2025 Northeast Regional Conference

Reclaiming the Narrative: Medicine Through Our Lens
Date: Saturday, October 4th, 2025
Location: Weill Cornell Medical College | 1300 York Ave., New York, NY 10065
Registration Details: Click below for more info
000 days 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds
We are very excited to announce that the 2025 APAMSA Northeast Regional Conference will be held at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City! Hosted by APAMSA Regions I, II, and III, all APAMSA members, pre-medical members, non-members, and interested students/faculty are welcome to attend this one-day event featuring a variety of AANHPI speakers, panels, workshops, networking opportunities, research presentations, and more!
Conference Information:
Theme: Reclaiming the Narrative: Medicine Through Our Lens
Date & Time: Saturday, October 4th, 2025 | 9 AM – 5 PM
Location: Weill Cornell Medical College | 1300 York Ave., New York, NY 10065
Please note that this conference webpage is a work in progress. More information will be added as we get closer to the conference date!
Reclaiming the Narrative: Medicine Through Our Lens
As AANHPI students and physicians, many of us have grown up navigating competing expectations– between cultural silence and speaking up, between community values and individual ambition, between inherited traditions and Western medicine. Too often, our voices and stories are overlooked in classrooms, clinical spaces, and leadership. Reclaiming the Narrative: Medicine Through Our Lens is about changing that. This theme calls on us to take ownership of our experiences, challenge stereotypes like the “model minority”, and uplift the cultural wisdom we bring to the practice of medicine. By sharing our narratives, we not only empower ourselves but also reshape healthcare to better serve our patients and communities.
At this conference, attendees will have the opportunity to engage with inspiring speakers, thought-provoking panels, hands-on workshops, and meaningful connections, all united by the mission to reclaim the narrative and redefine what medicine looks like through our lens.
Saturday, October 4th, 2025
9:00 AM: Check-in, Registration, & Breakfast (Student Hearth)
10:00 AM: Introductions & Opening Statements (Uris Auditorium)
10:30 AM: Keynote Address from Lan Ðoàn, PhD, MPH (Uris Auditorium)
11:30 AM: Breakout Session A
Room F1/F2: My Journey as an Immigrant Physician (Usha Krishnan, MD)
Room F4/F5: The Bamboo Ceiling: Leadership in the Asian-American Physician Community (Bryan Le, MD)
Room G/H: I did it my way, from model minority to Professor (Nolan Kagetsu, MD)
Weill Auditorium: Charting Our Own Course: A Panel Discussion on Leadership in Medicine and Community (Roy S. Chuck M.D., Ph.D; Bhargava Chitti, MD; Khamarin Nhann)
12:30 PM: Lunch & Poster Session
Lunch: Student Hearth
Poster Session: LCS 207/208, LCS 209/210
1:30 PM: Breakout Session B
Room F1/F2: Clearing the Air: Debunking Lung Cancer Myths and Highlighting the Asian Experience (Catherine Shu, MD)
Room F4/F5: Happiness for AAPI physicians – an intergenerational dialogue (Philip Chang, MD)
Room A/B: Suturing Workshop (First 30 attendees!) (Arlene Y. Zhou, DO)
Room G/H: Boundaries, Burnout, and Being Human: Psychiatry as a Long Game (Jaclyn Chen, MD)
Weill Auditorium: Menteeship Strategies: Pursuing Research as a Medical Student (Yingfei Wu, MD, MPH)
2:30 PM: Boba Break & Resident Networking Session
Boba Pickup: Student Hearth
Residency Networking Session: LCS 207/208, LCS 209/210, Room A/B, Room C/D, Room E/F, Room G/H, Room R/S, Room F1/F2, Room F4/F5, Archibold Commons
3:30 PM: Breakout Session C
Room F1/F2: The Health Risks of Alcohol Flush (Dr. Eric Gross, MD, PhD, FASA; Lucy Shang)
Room F4/F5: Stepping Up & Speaking Out (Juliann Wang, MD; Tiffany Shu, MD)
Room G/H: Hepatitis B and Beyond: Leadership, Community, and Patient-Centered Care (Perry Pong, MD)
Weill Auditorium: Osteopathic Manual Medicine (OMM) Workshop (Hillary Haas, DO)
4:30 PM: Closing Remarks (Uris Auditorium)
5:00 PM: Conference End
6:00 PM: Post-Conference Social (The Stumble Inn, 1454 2nd Ave)

Keynote Speaker

Lan Ðoàn, PhD, MPH
Lan N. Ðoàn, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She is a social epidemiologist with training and applied experience in conducting community-based participatory research (CBPR) using mixed methods approaches, community-partnered health needs assessments, and participatory systems science methods. Her research focuses on how social determinants of health contribute to cardiovascular and psychosocial health risks and disparities across the life course. She examines the impact of aging on effective health promotion strategies for older adults, particularly addressing social isolation and loneliness through community-tailored approaches.
Breakout Session A

Usha Krishnan, MD
Dr. Usha Krishnan is a Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, as well as Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Comprehensive Care Center. She attended the University of Bombay, Seth G.S. Medical College (India), and completed her residency at Westchester Medical Center and fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. In addition to clinical responsibilities, she is actively involved in medical education at every level. She is closely involved with the Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at Columbia University and is the director of the fellowship Clinical Competency Committee, which oversees fellow education and training. She is the director of medical student and resident education in Pediatric Cardiology and is closely involved with the Foundations in Clinical Medicine and Major Clinical Year training at the medical school. She was inducted to the Virginia Apgar Society of Medical Educators at Columbia University in 2018. She is also actively involved in research, both in Pulmonary Hypertension and Pediatric Cardiology and is PI/co-investigator in multiple clinical trials, both NIH sponsored and other grants.

Bryan Le, MD
Bryan Le, MD, is an attending physician and assistant professor at Montefiore Einstein. He is also the Associate Program Director of the Montefiore Rehabilitation Department residency program. Dr. Le’s clinical focus is on neurologic rehabilitation, with a particular focus on spasticity management, including botulinum injections, baclofen pump management, and cryoneurolysis. He also manages non-surgical musculoskeletal injuries and performs therapeutic injections for shoulder, hip, and knee injuries.

Nolan Kagetsu, MD
Dr. Nolan Kagetsu studied chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduating from Albany Medical College (before the creation of APAMSA!), he completed a residency in diagnostic radiology at Mount Sinai West and a fellowship in Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology at NYU. He currently is a diagnostic neuroradiologist at Mount Sinai in New York City. He advises the Mount Sinai APAMSA chapter. Nolan serves on the APAMSA alumni advisory board and serves on the ACR Council Steering Committee. He has written about unconscious bias, microaggression, and being an upstander. He is a Professor of Radiology and Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He has 2 adult children and lives with his wife in New York City. You can follow him on X (Twitter) @nkagetsu and Instagram @NYCneurorad

Roy S. Chuck M.D., Ph.D
Roy S. Chuck M.D., Ph.D. is a cornea and refractive surgery specialist. He has expertise in the field of laser techniques for refractive eye problems and has published, patented (with products both in development and already in market) and lectured extensively throughout his career. Dr. Chuck also has strong research interests in dry eye, ocular surface stem cells and corneal transplantation. Dr. Chuck, a U.C. Berkeley trained engineer, graduated from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons where he received his M.D., Ph.D. degree. He then proceeded on to ophthalmology residency in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the Washington University School of Medicine, where he also served as faculty Chief Resident. He completed his fellowship training in Cornea and Refractive Surgery at the Doheny Eye Institute of the University of Southern California. Dr. Chuck has served on the faculties of Ophthalmology and Engineering at Washington University, University of Southern California, University of California Irvine and the Johns Hopkins University, where he held the Tom Clancy Professorship in Ophthalmology and was the Director of Refractive Surgery at the Wilmer Eye Institute. At present, he is Professor and Paul Henkind Chair of Ophthalmology and Genetics and the longstanding Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, one of the largest eye care centers in the country. Among his other professional appointments, Dr. Chuck serves on the steering committee for the evidence-based medicine Cochrane Collaborative Eyes and Vision Group, as the elected Editor-in-Chief of the ARVO journal Translational Vision Science and Technology (TVST) and as the Secretary for Quality of Care for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). Dr. Chuck was also one of the first Asian Americans to assume leadership of a major academic ophthalmology department in the U.S.

Bhargava Chitti, MD
I am currently an attending physician in the Kings County Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology and an assistant professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. I went to medical school at GWU School of Medicine in DC, intern year at Bronxcare Hospital, and residency at Northwell Health/ Hofstra School of Medicine. Focus areas – all kinds of cancer, and also functional radiosurgery – use of radiation to treatment trigeminal neuralgia, psychiatric disorders e.g. OCD, tremor, and seizures.

Khamarin Nhann
Born to refugee parents in the Bronx, Khamarin was recruited into CAAAV’s Youth Leadership Project (YLP) and participated with the program in the early 2000s. After becoming a youth organizer, he led YLP’s Health Justice Campaign for quality healthcare services for Southeast Asian refugees against Montefiore Medical Center. Khamarin was later a co-founder of Mekong NYC in 2012, and currently serves as the Campaign Director. He has waged and won a campaign to improve healthcare services for underserved Southeast Asian refugees in the Bronx to include language justice, patient navigation, and culturally sensitive treatments, and trained over 200 youth organizers. As Mekong’s Campaign Director, he developed community strategies and campaigns through leadership development, community power building and advocacy with elected officials and allies, which includes Anti-deportation and Economic Democracy campaigns. He has built partnerships and solidarity through local and national AAPI, SEA coalition and movement spaces for social justice. Khamarin earned a BS in Health Services Administration for CUNY New York City College of Technology, he is also a Licensed Optician and was a trained leader in Somatics.
Breakout Session B

Catherine Shu, MD
Dr. Catherine Shu is the Price Family Associate Professor of Medicine and a board-certified medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of thoracic cancers, with a focus on lung cancer. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, followed by her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After residency at Columbia University Medical Center, Dr. Shu completed her fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she was appointed Chief Fellow. She currently serves as the Director of the Thoracic Medical Oncology Service. She has presented her work at numerous international conferences and has published in the top peer-reviewed oncology journals. She treats the entire spectrum of lung cancer and has a particular interest in earlier stage and surgically resectable disease, specifically on drug combinations to help improve survival in this setting. Additionally, she runs the thoracic oncology clinical trial portfolio and devotes part of her research effort to patients with targetable mutations such as EGFR. Of all her achievements, she is proudest to be able to offer individualized and compassionate care to each and every one of her patients. She understands that each patient and family carries forth a different set of beliefs, goals, and needs. Working alongside an exceptional multidisciplinary team, she is dedicated to improving the survival and bettering the quality of life of her patients.

Philip Chang, MD
Greetings! My name is Philip Chang and I’m currently an attending burn surgeon at Weill Cornell Medical Center. My life journey started in Mobile, Alabama, as the first born son of Korean immigrants. I attended Harvard for undergrad, University of Alabama for medical school, University of Illinois at Chicago for general surgery residency, and. University of California at Davis for burn surgery fellowship. I have been an attending burn surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and University of Cincinnati prior to coming to Weill Cornell. My hobbies include origami, piano, sci-fi and history reading, kayaking, and paint-by-numbers. I have an amazing spouse, 2 children, and 1 occasionally stubborn dog. Of note, my oldest daughter is planning to apply to medical school next year.

Yingfei Wu, MD, MPH
Dr. Wu is a faculty member in the Division of General Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She received her MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin and MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, followed by internal medicine training at New York University Langone Health and a general medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and HMS. Her research focuses on improving cardiometabolic disease outcomes through promoting healthier nutrition and addressing health-related social needs such as food insecurity. Clinically, Dr. Wu practices as a primary care physician. Additionally, she serves on the editorial board of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, advises the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA), and teaches medical students at HMS. As a past national president of APAMSA, she remains passionate about serving the AAPI community.

Arlene Y. Zhou, DO
Arlene Y. Zhou, DO is a chief general surgery resident at Hoboken University Medical Center in New Jersey. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University at Buffalo and her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem. During medical school, Dr. Zhou was actively involved in APAMSA, served as Liaison for the local chapter of APAMSA, and later advanced to roles as National Conference Director and Hepatitis Conference Director. She continues to remain active in APAMSA through participation in the Bootcamp series and by mentoring medical students navigating the residency application process. As a first-generation physician, Dr. Zhou is passionate about guiding and supporting students in medicine, helping them navigate the challenges of medical training and pursue their goals in healthcare.

Jaclyn Chen, MD
Dr. Jaclyn Chen is a board-certified psychiatrist in private practice, trained at Stony Brook Medicine (MD, Psychiatry Residency) and Albert Einstein/Montefiore (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship), with an undergraduate background in Human Biology & Biological Engineering from Cornell University. Her clinical focus in psychiatry centers on the comprehensive treatment of ADHD, mood disorders, and bipolar disorder, with a particular interest in stress, burnout, and the ways these conditions impact functioning across personal and professional domains. She also integrates interventional approaches, including ketamine-assisted treatment, as part of a broader toolkit for patients with refractory mood symptoms. In addition to individual care, she works with couples navigating relational challenges, recognizing the powerful role relationships play in mental health. Beyond direct clinical work, she is committed to mental health advocacy, aiming to reduce stigma, promote access to care, and foster open dialogue about psychiatric wellness in diverse communities.
Breakout Session C

Dr. Eric Gross, MD, PhD, FASA
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.

Lucy Shang
Lucy is a third-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2023 with a degree in Public Health, where she first developed a passion for using medicine as a tool for advocacy and education. At Mount Sinai, she has found a home in the Department of Anesthesiology, where she has founded organizations to bring exploration of the field by students of all backgrounds and lead initiatives to help ease pain and anxiety in the perioperative settings through research, technology, and quality improvement. Growing up in China and seeing the impact of cancer on her own family furthered her commitment to public health advocacy. Today, she partners with Dr. Eric Gross to bring attention to alcohol flush—a condition that affects more than 500 million people worldwide but is rarely talked about—by educating both physicians and communities about its cumulative health risks.

Juliann Wang, MD
Dr. Juliann Wang, MD, MPH, is a second-year resident in Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore. She graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a major in Global Disease Biology. During her time at UC Davis, Juliann volunteered as a patient advocate and undergraduate co-director at the Paul Hom Asian Clinic, a student-run clinic that served the Asian community. After college, she spent two years traveling and worked as a medical scribe and school aide for students with special education needs. She then moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she pursued an MD/MPH dual degree. In medical school, Juliann partnered with community organizations to provide medical services to people experiencing homelessness and helped organize initiatives to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health issue in the state. Her research focused on removing barriers to care for individuals living with HIV. She served as a leader and mentor through her roles as diversity ambassador, APAMSA vice president, and clinical scholar teaching associate. Her interests span a broad range, including carceral medicine, addiction medicine, reproductive health, gender-affirming care, and more. Outside of medicine, she enjoys exploring the city with friends, watching the latest Netflix movies and shows, and cuddling with her dog.

Tiffany Shu, MD
Dr. Tiffany Shu is a PGY-2 family medicine resident at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY. She obtained her BS in Biology from Boston College and her MD from Chicago Medical School. One of her strongest passions is patient education which is highlighted by her experience as a Public Relations Officer for her student run clinic where she worked with the Lake County Health Department to design, publish and distribute 25,000 COVID-19 vaccine flyers during the pandemic. She continues these efforts in projects to incorporate digital media for her patients in the Bronx to increase access for patient education. Dr. Shu is also on the HIV track to expand her scope in becoming a primary care physician for a wider population of vulnerable and underserved patients.

Hillary Haas, DO
Dr. Haas is board certified in Family Medicine, Osteopathic Manual Medicine (OMM) and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (NMM), with special interests in pediatric care and post-surgical recovery through OMM. She currently serves as an associate professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem, and also sees patients at her private practice, Haas Osteopathic Medicine, in Manhattan’s Flatiron district. Previously, she taught at Des Moines University’s (DMU) College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she served as assistant professor of OMM in addition to treating patients at DMU’s OMM clinic. Dr. Haas earned her medical degree from Des Moines University, where she also completed an undergraduate fellowship in OMM. She went on to complete a Family Medicine residency at Fox Valley Family Medicine in Appleton, Wisconsin, followed by an additional residency in OMM/NMM at Maine Dartmouth Family Medicine. Outside of her work, Dr. Haas finds joy in yoga, cooking with ingredients from local farms, and spending time outdoors and with the people she loves.

Perry Pong, MD
Perry Pong, MD 余 永新 醫生 is the Director of Medical Education and Training at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center. Prior to this, he was the Health Center’s Chief Medical Officer for 16 years and led by three principles: 1) Provide safe quality medical care; 2) Provide a good patient experience; and 3) Provide a good staff experience. In his new role, Dr. Pong teaches new nurse practitioners and doctors to navigate the health system and pilots a coaching program to help staff to further their education, including RN and nurse practitioner programs. Dr. Pong came to the Health Center in 2007 from New York City’s Health and Hospitals/Jacobi Medical Center, where he was the Associate Medical Director for Ambulatory Care Services. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and was born and raised in San Francisco, California. His roots trace back to his great-grandfather, who came to the US in 1888.
Directions to the Venue
Address: Weill Cornell Medicine Sandra and Edward Meyer Research and Education Building (1300 York Ave., New York, NY 10065)
When you walk into the front entrance, please notify security that you’re attending the APAMSA Regional Conference. Signs and ushers will direct you to the second-floor Student Hearth for registration and breakfast.
If Coming from the Airport:
- LaGuardia Airport
- Uber/Lyft/taxi takes approximately 25-40 minutes.
- Public transportation requires multiple transfers between bus and subway. We recommend taking a bus (e.g. Q70-SBS) that connects to the Manhattan-bound F line, then transferring to the Uptown Q line at the Lexington Avenue–63 St stop. Exit at the 72 St stop, which is a short walk from campus. Total commute time is approximately 1 hour.
- John F. Kennedy International Airport
- Uber/Lyft/taxi takes approximately 45 minutes-1 hour.
- There are multiple options for public transportation, including taking the AirTrain from the airport and transferring to the subway system, or to the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) then subway. Total commute time is approximately 1 hour.
- Newark Liberty International Airport
-
- Uber/Lyft/taxi takes approximately 1 hour-1 hour 30 minutes.
- Public transportation requires transferring from Newark Airport Express bus or NJ Transit railway to subway. The Newark Airport Express bus drops passengers off at Port Authority terminal, and the NJ Transit lets out at New York Penn station. Total commute time is approximately 1 hour.
If Coming by Train:
- If taking a train into New York Penn Station (Moynihan Train Hall), take the Uptown Q line by walking to the 34 St–Herald Square station. Exit at the 72 St stop, which is a 5 minute walk from campus.
- If taking a train into Grand Central Station, transfer to the Uptown 6 subway. Exit at the 68 St–Hunter College stop, which is a 13 minute walk from campus.
Parking: Street parking spots are restricted and limited in number. We recommend parking at a nearby garage.
- 315 E 70 St Garage: $40 for up to 10 hours; $45 for 24 hours or overnight; $20 for up to 12 hours on weekends entering after 6 am and leaving by midnight.
- 420 E 72 St Garage: $41 for up to 10 hours; $48 for 24 hours or overnight; $20 for up to 12 hours on weekends entering after 6 am and leaving by midnight.
- 340 E 74 St Garage: $36 for up to 10 hours; $41 for 24 hours or overnight; $16 for up to 12 hours on weekends entering after 7 am and leaving by midnight.
Campus Map

Accommodations
Hotels within walking distance of campus are limited. We recommend choosing a hotel that’s close to a subway stop on the 6 or Q lines. The 68 St–Hunter College stop on the 6 line is a 13 minute walk from campus, and the 72 St stop on the Q line is a 5 minute walk. The M31, M15, and M15+ SBS buses also have stops within 5 minutes walking distance from campus.
- The Gardens Sonesta ES Suites: 13 minute walk from campus.
- Courtyard by Marriott New York Manhattan/Upper East Side: Approximately 20-30 minutes via M31 bus or Q subway.
- Pod 51 on E 51 St: Approximately 20-25 minutes via M15+ SBS bus or 6 subway.
- The Americana Inn: Approximately 25 minutes via the Q subway.
APAMSA Regions I, II, and III invite you to submit an abstract for the Northeastern Regional Conference on October 4th, 2025. There is no cost for submitting an abstract.
Deadline for abstract submission: September 19th, 2025 @ 11:59 PM EST.
Research Prize Winners:
First Place: Alice Lim, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Second Place: Darin Mak, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Third Place: Emily Nguyen, Eastern Virginia Medical School
People’s Choice Award: Angela Tran, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine-Harlem
Featured Abstracts and Accepted Posters
Vrindda Atrii
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Risk Factors for Group B Streptococcus Colonization: Investigating Maternal Comorbidities
Aldi Chan
Larner College of Medicine at UVM
Deepening Care Through StoryListening: A Narrative Approach to Understand Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Connectedness in Older Adults and their Caregivers
Vincent Eng
Zucker School of Medicine
Graft usage in 1- and 2-Level Anterior level Discectomy and Fusion at a Large Academic Health System
Hannah Huang
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
What Matters Most: Older Adults Prioritizing Life Prolongation Before Palliative Radiation Therapy Have Better Post-Treatment Outcomes
Helen Ji
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Cultural Influences and Traditional Chinese Medicine Use Among Chinese Americans with Hair Loss
Zion Kang
Lewis Katz School of Medicine
Lung Cancer Awareness Among African, Hispanic and Asian American Communities: Findings from TUFCCC/HC Partnership Community Outreach Core Program
Kaity Kim
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Disparities in Anal Dysplasia Persistence: Influence of HIV Status and Race/Ethnicity
Justin Lam
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Evaluation of an Age-Friendly Health System: 4Ms Assessments and Outcomes in Hospitalized Older Adults
Alice Lim
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Culturally Tailored Nutrition Education for Cambodian Elders: A Community-Based Pilot Program
Anisha Loganathan, Anusha Mudigonda, Shruti Ravikumar
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Exploring Healthcare Access, Awareness, Knowledge, and Practices Across Urban and Rural Communities in Karnataka
Darin Mak
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Development of an AI-driven body composition analysis platform for objective evaluation of liver transplant recipient myosteatosis
Annemarie Nguyen
Penn State College of Medicine
Impact of Virtual ICU Implementation on Clinical Outcomes Across Multiple Critical Care Units: A Before-and-After Study
Emily Nguyen
Eastern Virginia Medical School
One Budget, Different Strategies: A Comparative Study of Community Healthy Priorities Across Asian American Ethnic Groups in Hampton Roads
Tien Nguyen
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Kain Na Tayo!: Exploring How Culturally Tailored Nutrition Videos Can Inspire Heart-Healthy Eating in Filipino Americans
Krithi Pachipala
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Nativity, Language, and Acculturation in Relation to Sun Protection Behaviors: A NHANES Analysis (2011–2018)
Claire Jeeyoung Pak
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Racial and Gender Disparities in the Surgical Treatment of Primary Hyperparathyroidism
Rithikaa Rajendran
Rutgers University
Evaluating Primary Suture Versus Non-Suture Closure Following Incidental Lumbar Spine Durotomy: Complication Rates and Clinical Outcomes
Justin Peter Rosales
TouroCOM – Middletown, NY
Unraveling the Nexus: Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial DNA, and Cerebellar Dysfunction in Down Syndrome
Chandni Shah
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Elucidating Barriers to ASD Diagnoses and Care for Asian American Families in Philadelphia: A Pilot Community-Based Study
Tsering Sherpa-Ngima
UVM Larner College of Medicine
Relationships of Life’s Essential 8 Cardiovascular Health Components with Circulating Neurodegeneration Biomarkers
Laura Sieh
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Baseline coagulation profiles relate to hospital complications after intracerebral hemorrhage
Ria Talathi
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening in Urban India: A Survey-Based Assessment from Mumbai Radiology Clinics
Jalen Tom
University of Maryland School of Medicine
J-splints Provide Comparable Outcomes to Spica Casting in Pediatric Femur Fractures
Angela Tran
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine-Harlem
Urolift Clip Artifacts in Prostate Cancer Workup: Advantages of 1.5 Tesla MRI Over 3.0 Tesla MRI in Minimizing Diagnostic Challenges
Hoang-Viet Tran
George Washington University School of Medicine
Disaggregated Data Reveals Hidden Health Disparities in Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities: Evidence from Community Health Needs Assessment in Greater Washington DC
Bryant Wang
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Temporal Bone Fractures with Concomitant Facial Bone Fractures: Patterns, Outcomes, and the Cushion Effect Hypothesis
Karen Yang
Weill Cornell Medicine
Gastric Cancer Risk in BRCA1/2 Pathogenic Variant Carriers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Sophia Yu
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Development of A Novel Ophthalmic Anesthesia Curriculum for an Ophthalmology Residency Program
Ying Yu
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Socioeconomic Disparities in Access to Muscle Flap Reconstruction After Oncologic Lower Extremity Resection
Edmund Zhi & Sarah Chang
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
From Indices to Action: Using Social Risk Indices to Inform Workplace Hearing Loss Prevention
National Board

Stephen Lin
Membership Vice President
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

Philip Nguyen-Powanda
Membership Vice President
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix

Stephanie Lam
Region I Director
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

Brian Vu
Region I Director
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Lara Castaneda
Region II Director
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Middletown

Yue Jiao Jiang
Region II Director
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Harlem

Timothy Liu
Region II Director
New York University Grossman School of Medicine

Maggie Zhou
Region II Director
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Stephen Chien
Region III Director
Drexel University College of Medicine

Jeffrey Wang
Region III Director
Drexel University College of Medicine

Lucy Zhou
Region III Director
Drexel University College of Medicine
Local Chapter Leadership

Christopher Chan
Weill Cornell Medical College

Emily Cheng
Weill Cornell Medical College

Michelle He
Weill Cornell Medical College

Starr Jiang
Weill Cornell Medical College

Jasmine Yu
Weill Cornell Medical College
Contact Us
QUESTIONS? Email us at region1@apamsa.org, region2@apamsa.org, or region3@apamsa.org!
2024 Region I & II Conference

Threads of Wellness: Weaving Community, Connectedness, and Cultural Humility within the AANHPI Experience
Date: Saturday, October 12, 2024
Location: Yale School of Medicine | Sterling Hall of Medicine
Registration Details: Click below for more info
000 days 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds
Conference Information:
Theme: “Threads of Wellness: Weaving Community, Connectedness, and Cultural Humility within the AANHPI Experience”
Date & Time: Saturday, October 12, 2024 | 9 AM – 5 PM
Location: Yale School of Medicine Sterling Hall of Medicine | New Haven, CT (333 Cedar St, New Haven, CT 06510)
Saturday, October 12th, 2024
| Event | Time |
| Check-in / Breakfast / Booths (Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium / Rose Garden) | 9:00 AM |
| Opening Statements / Introductions (Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium)
Dean Marietta Vázquez / All of Us (AoU) / National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) |
10:00 AM |
| Keynote Address (Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium):
Keynote Speaker: Victor Sta. Ana, MD, MSED, FAAFP |
10:45 AM |
| Breakout Session A | 11:30 AM |
| Session 1: Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Asian Americans: Current Issues & Local Solutions
Dr. David Yang, MD / Jasmine Jiang, MS3 |
Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium |
| Session 2: Never Enough: ADHD Experiences in Asian Americans
Dr. Zilin Cui, MD, EdM |
Sterling Hall of Medicine (SHM) 115 |
| Session 3: Advancing Girl Empowerment and Women’s Health Equity in India
Dr. Ishita Sunita Arora, Ph.D., M.A.L.S. |
The Anlyan Center (TAC) Auditorium |
| Session 4: Working with Limited English Proficient Patients and their Interpreters
Esther Lim |
Brady Auditorium |
| Lunch / Research
Lunch: The Analyan Center Upper Lobby Courtyard | Rain Location: Cafe Med |
12:30 PM |
| Breakout Session B | 1:30 PM |
| Session 1: WE Medicine: Convergence of Western and Eastern Medicine to Develop Future Medicines
Dr. Yung-Chi Cheng, Ph.D. |
The Analyan Center Auditorium |
| Session 2: Spot the Signs, Stop the Cycle: Treating Eating Disorders in the AAPI Community
Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist: Eling Tsai, MPH RD CDCES |
Brady Auditorium |
| Session 3: Palpating Breath – An Osteopathic Approach to the Respiratory Patient
Dr. Jake Gallagher, DO |
Sterling Hall of Medicine (SHM) 115 |
| Session 4: Mentorship: Stories of Asian Americans journeys in medicine
Dr. Joyce M. Oen-Hsiao, MD / Dr. Yingfei Wu / Dr. Barry Wu, MD, MACP |
Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium |
| Breakout Session C | 2:30 PM |
| Session 1: Inside the Mind of a Program Director: Navigating Residency with the Experts!
Dr, Ethan Daniel Fried, MD / Dr. Shwetha Iyer, MD / Dr. Timothy B. Sullivan, MD / Dr. Ingrid Walker-Descartes MD, MPH, MBA, FAAP |
Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium + ZOOM |
| Session 2: Liver “Transplantation and Medical Education”
Dr. Hiroshi Sogowa, MD, FACS |
The Analyan Center Auditorium |
| Session 3: Balancing Points of View
Dr. Mina L. Xu, MD |
Brady Auditorium |
| Session 4: Enhancing Cultural Competence: Addressing Mental Health Disparities in AANHPI Communities
Karen Chen, MS2 / Kanoe Evile, MS2 / Ted Shi, MS2 / Maya Xia, MS2 |
Sterling Hall of Medicine (SHM) 115 |
| Boba Break (Interactive BINGO) (Rose Garden) | 3:15 PM |
| Breakout Session D | 3:30 PM |
| Session 1: Sew It Together: A Suturing Adventure
Dr. Hiroshi Sogowa, MD, FACS |
Sterling Hall of Medicine (SHM) 115 |
| Session 2 (PRE-HEALTH): Creating Your Personal Roadmap into Medicine
Steve Paik, MD, EdM (Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University) |
The Anlyan Center (TAC) Auditorium |
| Session 3: Medicine is a Noble Pursuit and Necessary to Sustain Life, But Art Is What We Stay Alive For
Dr. Andy Nguyen, MD |
Brady Auditorium |
| Session 4: Residency Unlocked: Expert Guidance for Your Medical Journey & Insider Tips from Top Competitive Specialties!
Dr. Karen Bach, MD (Plastic Surgery) / Dr. James Hwang, MD (Radiology) / Dr. Arvin Saleh, MD (Anesthesiology) / Dr. Amanda Zhou (Dermatology) |
Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium |
| Closing Remarks / Raffle (Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium) | 4:30 PM |
| Conference Ending / Clean Up (Mary S. Harkness Memorial Auditorium) | 5:00 PM |
| Post-Conference Social (BAR New Haven) | 6:00 PM |
Keynote Speaker

Victor Sta. Ana, MD, MSED, FAAFP
Dr. Victor Sta. Ana (pronounced “Santa Ana”) is a family physician, Medical Director of Homeless Services at the Institute for Family Health, and Director of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Primary Care Scholars Program. Dr. Sta. Ana graduated from Brown University with a concentration in Ethnic Studies and focus on Asian and African American literature. He subsequently earned a Master’s Degree in Education and taught Science and Special Education in the NYC public school system. In 2005 he changed careers to medicine, ultimately graduating from Albany Medical College and completing residency at the Institute for Family Health’s Beth Israel Residency in Urban Family Medicine. After residency he joined the faculty of the new Harlem Residency in Family Medicine where he continues to teach and provide patient care.
Since 2010, Dr. Sta. Ana has partnered with Damayan Migrants Workers Association, a grassroots organization dedicated to organizing low-wage Filipino workers, combating labor trafficking, promoting human and workers’ rights, and developing social justice leaders. Through his work with Damayan, he conducts worker health assessments in support of their applications for legal immigration status as survivors of labor exploitation. He has worked in community-based settings such as federally-qualified health centers, homeless shelters, food pantries, public schools and jails.
In 2015 he was chosen to direct Mount Sinai’s Primary Care Scholars Program for medical students interested in careers in primary care for underserved communities, and in 2021 he was promoted to Medical Director of Homeless Services at the Institute for Family Health. In this role he oversees five health centers for people with lived experience of homelessness. Dr. Sta. Ana also provides direct care at the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBTQIA+ youth, and the Broadway Presbyterian Church for chronically homeless adults.
Dr. Sta. Ana has appeared in local and international news media advocating for domestic worker rights, advocated successfully at the state-level for homeless and runaway minors to consent to their own medical care, published, and has been invited to present locally, regionally and internationally on his clinical and advocacy work. Dr. Sta. Ana lives in Queens, NY with his partner and 3-year old.
Breakout Session A: Health Disparities

David Yang, MD
Dr. David Yang is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He earned his BS in Biomedical Engineering and BSAS in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, MD from LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, and his MHS from Yale University. He recently completed his emergency medicine residency through the Yale Emergency Scholars Program and his Yale Emergency Scholar and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) fellowship.
Nationally, Dr. Yang has served as Mental Health Co-Chair for the Asian American Pacific Medical Students Association (APAMSA) and on the Equity and Inclusion Committee with the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). At the local level, he works closely with the sexual assault forensics committee and providing language concordant education to improve bystander interventions in cardiac arrest.
Dr. Yang’s current research focuses on addressing disparities of care in three domains. First, he examines the discrimination that healthcare workers face in the clinical setting with a particular focus on Asian Americans. Second, he focuses on improving the quality of care that survivors experience after a sexual assault. Third, he examines disparities in health outcomes and prehospital service utilization.

Jasmine Jiang, MS3
Jasmine is a third-year medical student at Yale School of Medicine. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2021, with a second major in Medicine, Health, and Society. During her time at Vanderbilt, she founded the university’s Doctors Without Borders student chapter, focusing on serving both global and local communities. In Nashville, she established and developed public health workshops for local refugees with the goal of increasing health literacy on critical topics such as navigating the U.S. healthcare system and first aid.
Now in New Haven, Jasmine continues her commitment to community health by organizing Mandarin CPR workshops for local immigrants, training over 100 Mandarin-speaking individuals in the past year. She is passionate about improving community health and looks forward to integrating these efforts into her future career as a physician.

Zilin Cui, MD, EdM
Dr. Zilin Cui is a PGY-2 psychiatry resident at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, MA. She is interested in going into child and adolescent psychiatry. She graduated from UMass Medical School in 2023, and before that she completed my undergraduate studies at UChicago.
Contact information: Zilin.cui@bmc.org

Ishita Sunita Arora, Ph.D., M.A.L.S.
Dr. Ishita Sunita Arora (she/her/hers) is a Faculty member at the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine and a Research Fellow in Community Evaluation and Youth Programming at the Research Institute for Structural Change, Michigan State University. Dr. Arora is a clinical, community, and applied social psychologist who works with underserved and marginalized populations in the resource-limited settings of South Asia and the United States. As a psychotherapist and research scientist, her healthcare services focus on four core areas – (a) advancing health equity and evidence-based policy for women’s, reproductive and maternal health, (b) promotion of girl empowerment and prevention of gender-based violence, (c) advancing anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, and (d) equitable access and utilization of mental healthcare among historically minoritized communities. Dr. Arora has expertise in community-engaged participatory research, mixed-methods research, program development and evaluation, implementation science, and violence prevention and intervention in academic medicine, community and not-for-profit organizations. Dr. Arora earned her Ph.D. in Human Services Psychology from the University of Maryland and a Master’s in Liberal Studies and Leadership from Ashoka University, India. Dr. Arora’s work is guided by anti-racist, anti-casteist, anti-oppressive, decolonial, and liberatory praxis.

Volunteer Health Interpreters Organization (Represented by Esther Lim, MS1)
Volunteer Health Interpreters Organization (VHIO) is a student-run organization at UC Berkeley that strives to eliminate language barriers in healthcare by providing free language interpretation and translation services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the past 17 years, we have worked with various healthcare organizations and medical schools to facilitate effective communication between providers and patients.
Many limited English proficient (LEP) patients do not have access to medical interpreters when they need the service, leading to lapses in understanding during the clinical encounter. A healthcare interpreter ensures that the patient and provider can communicate effectively, and in addition, acts as a cultural buffer and patient advocate.
Our presentation will explore what it means to have cultural competence vs. cultural humility when interacting with LEP patients of different cultural backgrounds, and how healthcare professionals can maintain a collaborative relationship with patients’ interpreters.
Contact information: cal.vhio@gmail.com
Breakout Session B: Alternative Medicine

Yung-Chi Cheng, Ph.D.
Henry Bronson Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, Academician of Academia Sinica and Connecticut of Academia of Science, Chairman and founder of Consortium for Globalization of Chinese Medicine (CGCM)
Professor Yung-Chi Cheng has been a leader in cancer and viral pharmacology. There are four approved drugs in Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Hepatitis B (HBV), including the first anti-CMV drug, Gancylovillin and first anti-HBV drug, Lamivudine™ (3TC), discovered from his lab. Currently he has four additional drug candidates, including Chinese medicine PHY906 under clinical trials for the treatment of cancer, Hepatitis B Virus, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). His leadership in antiviral and anticancer research has been recognized by his service as a member and Chairman of the Therapeutic Study Section of NIH, a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Division of Cancer Treatment of the National Cancer Institute, and a member of the AIDS Research Advisory Committee of NIH, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research.
He is also chief consultant for many government and research institutions in Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong. He also holds honorary professors in more than 20 institutions in greater China. He is the founder of Society of Chinese Bioscientist in America which just celebrated 30 year birthday. He is also a consultant for many pharmaceutical firms and is the scientific founder of three biotechnology companies sponsored by Yale University, including Achillion who went public, PhytoCeutica who licensed its lead candidate drug PHY906, and Yiviva who is developing evidence-based botanical products to address aging-associated diseases. Throughout his career he has received numerous honors, including the Leukemia Society of America Scholar Award, the Rhodes Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research, ASPET Award (Am Soc Pharm and Exp Therap), an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute and Cheung on Tak Intl Award for Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Med among many others, Fellow of the National Foundation of Cancer research. He was the strategy consultant in biotech area for the Division of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province and has as academician working station in Quanming. He has received more than 10 honorary professor or doctor degrees from different institutes around the world.
Professor Cheng’s interests are in the development of new drugs and the improvement of the use of clinically proven drugs for the treatment and prevention of cancer, and cancer associated viruses such as herpes virus, human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis B virus associated diseases. The types of agents are deoxyribonucleoside analogs, folate analogs and compounds that interfere with DNA and RNA metabolism. Currently he is interested in exploring the potential uses of Chinese medicines for unmet clinical needs.

Eling Tsai, MPH RD CDCES
Eling Tsai is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She specializes in eating disorder treatment and prevention, weight-inclusive diabetes management, and family feeding. Eling received her Master of Public Health degree at the Yale School of Public Health and has experience in counseling and programming in a variety of settings, including private practice, hospitals, and community centers.
Eling uses a Health at Every Size® and Intuitive Eating approach to support her clients in improving their health, well-being and outlook around food. In addition to individual counseling, Eling enjoys educating groups about weight stigma, cultural competence in healthcare, and the joys of building a positive relationship with food and nutrition.

Jake Gallagher, DO
Dr. Jake Gallagher completed his residency at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, a level 1 trauma center and had the privilege of performing OMT on a variety of patients from newborns to acutely ill patients in the ICU. He was also in residency during the covid pandemic, and experienced treating patients with OMT in that setting. Currently, outside of teaching at Touro, he works at his private practice in Stamford, CT, where he see many patients with forms of chronic pain, often incorporating OMT with home exercise planning and mindfulness practices (thinking about somato-emotional types of pain) when appropriate.

Joyce M. Oen-Hsiao, MD
Dr. Oen-Hsiao is the Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine), Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation at the Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center. She is a non-invasive cardiologist, focusing on women’s heart health, prevention, and general cardiology. She also sees patients in the office and also reads echocardiograms, nuclear stress tests, and cardiac CTs. She did her undergrad at Brown University and medical school at the Yale University School of Medicine.
Email: joyce.oen-hsiao@yale.edu

Barry Wu, MD, MACP
Barry J. Wu, MD, MACP received his BS degree in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and MD from the University of Rochester. He completed his internal medicine residency at Yale New Haven Hospital. He is a Professor of Medicine and co-directs the first and last courses at Yale School of Medicine and recruits and trains 200 faculty involved in the clinical skills training and interprofessional education for medical, nurse practitioner and physician associate students. He co-directs the Connecticut Older Adult Collaboration for Health (COACH) 4M to enhance the geriatric workforce in primary care and is Chair of the Health Committee for the Yale China Association and collaborated on a model of residency training at Xiangya Hospitals adopted by the government of China. He is married with one son and faculty advisor for the Yale APAMSA Group, Yale ACP Internal Medicine Interest Group and Yale Health Professional Christian Fellowship. His email is barry.wu@yale.edu.

Yingfei Wu, MD, MPH
Yingfei Wu, MD, MPH completed her BS from the University of California, Los Angeles, MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She trained in Internal Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and is currently a General Internal Medicine fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Wu served on her local APAMSA chapter board at the Medical College of Wisconsin as well as on the APAMSA National Board, including as National President from 2018-2021. Her research experience ranges from basic neuroscience research and qualitative community surveys to systematic reviews and analyses of large clinical trials. Dr. Wu is passionate about primary care and clinical research in chronic cardiometabolic diseases, especially in addressing health inequities for minority/underrepresented populations.
Breakout Session C: Transplanting Dreams

Hiroshi Sogawa, MD, FACS
Dr. Hiroshi Sogawa is a multi-organ transplant surgeon, performing adult and pediatric liver, kidney, pancreas, and intestinal (multi-visceral) transplant, and hepatobiliary surgery (including robotic- assisted and laparoscopic liver resection and pancreas surgery). Dr. Sogawa has served as the associate director of adult and pediatric liver transplant. Prior to joining the medical staff at Westchester Medical Center, Dr. Sogawa served as Director of Abdominal Transplant Surgery Fellowship/Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, preceded by an appointment as Assistant Professor of Surgery at Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center.
A graduate of the Shiga University of Medical Science in Shiga, Japan, Dr. Sogawa completed residency in general surgery and gastrointestinal surgery at the Tokyo Women’s Medical University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Then he came to the US and completed a residency in general surgery at the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook. Following residency training, Dr. Sogawa completed a multi-organ transplant and hepatobiliary surgery fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Sogawa also completed a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School for tolerance induction using mixed chimerism.
Dr. Sogawa is Professor of Surgery, Vice Chair of Education, and Surgical Clerkship Director at the Department of Surgery, New York Medical College. Dr. Sogawa’s research interests focus on improving post-transplant outcomes, induction of clinical immunologic tolerance in transplant recipients, safety and efficacy of living donor liver transplantation, intestinal transplantation, and minimally invasive (robotic and laparoscopic) hepatobiliary surgery. He is a member of numerous committees at national and international organizations as well as an editorial board member of major surgical journals.

Mina L. Xu, MD
Dr. Mina L Xu, MD, is the Director of Hematopathology and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, specializing in diagnosing blood diseases and cancers. She is an internationally recognized academic pathologist and is also Director of Yale Pathology’s Expert Consultation Practice. Dr. Xu’s research focuses on the pathogenesis of hematopoietic malignancies, aiming to translate findings into diagnostic and therapeutic advancements in the field. Specifically, she is working on spatial multi-omics of lymphomas in transformation and in the development of novel cancer biomarkers.

Karen M. Chen, MS2
Karen Chen is a second-year medical student from Dallas, TX at the Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S). She serves as the Columbia APAMSA chapter’s co-president. She is also the co-director of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia. Karen graduated from Stanford University in 2022 with a B.S. in Computer Science and minor in Human Rights. Prior to medical school, Karen spent a year as Fulbright Research Scholar at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, conducting global health research to develop novel corneal transplant hydrogel alternatives for use in low-resource areas. Karen is passionate about AANHPI issues, driven by her desire to address the healthcare disparities at home and abroad, and hopes to serve as a voice for the AANHPI community in future career in medicine.

Kanoe Evile, MS2
Kanoe Evile is a second year medical student at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons. She grew up in the town of Haleiwa, HI on O’ahu in a Filipino-Samoan family that inspired her love for her community and Pacific Health. She completed her B.S. in Biological Engineering with a minor in Linguistics at MIT before entering the MD/PhD Program at Columbia. She is passionate about addressing Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) issues and looks forward to best serving these communities at the intersection of medicine and public health. Currently, she serves as the NHPI Director on the APAMSA National Board.

Ted Shi, MS2
Ted Shi is a second-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians in Surgeons. He is originally from Overland Park, Kansas and attended The University of Texas at Dallas, where he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. In medical school, he serves as the social chair for the school’s APAMSA chapter, where he plans social events for the organization.

Maya Xia, MS2
Maya Xia is a second-year MD-PhD student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians in Surgeons. She is originally from Houston, TX and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s in Neuroscience. Prior to starting medical school, she worked at the National Institutes of Health, where she studied mechanisms underlying PTSD in mouse models. At Columbia, she serves as the culture and education chair for the school’s APAMSA chapter.

Ethan Daniel Fried, MD
Dr. Ethan Daniel Fried is a graduate of the City College of New York, Sophie Davis School for Biomedical Education (a 7 year BS-MD program) and the SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at SUNY Downstate-Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Cornell University Medical School – New York Hospital. He has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. He also has a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Pedagogy and Leadership from Hofstra University. Dr. Fried is currently Associate Chair for Education and Internal Medicine Residency Program Director at Lenox Hill Hospital, part of Northwell Health and Professor of Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Northwell/Hofstra. He is also Associate Designated Institutional Official for Lenox Hill and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Northwell Health. In 2012, Dr. Fried was inducted as a Master of the American College of Physicians.

Shwetha Iyer, MD
Dr. Shwetha Iyer is Program Director of the Primary Care/Social Internal Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She received her medical degree from Temple University and completed her residency in the Primary Care/Social Internal Medicine Program Track at Montefiore. She developed and completed training as a global health faculty fellow in the Global Health and Clinical Skills Fellowship at Montefiore. Her area of interest includes medical education, specifically in curriculum development and coaching. She has adapted and teaches a weight management curriculum for residents, developed and co-directs the clinical reasoning curriculum, and has refined the advocacy and women’s health curriculum for the residency program. Her current curricular focus is the development of the Master Adaptive Learner model and structural competency in residency education. Prior to her current position, she served as Associate Program Director for the Primary Care/Social Internal Medicine Program.

Timothy B. Sullivan, MD
Dr Timothy B. Sullivan is Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the founding Program Director of the Psychiatric Residency Training Program, from 2013-2023, at Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH); and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Donald and Barbara Zucker SOM at Hofstra/Northwell. After graduating from Dartmouth Medical College, he trained in Internal Medicine and Hematology-Oncology at Saint Vincents Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York; and subsequently pursued further training in Psychiatry at the New York Hospital Westchester Division, Cornell University Medical Center, where he then served as a member of the faculty for several years.
Dr Sullivan is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association; Fellow of the International Society for Affective Disorders; Co-Chair of the Psychotherapy Section of the World Psychiatric Association; Vice President of the World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry, a member of the Executive Council for the World Federation of Psychotherapy, and Associate Editor of Psychodynamic Psychiatry. He is also Chair of the Education Committee for the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (AAPDPP).
Dr Sullivan, throughout his career, has been active in the communities where he has worked, maintaining relationships with and frequently lecturing to NAMI, as well as serving for several years as First Vice President of the Board of Westchester Arc, and as a member of the Board of Governors of NYSARC. He currently serves on the Board of Partners Health Plan, a first-in-the-nation managed care organization focused on providing quality care for individuals with developmental disabilities.
In addition to founding the psychiatry residency training program at SIUH when he arrived there in 2011, he has subsequently, in his role as Chair, focused on modernizing systems of care and recruiting teaching faculty from distinguished institutions; collaborated with other hospital departments on a variety of projects, including Integrated/Collaborative Care models; developed programs that improve the recognition and treatment of persons with substance use disorders in primary care settings; promoted efforts to enhance behavioral care for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and their families; participated in community public health initiatives targeting underserved communities and populations at risk, especially adolescents; and helped begin hospital programs addressing resident and physician wellness. His current area of academic interest is the structure of future psychiatric practice and the training/educational needs of future psychiatrists, with an emphasis on proposed models of psychotherapy training.

Ingrid Walker-Descartes MD, MPH, MBA, FAAP
Dr. Walker-Descartes attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry where she obtained her Doctorate in Medicine. Upon graduating from medical school, she did a residency in Pediatrics at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY and subsequently pursued further training in a combined General Academic Pediatrics and Child Abuse Fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Walker-Descartes is currently on faculty at Maimonides Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn. In the Department of Pediatrics, she serves in two roles – one as a clinician and the other as an administrator. In her clinical roles, she practices General Pediatrics and a Child Abuse Pediatrics. As an administrator, she serves in the following roles: Program Director of the Pediatrics Residency training program, Fellowship Director for the Child Abuse Fellowship Program, the Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Pediatrics, and the Director of Child Maltreatment Services for the Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Walker-Descartes has published several articles as well as book chapters focused on the various forms of child maltreatment. Her involvement in child protection and advocacy also includes her involvement in several local and national professional organizations such as the AAP Chapter 2 Committee on the Prevention of Family Violence, the AAP Special Interest Group on Child Abuse and Neglect, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), the New York State Child Abuse Medical Provider Program (CHAMP) and the Ray Helfer Society for Child Maltreatment Pediatricians. She has also served as a consultant for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services Accountability Review Panel that reviews the child fatalities across the five borough and continues to lend her skillsets wherever possible to advance the healthcare agenda for all vulnerable children.
Contact: (718) 283-7503
Breakout Session D: Stitching Success

Steve Paik, MD, EdM
Steve Paik MD, EdM is the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University.
He earned his MD at the Boston University School of Medicine. He completed his Pediatric residency training and Chief Residency at the Babies and Children’s Hospital at Columbia University. He then went on to complete a Pediatric Academic Fellowship in Urban Community Health at Columbia. During his fellowship, he earned an EdM at Teachers College Columbia University in Adult Learning and Leadership. Dr. Paik is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and he has served on faculty at NYU and Columbia as a Pediatric Hospitalist. He has served in pediatric residency leadership for 15 years (as Associate Program Director at NYU and Program Director at Columbia) prior to joining the Netter School of Medicine.
Dr. Paik has been an active member of the medical education community. He was in the first cohort of the Pediatric Academic Societies’ Educational Scholar Program. He has served as a faculty member for the Academic Pediatric Educator Excellence (APEX) Teaching Program. He currently serves as a member of the AAMC Advancing Holistic Principles Advisory Committee. His educational scholarly interests have included curriculum development and evaluation, faculty development, mentoring/coaching, professional identity formation, inclusive and equitable learning environments, skills development (teaching, feedback, conflict resolution, communication, and leadership).

Dr. Andy Nguyen, MD
Dr. Andy Nguyen, MD is a first year anesthesiology resident at Yale. As a first generation physician, he completed his undergraduate and medical school education through one of the inaugural cohorts of a combined BS/MD 7 year accelerated medical program at Augusta University and the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA where he grew up. During his time in medical school, he used his more than decade long professional experience in photography and videography to merge digital media and medicine to build a social media platform culminating in over 300k in following and 50 million views across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and podcast streaming platforms. Most notably on YouTube (@ND M.D.) his 73Q interview series has created a library of resources that include testimonies from notable physicans of specialties ranging from psychiatry to plastic surgery such as Dr. America Revere, Dr. Jake Goodman, Doc Schmidt, Dr. Glaucomfleken, and much more. His experience traveling all around the country to share physician stories, directing and hosting multiple podcasts, using media experience to enrich medical school curriculum, and even being a TEDx speaker has been an example of the importance of maintaining creative passions in medical school and how important it is to share your story…because someone out there needs to hear it.

Dr. Karen Bach, MD
Dr. Karen Bach, MD, is a second-year plastic surgery resident at Yale. As a first-generation college graduate, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Physiological Sciences from UCLA. She then graduated from the University of Toledo College of Medicine in Ohio, where she was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Karen’s involvement with APAMSA began during her premed years, where she served as the national bone marrow director. Later, during her medical training, she founded the local regional chapter at her medical school as served as President. Her professional interests include addressing healthcare disparities across different ethnic groups, microsurgery, and hand surgery. During her leisure time, she enjoys traveling with her fiancé, exploring the newest food scene, and hanging out with her cat.

James Hwang, MD
James Hwang is radiology resident at Yale University. He went to Duke University, where he studied biology with minors in Chemistry and Psychology. For medical school, he went to the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, which has multiple campuses. He was part of a program where I completed my first two years of medical school at the Rochester, Minnesota campus, and my clinical training years at the Jacksonville, Florida campus. Radiology requires a preliminary year, which he completed at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Santa Clara, California. He is now in my first year at Yale, and he intends to complete a radiology fellowship in the future. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with my fiancé, friends, and family, along with traveling, both nearby and internationally. He is passionate about lifelong learning and mentorship and would love to connect with those with questions for him.
Contact information: james.hwang@yale.edu, Twitter @jameshwang214

Arvin Saleh, MD
Arvin Saleh is currently a CA1/PGY2 anesthesiology resident at Yale in New Haven. Arvin grew up in the US Pacific Northwest, Indonesia, and Singapore, before earning his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. During his undergraduate studies, Arvin spent 4 months researching agriculture and nutrition policy in Nepal. Arvin then moved north to Boston to pursue his MD/MPH at Tufts. During this period, he spent a year living in Tanzania researching child growth and development outcomes. Arvin’s professional interests include global health, critical care, and pediatric anesthesiology. During his spare time, Arvin enjoys cooking, trying to cultivate a green thumb, and saving up to get more travel experiences. He can be reached at arvin.saleh@yale.edu.

Amanda Zhou, MD
Dr. Amanda Zhou is a PGY3 dermatology resident. She went to college at the University of Southern California and medical school at Yale. In medical school, she was involved in medical education, medical student wellness, the humanities in medicine, and basic science research in a dermatology lab studying skin cancer prevention. In residency, she is on the Clinician Educator track and continues to focus on medical education and wellness, including serving as a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee and being a “Friend” in Yale’s “Call a Friend” one-on-one peer support initiative.
Directions to the Venue
- Tweed New Haven Airport (Served by Avelo Airlines)
- Local taxi service, M7 taxi (203-777-7777), is available at the airport, as are car rentals.
- Bradley International Airport
- Connecticut Limousine Service (https://ctlimo.com) and Go Airport Shuttle Connecticut (www.2theairport.com) service to New Haven is available from Bradley, Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark, and White Plains airports.
- Union Station
- Amtrak – service is scheduled daily from Boston, Washington, D.C., or New York (Penn Station)
- Metro-North – Hourly service to New Haven from Grand Central Station in New York every day of the week
By car:
- From I-95 North or South Take Exit 47 (Route 34) to Exit 1. Visitor parking is available in the Air Rights Garage, which can be entered from MLK Jr. Boulevard, South Frontage Road, or York Street.
- From I-91 South Take Exit 1 (Route 34) to Exit 1. Continue to the Air Rights Garage, as above.
- From Merritt Parkway (Rte. 15) North Take Exit 57 to Route 34 East into New Haven. Turn right onto Ella T. Grasso Boulevard (Rte. 10) and then left onto South Frontage Road (Legion Avenue). Follow Yale New Haven Hospital and Rte. 34 signs. Continue to the Air Rights Garage, as above.
- From Wilbur Cross Parkway (Rte. 15) South Take Exit 59 immediately after the tunnel. Go right at end of ramp. Merge left onto Whalley Avenue at light. Stay on Whalley until you see signs for Yale New Haven Hospital at Park Street. Follow hospital signs, then make a left turn onto South Frontage Road. Continue to the Air Rights Garage, as above.
In need of funds? Apply for the APAMSA Diversity Travel Grant! Deadline: 9/20/2024
Campus Map (Click on Maps for Better Resolution)
Hotels and Accommodations
Apartments:
Hotels:
APAMSA Regions 1 and 2 invite you to submit an abstract for the Northeastern Regional Conference on October 12, 2024. There is no cost for submitting an abstract.
Deadline for abstract submission: September 28, 2024 @ 11:59 pm EST.
Submissions are now closed. Thank you all who submitted their abstracts. If you have not bought your ticket, please do so as soon as possible.
Research Prize Winners:
First Place: Su Htwe – Real World Application of Gene Therapy for Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Second Place: Justin Kong – Preschool mother-child emotional preparation program leads to significant improvement in autonomic regulation: a randomized controlled trial
Third Place: Ryan Yu – Prostate Cancer Characteristics and Outcomes for Medicare Recipients With and Without HIV
Featured Abstracts and Accepted Posters
Alexander Yu
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Poster #1:
Biportal Endoscopic Spine Surgery Shows Greater Reduction in Disability, While Uniportal Offers Faster Recovery in Lumbar Degenerative Disease: A Meta-Analysis
Alyssa Carlson
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Poster #2:
Acquired Hemophilia A Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Vaccination: Mechanistic and Clinical Insight
Eric Wang
Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine
Poster #3:
A Culturally Relevant Approach to Nutrition Education: Chinese Heritage and Identity through Food And Nutrition (CHIFAN)
Ethan Wang
Yale School of Medicine
Poster #4:
Effectiveness of Mandarin-Language Workshop on CPR Skills in Chinese Americans Who Speak Mandarin As a First Language
Jefferson Poserio
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
Poster #5:
Deletion of 11β-HSD1 Prevents Craniofacial Bone Loss Caused by Caloric Restriction
Jennifer Hong & Alyanna Tam
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Poster #6:
Dismantling Structural Racism in Pediatric and Obstetric Clinics: Observing Health Disparities and Medical Mistrust
Jessalyn Li
Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine
Poster #7:
Bridging the Digital Divide: Enhancing Digital Health Literacy through One-on-One Technology Coaching in Rural Living Communities
Ji Hyun Kim
New York Medical College
Poster #8:
Single-Surgeon Prospective Cohort Study: Comparing the Usage of Transanal Hemorrhoidal Dearterialization (THD) with Anolift, THD with Mucopexy, and Traditional Excisional Treatment for Grade IV Hemorrhoids
Joy Miao
Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine
Poster #9:
Interventional Education in Cancer Prevention to Promote Sun Safe Habits and Lower Risk of Cancer in Rural Youth Populations
Joyce Quon
Yale School of Medicine
Poster #10:
Evaluation of CHATogether as a Creative Community-Based Intervention for Asian American Mental Health Needs: A Mixed-Methods Study
Justin Kong
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Poster #11:
Preschool mother-child emotional preparation program leads to significant improvement in autonomic regulation: a randomized controlled trial
Mehreen Pasha
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Poster #12:
CFAP45, a heterotaxy and congenital heart disease gene, affects cilia stability
Paul Teng
New York Medical College
Poster #13:
Outcomes of Pediatric Patients Before and After RNS Thalamic Neurostimulation
Rebecca Chang
Yale School of Medicine
Poster #14:
Developmental Deconvolution of Pediatric Hepatoblastoma
Rithikaa Rajendran
Rutgers University
Poster #15:
Differential Roles of LPO Glutamatergic and GABAergic Neurons in Modulating Cocaine Reward and Aversion: Implications for Cocaine Use Disorder
Ryan Yu
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Poster #16:
Prostate Cancer Characteristics and Outcomes for Medicare Recipients With and Without HIV
Ryan Chan
New York Medical College
Poster #17:
Asian Representation in Kidney Transplant Clinical Trials
Sarah Ho
Yale School of Medicine
Poster #18:
Asian American women leadership in academic medicine: a qualitative study of medical residents’ perceptions of facilitators and barriers to leadership
Su Htwe
New York Medical College
Poster #19:
Real World Application of Gene Therapy for Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Sharon Yu
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Poster #20:
Utilizing Myeloperoxidase Staining and Clinicopathologic Correlation for Diagnosing Prurigo Pigmentosa Linked to Diabetic Ketoacidosis in New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes Post COVID-19
National Board

Melissa Calica
Region 1 Director
Tufts University School of Medicine

Stephen Lin
Region 1 Director
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

Ruby Chung
Region 2 Director
SUNY Downstate
College of Medicine

Ker-Cheng (KC) Chen
Region 2 Director
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine

Yue Jiao Jiang
Region 2 Director
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Harlem

Sarah Lee
Region 2 Director
New York University Grossman Long Island School of Medicine

Paul Tominez
Membership Vice President
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Local Chapter Leadership

Isabel Wang
Co-President
Yale School of Medicine

Emily Xu
Co-President
Yale School of Medicine

Ashley Wang
Event Planning Co-Chair
Yale School of Medicine

Tiffany Jiang
Event Planning Co-Chair
Yale School of Medicine

Rebecca Chang
Service and Conference Co-Chair
Yale School of Medicine

Joyce Quon
Service and Conference Co Chair
Yale School of Medicine

Javieer Singh
Treasurer
Yale School of Medicine

NEW APAMSA Skin Cancer Screening Toolkit
Rachel, our Cancer Initiatives Director of National APAMSA is promoting our brand new Skin Cancer Screening Toolkit launched earlier this year. It is packed with everything a local chapter needs to host their own skin cancer screening event. Here is the link if you’re interested: https://www.apamsa.org/skin-cancer-screening-protocol/
Chinese American Medical Society Events
FCMS & CAMS Scientific Conference on Health Care of the Chinese in North America on Saturday, November 2, 2024
Location: Pier 60 Chelsea Piers | NY
Save the date for the CAMS & CAIPA Red Lantern Gala on Saturday, November 2, 2024
Location: Pier 60 Chelsea Piers | NY
ASPIRE is starting its first Asian American cohort study for cancer research.
CLICK HERE to learn more.
Talk: The Alcohol Flushing Response
Dr. Eric Gross 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.
The NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP)
The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, the world’s largest research hospital, continues the proud tradition of training the next generation of clinician-scientists. The NIH Medical Research Scholarship Program (MRSP) is a year-long residential professional development program for research-oriented medical, dental, and veterinary students at the NIH intramural campus in Bethesda, MD, as well as its satellite campuses.
The MRSP offers a robust investigational experience through a basic, clinical, or translational research project with an experienced mentor that matches their professional interests. Focused on helping develop a career in biomedical research, the MRSP year provides students with a dedicated advisor/mentor and a vast curriculum of academic activities featuring world-renowned clinician-scientists, networking opportunities, and professional development workshops. The NIH MRSP has a proven history of launching the next generation of clinician-scientists into highly successful, impactful careers.
Medical, Dental, and Veterinary students currently enrolled in their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th years with a strong interest in biomedical research are eligible to apply. Diversity strengthens our community and improves the quality of our training mission. We welcome and encourage applicants from all communities and backgrounds to apply. Applications must be fully completed and submitted by DECEMBER 2, 2024 at 5:00PM EST. **Please note the earlier application cycle and deadline this year. **
Students will be notified of their selection by mid-January. Interviews will take place February 18 & 19, 2025 during a 2-day virtual program that also includes informational sessions. Notifications of selection for the MRSP Class of 2025-2026 will be sent on February 28. The deadline to accept the offer will be March 7, 2025.
The NIH MRSP Team will conduct a live, virtual informational webinar on Thursday, October 10th at 1:00PM (EST).
Click Here to Register or go to Zoomgov.com Meeting ID: 161 702 4095 Passcode: MRSP2526 More information about our program can be found at: NIH Medical Research Scholars Program. If you have any questions or would like additional information about the MRSP, please do not hesitate to contact us at mrsp@mail.nih.gov.
Contact Us
Questions? Email us at region1@apamsa.org or region2@apamsa.org.
2023 Region I & II Conference

Harmonizing Hearts and Minds: Embracing Wellness Across Generations
Date: Saturday, October 28th, 2023 | 8:45 AM – 3:30PM
Location: NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Registration Details: Click below for more info
Conference Information:
Theme: “Harmonizing Hearts and Minds: Embracing Wellness Across Generations”
Date & Time: Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 9 AM – 4 PM
Location: NYU Grossman School of Medicine | New York, NY (550 1st Ave., New York, NY 10016)
Saturday, October 28th, 2023
| Event | Time |
| Check-in / Breakfast (Breezeway) | 8:00 AM |
| Opening Statements / Introductions (Alumni B) | 8:45 AM |
| Keynote Address (Alumni B):
Dr. Lan Ðoàn, PhD |
9:15 AM |
| 1st Breakout Sessions | 10:30 AM |
| A Clinical Perspective of Asian American Mental Health Care
Dr. Mike Zhou / Christie Kim |
Coles 101 |
| Intro to Psychotherapy & Wellness: For You & Your Patients!
Drs. Jaclyn Chen / Nancy Dong |
Coles 109 |
| 2nd Breakout Sessions | 11:15 AM |
| Community Outreach: AAPI Mental Health
Dr. Nadine Chang |
Coles 101 |
| Racism, Shame & Resilience: Being Asian American in Medical Training
Dr. Louis Miller |
Coles 107 |
| Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Mental Health
Dr. To Shan Li |
Coles 109 |
| Lunch / Research (Breezeway) | 12:15 PM |
| 3rd Breakout Session | 1:00 PM |
| Residency Program Director Panel
Drs. James Tsai / Ethan Fried / Jorge Con / Timothy Sullivan |
Alumni B |
| Mentorship Strategies: Pursuing Research as a Medical Student
Drs. Ruey Hu / Yingfei Wu |
Coles 101 |
| 4th Breakout Session | 2:00 PM |
| Suture Workshop
Dr. Khoa Tran |
Alumni Multipurpose Room |
| Alumni Panel
Drs. Alex Choy / Katie Shen |
Alumni B |
| Premed Panel
Regional Directors |
Coles 101 |
| Closing Remarks / Raffle (Alumni B) | 3:00 PM |
| Conference Ending (Alumni B) | 3:30 PM |
Stay tuned as we reveal more speakers!

Lan Ðoàn, PhDAssistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Section for Health Equity, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Dr. Lan Ðoàn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Section for Health Equity at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Her work is centered on the structural drivers of health and has focused on cardiovascular disease and psychosocial factors, including quality of life and depression, among Asian American older adults and how neighborhood deprivation modifies the impact of these determinants. She is an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in analysis of complex datasets, with a focus on aging and aging-related processes, data disaggregation, immigrant health, and social environments. Her research is motivated by a commitment to promoting health equity for historically marginalized communities through meaningful, community-engaged research and collaborations. Dr. Ðoàn completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and received her PhD in Public Health, with an emphasis on Health Promotion and Health Behavior and minor in Biological Data Sciences, from Oregon State University.

Louis Miller, MDDirector of Clinical Cardiology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Dr. Miller attended the George Washington University, where he studied journalism, biology and public health, and also completed medical school. He moved to New York City to complete his residency training in internal medicine at NYU, where he also completed his fellowships in cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, and served as the senior chief resident of internal medicine. Following his training, Dr. Miller joined the NYU faculty, and served as the Senior Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program for nearly a decade; his clinical practice was primarily at Bellevue Hospital. He currently serves as Assistant Dean for Career Advisement at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, the Director of Clinical Cardiology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and as the Associate Program Director of the Fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease at NS/LIJ.

James C. Tsai, MD, MBAPresident, New York Eye & Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai
Dr. Tsai serves as President of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, as well as Delafield-Rodgers Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In addition, he serves as Founding Director of the Center for Ophthalmic Artificial Intelligence and Human Health (COAIHH) and Co-Founder/Executive Advisor of the Center for Asian Equity and Professional Development (CAEPD), both at Icahn Mount Sinai. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, he served as Robert R. Young Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Yale University School of Medicine. Tsai has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and 80 additional articles, chapters, and textbooks, including the Oxford American Handbook of Ophthalmology and Medical Management of Glaucoma (4 editions). He also serves on the Administrative Board of the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems (COTH) of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and Immediate Past President of the International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (IJCAHPO).

Ethan D. Fried, MD, MS, MACPInternal Medicine Residency Program Director, Lenox Hill Hospital
Dr. Ethan Daniel Fried is a graduate of the City College of New York, Sophie Davis School for Biomedical Education (a 7 year BS-MD program) and the SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at SUNY Downstate-Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Cornell University Medical School – New York Hospital. He has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. He also has a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Pedagogy and Leadership from Hofstra University. Dr. Fried is currently Associate Chair for Education and Internal Medicine Residency Program Director at Lenox Hill Hospital, part of Northwell Health and Professor of Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Northwell/Hofstra. He is also Associate Designated Institutional Official for Lenox Hill and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Northwell.Health. In 2012, Dr. Fried was inducted as a Master of the American College of Physicians. This presentation will be the 16 th time he has given the opening plenary at the APDIM Chiefs Meeting.

Jorge Con, MD, FACSGeneral Surgery Program Director, Westchester Medical Center
Dr. Con is an Attending in the Department of Surgery, Division of Surgery, Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and an active researcher with numerous publications. He was the former Program Director for the Department of Surgery Residency Program, a role he held for 6+ years. During that time he developed a research track within the residency and mentored surgical trainees into obtaining competitive fellowships. Dr. Con continues to be involved in surgical education, clinical outcomes research and mentorship

Timothy B Sullivan MD, DLFAPAPsychiatry Program Director, Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital
Dr Timothy B. Sullivan is Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and was the founding Program Director of the Psychiatric Residency Training Program, from 2013-2023, at Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH); and he is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Donald and Barbara Zucker SOM at Hofstra/Northwell. After graduating from Dartmouth Medical College, he trained in Internal Medicine and Hematology-Oncology at Saint Vincents Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York; and subsequently pursued further training in Psychiatry at the New York Hospital Westchester Division, Cornell University Medical Center, where he then served as a member of the faculty for several years.
Dr Sullivan is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association; Fellow of the International Society for Affective Disorders; Co-Chair of the Psychotherapy Section of the World Psychiatric Association; and Associate Editor of Psychodynamic Psychiatry He is also Chair of the Education Committee for the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (AAPDPP).
Dr Sullivan has throughout his career been active in the communities where he has worked, maintaining relationships with and frequently lecturing to NAMI, as well as serving for several years as First Vice President of the Board of Westchester Arc, and as a member of the Board of Governors of NYSARC. He currently serves on the Board of Partners Health Plan, a first-in-the-nation health insurance company marketed to individuals with developmental disabilities.
In addition to founding the psychiatry residency training program at SIUH when he arrived there in 2011, he has subsequently in his role as Chair focused on modernizing systems of care and recruiting teaching faculty from distinguished institutions; and also collaborated with other hospital departments on a variety of projects, including Integrated/Collaborative Care models; programs that improve the recognition and treatment of persons with substance use disorders in primary care settings; initiatives to enhance behavioral care for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and their families; community public health initiatives targeting underserved communities and populations at risk, especially adolescents; and resident and physician wellness. His current area of academic interest is the structure of future psychiatric practice and the training/educational needs of future psychiatrists, with an emphasis on proposed models of psychotherapy training.

Nadine A. Chang, Ph.D.Clinical Psychologist, Gracie Square Hospital
Nadine A. Chang, Ph.D. is Senior Psychologist, Psychology Training Director, and Chair of the Asian Psychiatry Program Committee at Gracie Square Hospital, a freestanding inpatient psychiatric hospital affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Chang also holds faculty appointments as Assistant Attending Psychologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Assistant Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Chang earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology at New York University and Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology at Hofstra University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine with Dr. Aaron Beck, receiving the NIH National Research Service Award for this work. Dr. Chang was recently awarded a grant from the New York Community Trust to fund community outreach efforts with Asian communities in NYC. Dr. Chang’s interests continue to focus on implementing and disseminating cognitive-behavioral interventions for psychosis and other severe and persistent mental illnesses, suicide prevention and Asian American mental health.

Mike Zhou, MDMedical Director, Hamilton-Madison House
Dr. Mike Zhou is a psychiatrist by training and currently serves as the Medical Director of Hamilton-Madison House, community non-profit in New York City specializing in Asian-American and immigrant mental health. In this position, he works with therapists, caseworkers, and peers – most of whom are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, or Japanese — across various treatment programs including substance use, child and adolescent mental health, and personalized recovery from severe-persistent mental illness. In addition, he maintains a small private practice and continues to participate in resident education and supervision in the Mount Sinai system. Prior to these positions, he completed medical training at the State University of New York – Downstate College of Medicine and residency in psychiatry at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where he served as the chief resident of the long-term psychotherapy program. He was born in China originally before immigrating to the US with his family in grade school, and where possible he uses Mandarin and these life experiences to facilitate his work.

Christie Kim, LMHCPsychotherapist, Private Practice
Christie Kim (she/her), LMHC, is a second-generation Korean American psychotherapist who works alongside individuals and couples to cultivate curiosity, healing and authentic connection. Christie is attuned to a holistic sense of health that spans across emotional, relational, spiritual and physical wellness. Christie received her EdM and MA in Psychological Counseling at Teachers College, Columbia University, and her BS in Applied Psychology at New York University. In addition to her practice, Christie is the co-founder of Bridges Mental Health which connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans with culturally-affirming mental health care and builds community for the professionals who serve them. Along with the Bridges team, Christie co-hosts “Beyond the Couch”, a weekly podcast exploring Asian American mental health and identity.

To Shan Li, D.O.Family Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, NYITCOM
To Shan Li teaches osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) at the New York Institute of Technology- College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) and also provides osteopathic manipulative care and acupuncture for patients at the college’s two academic health care centers. His research activities have included the study of the effects of OMM on constipation in subjects with Parkinson’s disease, on type 2 diabetes, and on cardiac arrhythmias in patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices. He also co-authored a paper in 2021 with APAMSA students at NYITCOM based on research that assessed the knowledge of the osteopathic profession in the South Asian population of Hicksville, Long Island. Dr. Li graduated with distinction from Cornell University in 1991 with an A.B. in Biological Sciences. He attended the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency in family practice. He is board certified in family medicine, osteopathic manipulative medicine, and integrative medicine. He continues to explore health through the study and practice of osteopathy, eastern medicine, and qigong, and has led qigong workshops for students to alleviate stress and promote wellness. He enjoys spending time with his family, reading, walking, and photography.

Ruey Hu, MD, MPHCardiology Fellow, Yale
Ruey Hu, MD, MPH is a cardiovascular outcomes researcher and third-year fellow in cardiovascular medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He was voted by Yale medical students as outstanding fellow teacher of the year in 2021, voted by Yale medical residents as the Department of Medicine’s 2022 Fellow of the Year, voted by APAMSA medical students as 2023 Alumnus of the Year, and voted by Yale emergency medicine residents as the 2023 Consultant of the Year. Originally from Canada, Dr Hu served as national president of APAMSA 2016-2018. He completed his AB at Princeton University, MD and residency at Vanderbilt University, and MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where he was inducted into the Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society. A metabolomics researcher, he is a two-time winner of the NKF National Young Investigators’ Forum. His research has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and Annals of Internal Medicine. His tool for guideline directed medical therapy, GDMT.org, has been recognized by the American Heart Association and is used by clinicians in 70 countries. He is an active peer reviewer for cardiology and nephrology journals and serves on the intern selection committee of the Yale internal medicine residency program.

Alex Choy, MDCardiology Fellow, Mount Sinai Hospital
Alex Choy, MD is currently a third year cardiology fellow at the Mount Sinai Hospital planning to do additional sub-specialty training in cardiac electrophysiology. He studied biomedical engineering at Tufts University before receiving his medical degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He moved on to complete his internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai Hospital. He served on the national APAMSA executive board from 2014-2018 as in the communications branch and as strategy director and has returned to give lectures as part of the APAMSA Intern Boot camp. He is passionate about medical education and has received several awards for his commitment to teaching medical trainees.

Yingfei Wu, MD, MPHGeneral Internal Medicine Fellow, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital
Yingfei Wu, MD, MPH completed her BS in Neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles, MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and is currently a General Internal Medicine fellow at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. She has served on her local APAMSA chapter board at the Medical College of Wisconsin as well as on the APAMSA National Board, including as National President from 2018-2021. Her research experience ranges from basic neuroscience research and qualitative community surveys to systematic reviews and secondary analyses of large randomized clinical trials. Dr. Wu is passionate about primary care and clinical research in chronic cardiometabolic diseases, especially in addressing health inequities for minority/underrepresented populations.

Katie Shen, MDGastroenterology Fellow, NYU
Katie is a first year gastroenterology fellow at NYU. She initially became involved with APAMSA as a medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College and was one of the Hepatitis B Conference directors, which fueled her passion for GI and hepatology, along with demonstrating the strength of the APAMSA community. After medical school, she completed her internal medicine residency at Cleveland Clinic. She is interested in serving immigrant and refugee communities, and is excited to give back as an alumni to APAMSA, as it has brought her a lot of great friends and memories!

Jaclyn L. Chen, MDChild and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow, AECOM/Montefiore Medical Center
Dr. Jaclyn L. Chen is a current child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at AECOM/ Montefiore Medical Center. Her journey into medicine began as a premed engineering student at Cornell, and her senior thesis would lead her to presenting breakthrough neuroscience research around the world. She worked in the hospitality & mixology industry before completing medical school and psychiatry residency at Stony Brook Medicine. Dr. Chen is a Manhattan native who enjoys frequenting coffee shops, fitness classes, and speakeasies. She is a published poet, former competitive swimmer, and competitive chess player. Her nonprofit work focused on AAPI empowerment includes serving on the national boards of ECAASU, APAMSA, and, more recently, Project by Project (NY). She is currently on the medical board of NYCCAP (psychiatrists) and enjoys sharing wellness tips on social media. In her free time, she can be found perfecting her sourdough bread recipe, baking a fresh new batch of macarons, or pouring her heart out to all of the Frenchies at Central Park!
Directions to the Venue
550 First Avenue, New York, NY, 10016
Please enter through Tisch Hospital Lobby on 31st street.
The nearest subway station is 33 St [4,6x,6]. It’s a 13 min walk away.
The nearest bus stops are E 29 St/1 Av and 1 Av/E 28 St. The closest one is a 3 min walk away.
Street parking by the school is limited. You may find additional garage spaces nearby on this map

Campus Map

Featured Abstracts and Accepted Posters
Anne Nguyen
New York Medical College
Justin Lui
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Incidence of Infection and Complications Following Internal Fixation of Traumatic Pubic Diastasis in Patients with an Associated Urologic Injury
Amber Chan
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Thomas Ren
Stony Brook School of Medicine
Comparison of clinical associations and outcomes between superior and inferior pedicle breast reduction surgery: A retrospective study
Andre Galenchik-Chan
Stony Brook School of Medicine
Madisen Swallow
Yale School of Medicine
Nancy Park
Yale School of Medicine
The Pathoanatomy of Medial Ligamentous Disruption in Multiligament Knee Injuries
Andre Ho
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Justin Zhu
Yale School of Medicine
Does subspecialty fellowship matter: outcomes after orthopaedic hip fracture surgery
Kevin Chung
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Skylar Luu
Albany Medical College
The Effects of Health and Gender on the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Events and Sexual Dysfunction
Aarti Jain
New York Medical College
Ariyaneh Nikbin
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Jenelle Cocorpus
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Amanda Shen
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Simulation-based Trial of a Pediatric Tracheostomy Emergency Crisis-Checklist
Zhao Xiang Lin
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Harlem
Denisa Costea
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Harlem
Ping Ping Zeng
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
National Board

Skylar Luu
Region I Director
Albany Medical College

Dennis Dea
Region I Director
University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

Ruby Chung
Region II Director
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine

Wenqi Qiu
Region II Director
New York Medical College

Steven Wei-Chieh Tseng
Region II Director
New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM)

Matthew Ho
Region II Director
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Crystal Choi
Membership Vice President
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine

Jason Hu
Fundraising & Events Director
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Local Chapter Leadership

Annie Liu

Jeffrey Park
Contact Us
Questions? Email us at region1@apamsa.org and region2@apamsa.org.

