Dr. Eric R. Gross

The Health Risks of Alcohol Flush

Dr. Eric Gross (he/him) is an anesthesiologist at the Stanford School of Medicine, where his research laboratory focuses on the impact of genetic variants on perioperative organ injury. Taking a translational approach, the lab primarily investigates cardiovascular injury, with a current emphasis on aldehydes and the genetic variant responsible for inefficient aldehyde metabolism. One common phenomenon related to this research is alcohol-induced facial flushing, where individuals experience redness and an increased heart rate after drinking. This flushing is linked to a genetic variant that leads to the accumulation of acetaldehyde, a harmful intermediate from alcohol metabolism. Traced back to the Han Chinese in Central China, this variant heightens health risks, including certain cancers, especially among those who smoke or drink. Additionally, it diminishes the effectiveness of nitroglycerin, a medication used during heart attacks. Dr. Gross will discuss the genetic basis of alcohol flushing, its associated health risks, and the urgent need for greater education among medical professionals and the public. His research centers on aldehydes and their metabolism by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), affecting nearly 540 million people worldwide. The significance of this work is evident in publications in prestigious journals such as Science Translational Medicine, Pain, BJA, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Redox Biology, and Physiological Reviews.

Eric R. Gross MD, PhD, FASA (@ericrgross.bsky.social, @ericrgross) is a physician-scientist and practicing anesthesiologist within the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University. He runs a NIH-funded research laboratory studying how alcohol metabolism impacts anesthesiology and in general human health.

He is a member of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Neuroscience Institute, and Center for Asian Research and Education (CARE). Dr. Gross is also the section editor for basic science for the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia and the editorial fellowship director for the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Today, Dr. Gross will discuss the health implications of alcohol flushing.

Ms. Meredith Wilson

NIH All of Us Research Program

This talk will provide an overview of the NIH All of Us Research Program, including the Researcher Workbench. The All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to collect and study data from one million or more people living in the United States. The goal of the program is better health for all of us. All of Us’ one-of-a-kind dataset is stored on the Researcher Workbench, a secure, cloud-based platform. Registered researchers can access data from surveys, genomic analyses, electronic health records, physical measurements, and wearables to study the full range of factors that influence health and disease.

Meredith Wilson is an experienced health policy analyst and project manager. Ms. Wilson has significant experience working with stakeholders at Clinovations Government + Health managing multiple projects like the Health IT Maternal Health Initiative with the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) and the technical assistance program for eHealthDC. Prior to joining the Clinovations team, Ms. Wilson served in a project management role at Pyxis Partners to support work with the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program, with a particular focus on researcher engagement. Ms. Wilson also has experience working with private sector clients, like The Kennedy Forum, to conduct policy research and write white papers on behavioral health, substance use, and mental health. Ms. Wilson has developed numerous health policy briefs and serves as a technical writer for multiple federal contracts.

Ms. Wilson received her Master’s in Public Policy and a Graduate Certificate in Biodefense from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Virginia Tech.

Dr. Arnab Mukherjea

The Importance of Community Representation and Advocacy in the health Professions

There has arguably never been a more challenging time in public health and medicine. Navigating these dynamic and unpredictable social and political environments requires resolve and conviction to advance a health agenda that affords equal opportunities for all communities to achieve optimal health and well-being. Especially for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs), social determinants of preventable health disparities have often been ignored or minimized. This talk will highlight historical influences on the presence and growth of AANHPIs and how the perception of this invisible yet mythically model minority continues to suffer from existing and emerging health disparities, with key differences by subgroup. It will end with a call to action for physicians and other health professions to reach beyond their comfort zones to ensure equity in opportunities for prevention of disease and promotion of health.

Dr. Arnab Mukherjea is a Professor of Public Health at California State University (CSU), East Bay, and serves as the Faculty Director for the Health Professions in the CSU Office of the Chancellor; he is also the Inaugural Director of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Middle Leadership Academy, a joint effort of the CSU AANHPI Student Achievement Program (CSU ASAP) and the CSU Student Success Network.

Arnab completed his undergraduate (BA in Molecular & Cell Biology with a minor in Education) and graduate (MPH in Health & Social Behavior with specialization in Multicultural Health; DrPH in Applied Health Disparities Research) degrees at the University of California (UC), Berkeley and postdoctoral training (Tobacco Control and Chronic Disease Prevention) at UC San Francisco and UC Davis.

Arnab’s applied research interests broadly revolve around using community-engaged methods to understand and address health disparities among understudied Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (AANHPI) subgroups, with a particular focus on contextual and culturally-framed risk factors. His research has been funded by the National Institutes for Health, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Office of Minority Health, and the state of California’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program and has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals. He maintains membership in the Asian American Research Center for Health (ARCH) and is a Steering Committee Member of the California AANHPI Health Equity Coalition. Arnab firmly believes that community participation is essential for affected groups to understand, address, and ultimately take ownership of their own individual and collective health prospects.

Dr. Somin Lim

AAPI Youth Suicide Prevention & Residency Panel

Dr. Somin Lim (she/her) grew up in Seoul, South Korea before immigrating to Southern California as a 1.5-generation immigrant. She is currently a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow at UC Irvine and serves as the APA Assembly’s Area 6 Resident Fellow Member Representative.

With a lifelong background in both music and medicine, Dr. Lim seeks to integrate creative modalities into psychiatric care to inspire and deepen therapeutic impact. Interests include advocacy, cross-cultural psychiatry, LGBTQI health, eating disorders, and psychotherapy.

Dr. Poojajeet Khaira

AAPI Youth Suicide Prevention & Residency Panel

Alicia Bui
Health Affairs Vice President
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

Sophia Choi
Hepatitis Director
John Sealy School of Medicine at UTMB Galveston

Hoang-Viet Tran
Hepatitis Director
George Washington School of Medicine

Alexandra Rizaldi
Graphics Committee
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Kevin Shi
Graphics Committee
McGovern Medical School

Jennifer Huynh
Speakers Committee
McGovern Medical School

Kevin Lim
Speakers Committee
Drexel University COM

Anh Le
Logistics Committee
George Washington School of Medicine

Karen Jiang
Logistics Committee
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine Colorado

Jingyi (Jeni) Zhang
Hosting Committee
George Washington School of Medicine

Quynh-May Nguyen
Hosting Committee
Georgetown University School of Medicine

Lauren Ho
Hosting Committee
Georgetown University School of Medicine