Contact for Journalists Only:
Jennifer Choi
Associate Director, Media Relations
NYU Medical Center Public Affairs
Tel: 212.404.3555
NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health
Presents Third Annual Conference:
September 29th & 30th
The conference includes an awards ceremony to honor those who play an important role in addressing the health of Asian American communities.
New York, NY – The Center for the Study of Asian American Health at the NYU School of Medicine will hold its 3rd annual conference to discuss health issues affecting the Asian American community. This year’s conference theme is "Take Notice, Take Action!" The two day event that begins on Friday, September 29th and ends Saturday, September 30th will take place at NYU School of Medicine’s Farkas Auditorium located on 550 First Avenue between 30th and 33rd streets.
Asian Americans represent the fastest growing, yet one of the most poorly understood and neglected racial/ethnic minority groups in the nation. Contrary to the "model minority myth," a large segment of the Asian American population faces extreme social, linguistic, cultural, and economic barriers to health care. Hence, the large and growing numbers of this diverse community make it imperative for health professionals to understand and to be well trained to address the challenges that face Asian Americans.
"Leaders from across the country will gather to ‘take notice’ of and ‘take action’ upon health disparities facing Asian Americans. This annual conference has become an important vehicle to mobilize the community towards social change through research, advocacy, health policy reform, service delivery, and capacity building," said Mariano Rey, MD, Principal Investigator at the Center for the Study of Asian American Health.
The conference will commence with a welcoming address by Dr. Rey as well as a special multi-media presentation on the Center’s accomplishments. The conference will also feature keynote addresses by Majorie Kagawa-Singer, PhD, RN, Associate Professor at UCLA School of Public Health and Marguerite Ro, DrPH, Deputy Director of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum. Plenary sessions will include discussions with leading healthcare advocates and researchers, including the Honorable John Liu, NYC City Council; Gilbert Gee, PhD, University of Michigan, Health Behavior & Health Education; Adam Gurvitch, MA, The New York Immigration Coalition; Butch de Castro, PhD, MSN/MPH, RN, University of Washington School of Nursing, Department of Psychosocial & Community Health; Jeffrey Caballero, MPH, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations; Wilma Waithe, PhD, NYS Dept. of Health, Office of Minority Health; Benjamin Ileto, MD, Parkway Hospital; and Samuel So, MD, Stanford School of Medicine, Asian Liver Center.
An award ceremony will be held the first evening highlighting the merited achievements of several leaders in Asian American health. The National Leadership Award will be presented to Gem Daus, MA, the Director of Policy at the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF). Mr. Daus coordinates advocacy efforts aimed at:
- increasing access to health care, particularly for uninsured immigrants and minorities,
- improving quality of health care,
- increasing the competence and diversity of the health professions,
- increasing research and data collection, and
- increasing the involvement of communities in promoting and advocating for their own health and well-being
A Regional Leadership Award will be presented to David Kim, MD the Founding Medical Director of the Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA) HIV Primary Care Clinic. Dr. Kim has devoted 15 years of service to the HIV community with a special focus on underserved and marginalized Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
Youth Leadership Awards will be presented to outstanding student leaders in the field of Asian American health. Three awards will be presented to Ms. Juliana Eng, second-year medical student at NYU School of Medicine; Mr. Joseph Shin, second-year medical student at NYU School of Medicine; and Ms. Debbie Hana Yi, second-year medical student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
The awards ceremony will also highlight the efforts of several organizations that play an important role in addressing the health of Asian American communities. The National Organization Award will be presented to the South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA). Established in 1999, SAPHA is a non-profit corporation/ charitable organization in Maryland and has grown tremendously in the past 7 years. SAPHA provides a seminal resource on health and public topics regarding South Asians as well as a necessary forum for sharing information, developing collaboration, and providing educational outreach for the South Asian American population. The Regional Organization Award will be presented to the Asian Outreach program of the Queens Child Guidance Center, one of its kind in mental health services. It serves five major Asian comunities (Chinese, Korean, South Asians, Filipinos and the Farsi speaking community) under the same roof by providing language and cultural support in extensive outreach and afterschool programs. QCGC has educated the NYC Asian community on mental health and chemical dependency issues since 1993.
Saturday will consist of a full day of lectures, roundtables, and poster presentations that reflect programs designed to enhance outreach and service delivery; strategies for developing action-oriented research; and research to ensure inclusion of Asian Americans in data collection and dissemination. Sessions and presentations will reflect the conference them of taking notice of and taking action upon health disparities in Asian American communities.
The Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH) at the NYU Medical Center is a comprehensive network of various healthcare, academic, and community organizations dedicated to examining specific health challenges in the Asian American community, establishing an environment that will promote an increased representation of Asian Americans in conducting and participating in community-based participatory research, and educating Asian American communities regarding their risks for specific diseases and chronic conditions.
When:
September 29, 2005 2 PM–7:30 PM
September 30, 2005 9 AM–5:30 PMWhere:
NYU School of Medicine ( 550 First Avenue)
Farkas Auditorium, Alumni HallFee:
Please visit http://www.med.nyu.edu/csaah/events/conf2006.html for more information.Contact:
Phone: (212) 263-3072
Email: csaahconf@med.nyu.edu
###