AANHPI Heritage Month Webinar

Victor Dzau, MD, President- National Academy of Medicine

Victor J. Dzau, MD is the President of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly the Institute of Medicine (IOM), US. In addition, he serves as Vice Chair of the National Research Council. As one of the world’s preeminent health leaders, Dr. Dzau advises governments, corporations, and universities worldwide. He has served as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and as Chair of the NIH Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee. Currently, he chairs the Steering Committees and Science Advisory Boards of the NHLBI Progenitor Cell Biology & Translational Consortia. He is a member of the Board of the Singapore Health System; Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar; and the Advisory Council of Imperial College Health Partners. He serves on the Health and Biomedical Sciences Council of Singapore and Chairs the International Science Advisory Committee of the Qatar Genome Project and Qatar Biobank. He chairs the Scientific Boards of the Peter Munk Cardiac Center, University of Toronto; and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow. He served on the Board of Health Governors of the World Economic Forum and chaired its Global Agenda Council on Personalized and Precision Medicine.

Jing Wang, PHD, MPH RN, FAAN, President- Asian American Pacific Islander Nurses Association

Jing Wang, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN is the Dean and Professor at Florida State University College of Nursing and President of AAPINA. She was previously Vice Dean for Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center and the Founding Director of an interprofessional Center on Smart and Connected Health Technologies that features an aging in place lab, South Texas Connected Health Living Lab, and telehealth training and simulation. Her research uses mobile and connected technology to optimize behavioral lifestyle interventions and improve patient-centered outcomes in chronically ill and aging populations, especially among the underserved and minority populations. Jing is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, 2013 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar, 2015 TEDMED Scholar, 2016 Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Macy Faculty Scholar, 2019 Health and Aging Policy Fellow, and 2021-2024 National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine. She is the editorial board member of the Diabetes Educator and the editor-in-chief of JMIR Aging.

Mary Joy Garcia-Dia, DNP, RN, FAAN, President- Philippine Nurses Assocation of America

Dr. Mary Joy Garcia-Dia is the Program Director, Nursing Informatics, Information Technology Department at NewYork-Presbyterian. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from St. La Salle University, Nursing Informatics Master’s Degree from New York University and Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Dr. Garcia-Dia is a member of the National Advisory Council on Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health in 2018. Her significant contribution in addressing health inequities and disparities in Asian communities led to her fellowship at the New York Academy of Medicine. Mary Joy authored numerous journal articles and contributed chapters on nursing theories and informatics. She recently published a book on Project Management in Nursing Informatics. Mary Joy serves as a member of the AACN Essentials Technology Workgroup and the American Academy of Nursing’s Informatics and Technology Expert Panel. Dr. Garcia-Dia was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2019. She serves as a member of the American Nurses Association’s National Commission Addressing Racism in Nursing and joined the Center for Nursing Foundation of New York State Nurses as a board member. Mary Joy chairs the Advocacy and the Diversity Committee of the New York State Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

As the 21st President of the Philippine Nurses Association of America, Dr. Mary Joy Garcia-Dia’s theme on Stories of People, Achievement, Resilience and Kindness is grounded on the power of storytelling highlighting the significant contributions of Filipino nurses in healthcare.

Keith Chan, Health and Aging Policy Fellow, U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means

Keith Chan is Assistant Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. He is an NIH/NIA-funded Asian RCMAR scientist, Co-Investigator on the NIMHD-funded P50 Center for Asian Health Promotion and Equity (CAHPE), and currently serving as Congressional Fellow on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Health through the Health and Aging Policy Fellows (HAPF) Program. His research examines social determinants of physical and mental health for vulnerable populations, in particular Asian Americans, immigrants and older adults, as well as the impact of the opioid epidemic across the lifespan. His social service employment experience includes working with persons with serious mental illness within minority and immigrant populations in inpatient and outpatient settings. He is committed to improving health and mental health outcomes of vulnerable populations through research, policy advocacy, and teaching and mentoring students who can address health disparities and impact social justice.

Emerson E. Ea, PhD, DNP, New York University, Chair- the Kalusugan (Health) Coalition

Dr. Emerson Ea is Associate Dean for Clinical and Adjunct Faculty Affairs, and effective September 2022, Clinical Full Professor at New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. He is chair of the PNAA’s Education Committee from 2020-22. Dr. Ea, for more than a decade, has advanced the health and well-being of Filipino immigrants in the US. He has spearheaded and collaborated on several projects that explored health and well-being among immigrant populations in the US and globally. He is co-investigator of the Community Engagement Core of the recently funded NIH P50 Center, the Rutgers-NYU Center for Asian Health Promotion and Equity (CAHPE) focused on addressing health inequities in the AAPI community in the New York-New Jersey area. He is also Primary Investigator of 2 current projects: a mixed-methods study funded by NIH/NIA Rutgers’ Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) and a qualitative study funded by NYU to explore the relationship of acculturation, acculturative stress, and oral health and dental care service use among Filipino immigrants. In recognition of his clinical scholarship and community work, he received numerous recognition such as from the Office of the President of the Borough of Queens, NY, and as a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Nursing.

An enthusiastic leader in the Filipino community, Dr. Ea has served on multiple community boards to promote and advance the health of Filipino immigrants. He is Chair of Kalusugan Coalition, a community-based organization whose mission is to improve the cardiovascular health of the Filipino American community in the NY/NJ area.

Winston Wong, MD, MS, FAAFP, Chair, Board of Directors- The National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians

Winston Wong, MD, MS, FAAFP, is a Scholar in Residence at the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity at the Fielding School of Public Health, UCLA. A fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice, Dr. Wong’s professional career has encompassed leadership roles at community health centers, federal service and most recently at Kaiser Permanente, where he served as Medical Director for Community Benefit for over 17 years. His commitment to addressing health equity is anchored by his experience as a bilingual primary care community health center physician for the Asian immigrant community in Oakland Chinatown, which led him to leadership roles in the United States Public Health Service, where he served as HRSA’s chief Clinical Officer for a region than spanned the Pacific and western United States. At Kaiser Permanente, he was responsible for its national philanthropic strategies to support clinical and population management initiatives with the safety net, and for its quality initiatives to address disparities within its 12 million membership. In 2016 he was appointed to the US DHHS Advisory Committee on Minority Health, and in 2019 was appointed chair. At the NASEM he chairs the Roundtable on Health Equity, and has served on the Board of Population Health and Public Health Practice. As a leader in philanthropy, he has active Board roles at the California Endowment and Grantmakers in Health. He also previously served as Board Chair for the School Based Health Alliance and is the current acting CEO and Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians. His work in developing programs and policies to address health equity has been recognized by awards from the California Primary Care Association, Latino Health Access, the Minority Health Foundation, Asian Health Services, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. In addition to his 2020 Scholar in Residence appointment at UCLA, Dr. Wong received a Doctor of Humane Letters from the A.T. Still School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Christine Lee, RN, President- Chinese American Nurses Association

Christine Lee, BS RN is in her 2nd term as President of Chinese American Nurses Association- CANA for short. She began her work over 10 years ago with volunteering with CANA during our community service events and holding different many leadership positions within the organization. In the past, she has worked in different areas in nursing, in-patient and in-patient settings, but her specialty is occupational health. She currently serves as a case manager for short term disability and is very proud to be a leader in CANA, nursing and the Asian American community.

Mary Frances Mailelauli‘i Oneha APRN, PHD, FAAN, Chief Executive Officer, Waimānalo Health Center

Mary Frances Mailelauli‘i Oneha has worked in community health centers for nearly 30 years and has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Waimānalo Health Center since 2012. Her collaborative research and publication efforts with other community minded researchers has aligned with her commitment to improve the health of Native Hawaiians. Her most recent community-based research project examined the added value of Native Hawaiian healers and their healing practices integrated in primary care. She supports the perpetuation of Native Hawaiian cultural practices in healthcare and advocates for this value-added service in payment models. Dr. Oneha serves on the Boards of the Na Limihana o Lonopuha Native Hawaiian Health Consortium, AlohaCare, Hawai‘i Primary Care Association, and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations. She received her PhD in Nursing from the University of Colorado, a Master of Nursing from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Hawai`i. She is a 2018 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a 2016 inaugural inductee to the University of Hawai`i School of Nursing Hall of Fame, a 2016 Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu Na Wahine Puuwai Aloha (Women who give generously) honoree, and recognized by the White House in 2013 as an AAPI Woman Champion of Change.

Bei Wu, PhD, FGSA,  New York University, Rutgers- NYU Center for Asian Health Promotion and Equity

Dr. Wu is Dean’s Professor in Global Health and Vice Dean for Research at the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She is an inaugural Co-Director of the NYU Aging Incubator. Prior to joining NYU, she was the Pauline Gratz Professor of Nursing at Duke University School of Nursing.  Dr. Wu is an internationally-known leader in gerontology. Her extensive publications cover a wide range of topics related to aging and global health, including oral health, long-term care, dementia, and caregiving. As a principal investigator, Dr. Wu has led a significant number of projects supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is currently leading several NIH funded projects including a clinical trial to improve oral health for persons with cognitive impairment/ She co-leads the NIH/NIMHD-funded Rutgers-NYU Center for Asian Health Promotion and Equity. Through this center, she leads a 5-year intervention study that focuses on supporting Chinese and Korean dementia caregivers who are at increased risk for high blood pressure and diabetes due to the physical and emotional demands of caregiving. She is a director of the Research and Education Core for the NIA-funded Asian Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR). Dr. Wu has mentored more than 100 researchers from various disciplines for the past two decades. Dr. Wu is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, and the New York Academy of Medicine. She is also an Honorary Member of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

Lydia Albuquerque, DNP, ACNP-BC, CCRN, FNAP, President- National Association of Indian Nurses

Dr. Lydia Albuquerque currently serves as an Assistant Professor at William Paterson University and as an acute care Nurse Practitioner at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Barnabas Health. She brings in over three decades of experience in nursing education, research and administration. At William Paterson, she teaches at both the undergraduate, and graduate levels. As a faculty member in higher education, she has a robust research agenda and has partnered in grants close to $4 million, with the goals of providing scholarships for disadvantaged students and promoting cardiovascular health among men and women. She serves on the Publication Committee of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses and is Vice President of Sigma Theta Tau International Iota chapter. Dr. Albuquerque has received the DIVA award from the Institute for Nurses (IFN), a New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) which recognizes leaders for their contributions to nursing research, nursing education or administration. In 2020, she was named a finalist for the Nurse of Year award through the March of Dimes organization. She was inducted to the Who’s Who in American Nursing by the Society of Nursing in 2018. Dr. Albuquerque is the founding president of the American Association of Indian Nurses of America, New Jersey chapter. She has also served within the National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA) since its inception as a Secretary, Advisory Board member, Election officer, founding chair for the APN forum committee, and recently, the Executive Vice President. Dr. Albuquerque has been inducted as the President of NAINA for 2021-2022 with a strong determination and commitment to take this organization to a higher level.