhaswati Bhattacharya, MD, MPH, MA

        Descended from her family ancestry of Ayurvedic and Sanskrit scholars, with a biomedically-trained father who was a clinician, scientist, and veterinarian, and herbalist mother, Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya is trained as a scientist, international public health specialist, primary care clinician and holistic healer.

        Dr. Bhattacharya has been working in complementary medical education and practice for almost 15 years. As a licensed primary care physician practicing in underserved areas of New York City, she is board-certified in both holistic medicine and preventive medicine, and teaches and writes in these fields.

        Her academic training includes degrees from the University of Pennsylvania; Columbia University; Harvard University; and a medical doctorate from Rush Medical College. Her residency training in family practice at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital and community & preventive medicine at Mount Sinai has trained her to work with the underserved. In addition, she has several certifications in holistic healing arts, including nutrition, OMT, aromatherapy, guided imagery, and ayurveda. Bhaswati is the recipient of the 1998 American Holistic Medical Association national award and the 2004 AMA Leadership Award for her work in holistic medicine and international health.  She has focused her interests on holistic medicine since her PhD work in New York in the late 80’s.  Bhaswati worked at the Office of Alternative Medicine at the NIH in 1994. From 1995 until 1998, she served as the national co-coordinator of the Humanistic Medicine task force of AMSA. She served as the founding medical director of Inner Doorway, a medical publishing company for leading peer-reviewed medical journals in alternative medicines. She served as author and founding co-Principal Investigator and co-author of EDCAM, a NIH-funded grant to AMSA that successfully created a curriculum with 96 experts integrating holistic medicine into medical schools in the US. She served for 5 years on the Board of Trustees of the American Holistic Medical Association and on the Board of Directors of SAPHA, the South Asian Public Health Association. She now serves as the CAM expert as a contributor to Dorland’s Medical Dictionary and is currently the chair of the CAM Advisory Council of the Elsevier medical publishing group. Her work has been featured in a documentary called Healers: Journey into Ayurveda, that premiered worldwide in July 2003 on The Discovery Channel and continues to be shown as one of the channel’s most popular health documentaries.

Jay Blackwell, MA

    Jay Blackwell works for the Office of Minority Health Resource Center (OMHRC) in Rockville, MD as the Director of the Capacity Building Division.  He is a business development specialist, helping community-based agencies improve their business acumen. He has earned a reputation of confidence throughout the United States and its Pacific Jurisdictions for his work in strengthening the agency’s management in meeting its goals for success.  Mr. Blackwell holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from North Carolina Central University and a Master of Arts in Agency Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado. He has extensive experience in non-profit management, community outreach strategies and social marketing.  A North Carolina native, Mr. Blackwell resides in Washington, D.C. He travels extensively throughout the United States providing Technical Assistance workshops, training seminars and capacity building interventions to organizations, state health departments and governmental grantees. His primary focus over the last five years has been with assisting communities and local stakeholders increase their professional collaborations and networking through local, regional and national venues.

Juliet K. Choi Senior Associate, National Partnership Development

    In September 2006, Juliet K. Choi joined the national headquarters of the American Red Cross as the Response Partner Services team’s Senior Associate for National Partnership Development.  Juliet comes to the American Red Cross from the Asian American Justice as the inaugural NAPABA Partners Community Law Fellow and staff attorney where her expertise focused on language rights/access with an emphasis on access to healthcare and the courts and led AAJC’s relief efforts in the gulf region, working with a broad coalition of community groups and local, state, and federal agencies to ensure access and language access to necessary support services.

    A certified mediator, Juliet previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dennis M. Sweeney of the Circuit Court for Howard County, Maryland (2003-2004). She received her law school’s prestigious Alumni Association Award as the graduating student deemed by the faculty to have contributed most largely to the law school through her qualities of character and leadership. Additionally, in 2002, she was first recognized as an Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF) Fellow for her work with the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and then as a NAPABA Law Foundation Presidential Scholar for leadership.  She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and received her B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia.

     With a diverse background, Juliet’s experience includes consultancy with local, state and federal agencies on multi-agency system reform and community coalition building.  Prior to embarking upon her legal career, her experience includes working with the corporate division of Gannett Broadcasting in the areas of financial and market research analysis and subsequently serving as a policy director with the National Mental Health Association.

     Her leadership and volunteer work has included serving on a wide array of boards and committees for such groups as Georgetown Medical Center’s National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health; Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute; City of Alexandria, Virginia; State of Virginia; Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Maryland; and Maryland Pro Bono Resource Center.  Recently invited to join the National Diversity Council of the American Red Cross, she currently serves on the Leadership and Diversity Committee, Civil Policy Group of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) and the board of directors of the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association.

CAPT Conrad B. Divis, USN (Retired)

     Captain Conrad B. Divis received his commission from Officer Candidate School after graduating from Pacific University in 1975.  He received his Master’s degree in Far Eastern Political Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.  He has served various commands throughout his naval career. During Captain Divis’s command of the USNS MERCY, his task group provided medical and humanitarian relief to the December 2004 tsunami disaster victims in Banda Aceh, ID. On October 1, 2005, Captain Divis retired after completing thirty years of active Navy service.  He is currently employed as Manager, Government Business Development for Ambyth Shipping and Trading Inc. Captain Divis was awarded the Legion of Merit (Gold Star in lieu of second award), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (Gold Star in lieu of second award), Navy Commendation Medal (Gold Star in lieu of second award) and the Navy Achievement Medal as well as various other expeditionary and unit awards.  He is married to the former Michiko Hashimoto and they have one daughter, Victoria, who is currently attending medical school in Bethesda MD.

Maj Abdol M. Hajiaghamohseni, USAF, NC

     Major ABDOL M. HAJIAGHAMOHSENI served in USN (1975-1988; 1990-1993).  He was commission by the USAF immediately after honorable discharge from USN in May 1993. He has over 25 years of experience in healthcare, and held many positions culminating to his current position as Group Education and Training Flight Commander at Yokota Air Base Japan.  In addition to his many valuable routine work related activities; he has taught BLS, ACLS, PALS and SABC (Mass Casualty Care), Age Specific Training, and Cultural Diversity training.   During 1999-2000, he orchestrated a two-week training in Wilderness Medical Search and Rescue that was conducted as a joint effort by Yokota Air Base and units from other sister services at Camp Fuji, Japan. He has a BA in Liberal Arts from University of The State Of New York, BSN from George Mason University (VA), MS in Management from Troy State University (AL), and Graduate Certificate in Executive Human Resource Management and Consultation from Capella University (MA). As a Learner, he has completed course requirements (110 credits) for PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.  

Maj Derrick A. Hamaoka, MD

     Dr. Hamaoka is a psychiatrist and Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.  He has been at the school since 2003 and serves in the capacity as Director of the Third Year Psychiatry Clerkship.  His other educational pursuits include the Introductory of Clinical Medicine I, the Bushmaster field exercise, and the Human Behavior Course.  He is a graduate of the California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (Biology); his medical degree is from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (1999).  He is a graduate of the Wilford Hall Medical Center/University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio psychiatry residency program (2003) and served as Chief Resident.  Dr. Hamaoka’s research interests include areas of medical student education.  His interests also include development of complementary media and resources in teaching psychiatry.  At the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, he has authored continuing medical education pieces relating to bioterrorism.  He has also authored pieces for the University sponsored health initiative “Courage to Care” and is responsible for its distribution.  

Hie-Won Yvonne L. Hann, MD

      Dr. Hie-Won Yvonne L. Hann, a professor of medicine at Jefferson Medical College, has been the director of the Liver Disease Prevention Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for the past eighteen years.  A graduate of Seoul National University Medical School, she received a residency and oncology Fellowship Training at Harvard Medical School from 1964-1971.  Following her training she then began her research work on HBV and Liver Cancer at Fox Chase Center, where she worked with Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg; the 1976 Nobel Laureate for discovery of the Hepatitis B virus. Dr. Hann’s current research projects include “Preneoplastic markers for HBV associated hepatocellular carcinoma” and “Identification of altered glycoproteins in liver cancer”.  In addition to her research, Dr. Hann was the keynote speaker at the 1^st National APAMSA Conference, held at NYU during 1995. Moreover, Dr. Hann continues to be an active speaker in the field of Hepatitis B where she has shared her knowledge with health leaders in Korea, Philippine, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, China, Vietnam, and numerous Korean American (and Chinese) churches across the United States. Dr. Hann also founded the Free Counseling Center for the Korean Immigrant community in 1986 and has also published the annual news magazine “Philadelphia Women”, which contains articles on Asian Americans and their immigrant lives.  In her continuing effort to assist those in the community, Dr. Hann has also been awarded several awards which include the: “Outstanding Service Award” (1990) from the Pan Asian Association of Philadelphia; “Women in Leadership” award (1993) from WOMENS WAY;  “Distinguished Leadership Award” (1999) from the Hepatitis B Foundation; “2000 Dream of Equality” award (2000) from the Asian Americans for Equality, New York; "A Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania” award (2003) from the Governor of Pennsylvania, Mr. Rendell.

Maj Chetan U. Kharod,  M.D. USAF

  Dr Chetan U. Kharod is a board-certified emergency physician, is fellowship trained in International Emergency Medicine, and recently completed a Master’s in Public Health.  He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the faculty advisor for the Emergency Medicine Interest Group and the Wilderness Medicine Interest Group, and the course director for the required emergency medicine fourth year clerkship.

His operational AF and international medicine work has taken him to over 35 countries in various capacities including flight surgeon, Critical Care Air Transport Team leader, lecturer, visiting physician, and medical aid volunteer.  His current areas of research interest are civil-military medical operations training, combat stress resistance, military pre-hospital capacities, and emergency medicine curriculum development.

He is very interested in human values in medical practice (especially the role of the physician), in mindful living, and thinking about how we think in our practice of medicine.  Dr. Kharod is a frequent speaker and writer who spends his spare time with either with his wonderful wife and son or in one of his many non-medical hobbies or interests.

Paul Jung. MD, MPH,MA, MBA, USPHS

Paul Jung is a physician trained in internal medicine and epidemiology.  He is an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service on assignment as Chief of Epidemiology for the Peace Corps.  Prior to his commission in the Public Health Service, Paul worked in the Clinton Administration's Health Care Reform Task Force and as a field coordinator for California Proposition 186 before serving as the Legislative Affairs Director for a small, non-profit medical organization. 

Dr. Jung is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland , College Park where he teaches "Introduction to Health Policy."  Dr. Jung has served on the Montgomery County ( Maryland ) Commission on Health and has received the Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D. Award, the American Medical Association's 2000 Leadership Award, and the National Golden Apple teaching award.   

Dr. Jung received his B.A. in Philosophy and his M.D. from the University of Maryland and completed his internal medicine residency at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital .  He earned his M.P.H. as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at Johns Hopkins University .  Dr. Jung also holds an M.A. in Politics from George Washington University and an M.B.A. from the University of Baltimore .

LTC Michael D. Lewis, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. USA

      LTC Lewis is an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Uniformed Services University where he is the director of the first year medical student course in Epidemiology and the graduate school course in Infectious Disease Epidemiology as well as working with international partners in Europe and Asia.  Previously, Dr. Lewis spent four years in Asia where he was responsible for the DoD's Emerging Infectious Disease Surveillance Program at the joint US-Thai Army research lab in Bangkok, Thailand, and continues to conduct research in the region.  Other assignments include chief of primary care and flight medicine clinics at the Pentagon, and prior to medical school, served in infantry divisions in Korea and Fort Ord, California. Dr. Lewis also holds an academic appointment at the University of Hawaii in Tropical Medicine, a Master Degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, a Master Degree in Business from American InterContinental University, is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, and is a qualified Airborne, Ranger, and Flight Surgeon.

B Li, MD

      B Li is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin as well as Director of Pediatric Fellowships, the GI Fellowship Program, the Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Program, and the Cyclic Vomiting Program at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin (Milwaukee).  Most recently he was elected as the President-elect of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN).  He co-founded the national Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association in 1995, developed diversity curriculum at Ohio State Univ. and served on a national advisory committee for cultural competency curriculum for the Office of Minority Health.  Previously, he taught at the Univ. of Wisconsin, Ohio State Univ. and Northwestern Univ. (most recently).  He received his A.B. degree in comparative religions at Princeton University and M.D. degree from Kansas University, and completed his residency, chief residency, and fellowships in gastroenterology and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  His previous laboratory research was on intestinal transport of carnitine and current clinical/translational research is on the neuroendocrine mechanisms cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS).  He has established a program that evaluates national and international referrals for CVS, has NIH-funding to investigate corticotropin-releasing factor as the potential mediator of vomiting, and has published more than 100 papers and chapters.  His honors include the Outstanding Clinical Teacher Award (Wisconsin), the Asian American Faculty Award, the Multicultural Teaching Award, the Diversity Enhancement Award (Ohio State), 10^th Anniversary Service Award (APAMSA), and selection as one of the Best Doctors in America.

Jhemon H. Lee. M.D.
Dr. Lee is Vice Chair of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging of Los Alamitos Medical Center in Los Alamitos, California. Dr. Lee received his bachelor's degree in Engineering Sciences at Harvard University, and obtained his medical degree from the University of Maryland. He completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of Chicago, where he was chief resident, and a fellowship in abdominal imaging at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Lee is President of the Advisory Board of APAMSA. He participated in many of the initial planning meetings that led to the formation of APAMSA and has spoken at and helped with many of the APAMSA National Conventions. He sincerely hopes that his advice to APAMSA's executive officers over the past decade hasn't led the organization too far astray.

Dr. Lee is former National President of the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP).  He is currently President of the Orange County chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA).  He was on the Steering Committees for the 1997 OCA National Convention and the 2000 NAAAP National Conference, started the Healthcare Special Interest Group in Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) in Los Angeles, and remains an active organizer in several other APA community and professional organizations in Southern California. Honors include being named to "Who's Who in the World" and "America's Top Physicians," and a NAAAP National Lifetime Achievement Award.  The past two years, he has also dabbled in decidedly non-medical pursuits, such as performing improv with the Advanced Team of Cold Tofu, an Asian American improv comedy troupe, and taking classes with the Actors Conversatory of East West Players, which recently staged a studio project production of "The Laramie Project."

Maj Sarah M . Page, MD, FACOG, USAF, MC

Dr. Page is the medical student clerkship director for obstetrics and gynecology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.  She received her M.D. from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, TX.  She served as the student clerkship director and the associate residency program director at Wright-Patterson Medical Center prior to joining the USUHS faculty.  Dr. Page also currently serves as Chair of the Armed Forces District Junior Fellows of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and serves on the Junior Fellow College Advisory Council and the Junior Fellow Executive Council for the College.

CAPT Cynthia Macri, MD, FACS, FACOG, USN

       Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the third of five children, to an internationally renowned plant geneticist and former World War II relocation camp internee, Dr. Macri graduated from the International School, Islamabad, Pakistan in 1975, and received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Lehigh University in 1979. She was the first woman to letter in Men's soccer at Lehigh University and played both men's and women's soccer throughout her collegiate career.  Dr. Macri attended Temple University School of Medicine on a Navy Scholarship and graduated with an M.D. degree in 1983. She continued her training at the National Naval Medical Center as a General Surgery intern and as a resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She was then selected for and completed a prestigious fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California, Irvine, the premier Gyn Oncology Fellowship in the country.  Dr. Macri has devoted her entire military career to education at the graduate, undergraduate and post-graduate levels. She was appointed as OB/GYN Residency Director at NNMC, and became the National Capital Consortium Associate Program Director (OB/GYN) and Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Director after the integration of residency programs in the National Capital Consortium (NCC). In addition, she served as Division Director for Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology at NNMC before moving to the Naval Medical Education and Training Command (NMETC). Dr. Macri was selected Vice President for Recruitment and Diversity in September 2002. Her most recent duty station was Director of Medical Department Accessions at NMETC, Bethesda, where she managed the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program (AFHPSP), the Navy's Health Professions Loan Repayment Program (HPLRP), and other accessions programs for the Navy medical department. In addition, she served as Department Head for Continuing Medical Education (CME) for the Navy, gaining full accreditation for the CME Program for the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and authoring the Commercial Support Policy and the Policy on Faculty Disclosure that was instrumental in bringing NMETC into compliance with the ACCME. Dr. Macri has received four personal awards, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal (2) - all for her contributions to the education of medical department officers over her twenty-year career.

Arnab Mukherjea, MPH

       Arnab Mukherjea is currently a Doctoral Student in Public Health (DrPH) at the School of Public Health at the University of California (UC) at Berkeley.  Mr. Mukherjea is also a graduate of the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, with a Masters Degree in Public Health (Health and Social Behavior).  He received his Bachelor's Degree at UC Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology. Arnab has recently been elected as Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health (API Caucus) as recognized by the American Public Health Association (APHA).  The goal of the API Caucus is to conduct policy advocacy to improve the health and well-being of Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) communities and to disseminate emerging and relevant health research and promising intervention strategies through APHA's Annual Meeting and Exposition in order to facilitate the elimination of API health disparities.  Arnab is also the immediate-past Co-Chair of the Executive Board of Directors of the South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA) and the voluntary organizational head of their San Francisco affiliate.  SAPHA is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Sout