Asian American Pacific Islander Health Scientific Interest Group

Don't Miss Us On December 1!

AANHPI-HSIG is hosting its 2023 Annual NIH AANHPI Distinguished Scholar Virtual Lecture/Symposium on December 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET. Refer to the agenda and registration at https://cbiit.webex.com/weblink/register/r665c3a98d0a8b72a18b3deae5994b….

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health Scientific Interest Group (AANHPI-HSIG)

Background

In 1999, White House established a first Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) to improve their life quality and opportunities to participate in federal programs (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1999-06-10/pdf/99-14901.pdf). In April 2021, the NIH Asian American Pacific Islander Health Scientific Interest Group (AAPI-HSIG) was formed, open to NIH intramural and extramural, as well as other HHS staff, who have an interest and passion in advancing the NIH mission and improving health and research for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations. On May 28, 2021, White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) was reinstated and reinvigorated (White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) | HHS.gov ). Accordingly, NIH “AAPI-HSIG” revised its name to “AANHPI-HSIG”.

This group provides a platform to foster scientific communications, share and disseminate information, facilitate collaborations and education, assess research needs, and make recommendations to NIH leadership on research to improve the health and well-being of AA and NHPI populations. Regular activities include virtual or in-person on the NIH campus research and educational seminars. Other activities can be either inside, or outside of NIH, such as conferences and lectures in collaborations with NIH ICOs or other NIH SIG groups, or other Federal and Non-Federal entities.

Mission and Goals

To advance NIH missions and improve AA and NHPI health by stimulating research, fostering collaboration, mentoring junior scientists, and providing scientific strategic plan or recommendations to NIH leaders.

Vision

To serve as high-quality, trusted, NIH resources for advancing AA and NHPI health and wellbeing research and education, and to provide a scientific exchange and collaboration platform for assemblies of scientists and staff at NIH, HHS, extramural academia, or other Federal and Non-Federal entities.

Leadership Team and Responsibilities

Chair: Dan Xi, Ph.D., Program Director, NCI
- To lead and moderate the day-to-day SIG activities
- To serve as point of contact for SIG at NIH
Co-advisers: Yihong Ye, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, NIDDK; and Ramesh Vemuri, Ph.D., Chief, NIA Scientific Review Branch
- To ensure the compliance of NIH and NIH intramural policy
- To provide inputs and advice for SIG activities
Senior Advisory Members: Paul Liu, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Scientific Director, NHGRI; and Lei Ming, Ph.D., Division Director, NIGMS
- To provide input and advice for SIG activities
Committee and Working Group Co-lead; Annual AANHPI Heritage Month Research Symposium Committee: Co-chair, Yihong Ye, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, NIDDK; Mentor and Career Advancement Working Group, Ramesh Vemuri, Ph.D., Chief, NIA Scientific Review Branch.

Past Events

NIH Annual Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health Research Conference, May 3, 2023. Watch at https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=49711. Read article in the NIH Record at https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2023/06/09/annual-aanhpi-health-research-conf….
“Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Youth Suicide—What does disaggregating heterogeneous groups really mean?” by NIMH/NIH grantee Dr. Camillia Lui, Alcohol Research Group of the Public Health Institute, February 17, 2023
“Ancestry-driven recalibration of tumor mutational burden and disparate clinical outcomes in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors,” by Alexander Gusev, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, December 6, 2022
“AANHPI-HSIG Distinguished Scholar Lecture: Fireside Chat with Dr. Howard Koh,” June 1, 2022
“Inaugural Annual NIH Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) Health Research Conference,” May 4–5, 2022
“NIH AANHPI-HSIG Mental Health and Well-being Seminar Series,” March 30, 2022
“AAPI Mental Health: Progress and Prospects,” by Y. Joel Wong, Ph.D., on January 18, 2022
“Lung Cancer Among Never-Smoking AANHPI Females,” by Mindy Herbert-Derouen, Ph.D., on November 30, 2021
“Health Disparities Research: Addressing Multilevel Social Determinants of Health in Asian American and Pacific Islander Populations,” by Grace X. Ma, AAPI-HSIG Inaugural Seminar on September 23, 2021