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Celebrating National Asian American and Native/Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May 7, 2024 by jta6n@virginia.edu

Celebrating National Asian American & Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage MonthIn May, we’re excited to commemorate National Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, a time dedicated to recognizing the rich cultural heritage and exceptional contributions of our AANHPI colleagues and community.

This year, our focus aligns with the national theme, “Advancing Leaders Through Innovation,” as designated by the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC). We’ll join in this nationwide period of celebration by shining a spotlight on the visionary trailblazers who have shaped AANHPI history and our AANHPI colleagues here at UVA Health who lead and inspire through innovation.

Within our organization, we’re proud of the strides made by our AANHPI team members in leadership, research, community engagement, and more. Leaders like Min Lee, our Chief Operating Officer at UVA Health University Medical Center, drive forward operational initiatives to elevate the care experience. Providers like Dr. Balraj Singh, a hematologist/oncologist at Cancer Care Manassas who is fluent in Urdu, Hindi and Punjab, break language barriers to make healthcare more accessible to our diverse linguistic communities. Researchers like Jianjie Ma, PhD, director of the Ma Laboratory and Division of Surgical Sciences, works with his dedicated team to solve the greatest mysteries in science.

Looking to the future, we’re also excited to highlight one of our administrative fellows, Khaing Phoo, in this month’s UVA Health Storytellers series. Khaing just completed her time serving as Interim Manager for Parking and Transportation and Valet Services this week and represents the optimistic and exciting future of healthcare leadership coming out of our Administrative Fellowship Program.

Programs like the Administrative Fellowship Program and the Health Leadership Institute, play a pivotal role in our commitment to fostering leaders from diverse backgrounds and experiences to help drive impactful innovation and change across UVA Health and the healthcare industry.

To learn more about the programming for AANHPI Heritage Month planned by the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement, visit Connect for the full lineup of events and activities.

We look forward to learning and growing together this month through the celebration of our Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community.

Sincerely,

K. Craig Kent, MD
Chief Executive Officer, UVA Health

Tracy M. Downs, MD
Chief Diversity and Community Engagement Officer, UVA Health

Marianne Baernholdt, PhD
Dean, UVA School of Nursing

Wendy Horton, PharmD
Chief Executive Officer, UVA Health University Medical Center

Melina R. Kibbe, MD
Dean, UVA School of Medicine

J. Scott Just, MD
Chief Executive Officer, UVA Physicians Group

Erik Shannon
Chief Executive Officer, UVA Community Health

Filed Under: Community, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion