communications_committee

Brandon Tang is a rising third-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis and previously worked with a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), where he helped develop community health education programs and organized outreach initiatives, including mammogram events for patients with limited access to healthcare.

Brandon has been actively involved with the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA), where he previously served as the Social and Cultural Chair for his local chapter and as a Regional Co-Director for National APAMSA. In these roles, he helped organize community health initiatives and student programming that supported Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities.

At USC, Brandon has participated in research related to hematologic diseases and transplant medicine, including projects examining leukemia, lymphoma, and other conditions affecting the bone marrow and immune system. He is particularly interested in addressing healthcare disparities affecting immigrant Asian communities, especially those related to language barriers and access to care.

As Bone Marrow Director, Brandon hopes to raise awareness about bone marrow donation and improve representation of diverse donors in national registries. In the future, he hopes to pursue a career in medicine that integrates clinical care, research, and advocacy to improve health outcomes for underserved populations.

Grace Dang is a second-year medical student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She graduated from UMKC with a B.S. in Biology in 3 years before continuing into the School of Medicine. She has been actively involved in oncology-focused service throughout undergrad, serving as a Patient Liaison at the University of Kansas Cancer Center and on the hematology/oncology floor, where she supports patients and families navigating complex cancer diagnoses such as leukemia and other hematologic malignancies. During her undergraduate training, Grace conducted regenerative tissue research focused on cellular repair and tissue remodeling, presenting her work at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. In addition to her interest in oncology, she enjoys wound care and infectious disease research, particularly where prevention and early intervention can significantly impact patient outcomes. Grace has led multiple sun safety initiatives, including organizing sun sleeve drives and developing free skin cancer education programming for children. She is working to obtain grant funding to expand access to preventative education and screening efforts. She has also helped design multilingual educational brochures for clinics to ensure patients have a proper understanding of their health so they may take the precautionary steps needed. Through her role, she hopes to build sustainable outreach programs that address disparities in cancer care and build upon the Skin Cancer Screening Event Toolkit to broaden its reach and long-term impact.

Sarah J. Lee, BS is currently a third year medical student at California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Clovis, CA. She grew up in Riverside, CA and eventually went off to University of California, Irvine to pursue her Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology. After graduating in 2022, she worked as a Research Assistant in the Neurosurgery department at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics for two years. She was inspired to join APAMSA out of a hope to learn more about the AANHPI community, their needs, and how to best help the community as a medical student and beyond. Her desire to help the community largely comes from watching her parents struggle with trusting the US healthcare system growing up, which had always felt foreign and difficult to navigate for them. Outside of her passion for medicine, she has been a musician for most of her life and composes/produces music, which she considers her lifelong passion project.

Grace Kim is an MS1 at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine. She was born in Busan, South Korea, and raised in northern New Jersey before moving to the Midwest for medical school. Getting involved with APAMSA helped her find a strong sense of community and belonging in a region where AANHPI voices are often underrepresented. At the local level, she has served as a First-Year Representative and Public Relations Director. Nationally, she previously served as a member of the Podcast Committee and is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue serving this year as Podcast Director. Outside of school, she enjoys reading on her Kindle, traveling with her family, and exploring new coffee shops.

Harnoor Bhatti is currently a second-year medical student at California Health Sciences University. A Central Valley native, she is deeply committed to serving both local and global communities with limited access to healthcare. She completed her B.A. in Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine; trained as a counselor with Crisis Text Line; and serves as President of her local APAMSA chapter and Vice President of her local Sikh Health Initiative chapter.

With a growing interest in global and emergency medicine, she spent the summer volunteering at hospitals in Mpanda, within the Katavi Region of Tanzania, gaining firsthand experience in resource-limited clinical settings. This experience strengthened her commitment to addressing healthcare disparities and providing care to underserved populations worldwide.

Kristy Lin is a 4th year medical student at Carle Illinois College of Medicine (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). She grew up in Northern California and earned her B.S. in Computer Science and Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine. Kristy worked as a software engineer and scribe prior to medical school, and she served as co-president of her local APAMSA chapter for 2 years before becoming Network Director. She is passionate about community engagement, medical education, and healthcare innovation, with particular interests in neurodevelopmental disorders, healthcare disparities, user interface design, and data analytics. After medical school, she hopes to pursue a career in neurology. Outside of medicine, she enjoys dancing, choreographing, and freestyling, serving in various leadership roles on dance teams and projects.

Pauline Tran is a third-year medical student at California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She was born and raised in Orange County, CA, and completed her B.S. in Human Biology at UC San Diego. She has been an active member of APAMSA for years, previously serving as a Social Media Committee member and as VP of her local APAMSA chapter. Outside of medical school, she enjoys playing video games, review new restaurants on Yelp/Beli, and brewing espresso, pourovers, and matcha, After medical school, Pauline plans to pursue a career as a pathologist.

Sarah Kim, BS is currently a third-year MD/MBA student at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She was born in South Korea and immigrated to South Bay in California when she was 12-years-old. She then attended Emory University where she double-majored in Chemistry and Psychology and worked in a biopsychosocial research lab studying peripartum maternal experiences and the associated intergenerational effects in African American/Black population. She completed an Honors Thesis and continued to work as a research coordinator in a sister lab at Emory in her gap year, contributing to a nation-wide consortium study examining biological and psychological factors in moms and how they shape mother-child interactions. Sarah joined her local APAMSA chapter as a general member in the first year of medical school, served as a treasurer the following year, and now one of the National Conference Directors. Her academic interests are diversity representation in research, reducing the gap in underserved populations, and skin cancer awareness. Outside of school, she enjoys cooking, making cafe drinks, and taking walks. After medical school, Sarah wants to pursue a career in dermatology.

Laura Zhang is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is originally from Southern California and grew up in Walnut, California. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego in three years with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology. Before medical school, Laura worked as the Lead Neuropsychology Technician at a neurology practice in Carlsbad and later as a Medical Assistant in Chino Hills, gaining clinical experience in patient care. During medical school, she has been actively involved with APAMSA, first serving as an Events Coordinator and currently as the Vice President of her local chapter. She plans to pursue a career in general surgery following medical school. In her free time, Laura enjoys playing board games, playing piano, and exploring new places in the city, especially in search of good food.

Iris Hyun-A Kim is a second-generation Korean American born and raised in Fairfax, Virginia. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with majors in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health, & Society. During her time at Vanderbilt, she served as President of the Asian American Student Association and led the successful effort to establish the Asian American Studies major and minor in 2021 in response to the Atlanta spa shootings.

Following graduation, Iris was awarded a Fulbright Research Scholarship and spent a year in South Korea studying the Korean diaspora and ethnic return migration. She is currently a medical student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and will begin training as a Medical Research Scholar at the National Institutes of Health in June 2026. In her free time, Iris enjoys doodling comics, searching for manatees, and training for her first HYROX competition.