Asian American Pacific Islander Health Scientific Interest Group

Join us!

We are hosting an NIH Director's Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series talk with Dr. Happy Araneta, "Type 2 Diabetes Among Asian-Americans: Elevated Prevalence and Novel Risk Factors," on Wednesday, May 22, in the Lipsett Amphitheater, NIH Building 10, at 2:00 p.m.

You also can watch remotely via https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=51114. This link will be live and then archived 48 hours after the lecture.

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: Annual AANHPI Heritage Month Research Symposium Committee, Dan Xi, PhD. Program Director, NCI; Mentor and Career Advancement Working Group, Ramesh Vemuri, Ph.D., Chief, NIA Scientific Review Branch.

AA and NHPI Research and Education Resources

NIH Grants and Funding Website
NIH RePORTER : an electronic tool that allows users to search a repository of NIH-funded research projects and access publications and patents resulting from NIH funding.
Scientific Publications in Pubmed
NIH AANHPI Research RFI Executive Summary, 2024

AANHPI Health MeSH Term Available for Literature Searches on NIH PubMed about the health research on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: (Asian Americans[mesh] OR (Asia[mesh] AND US/ethnology[mesh])) AND Health[mesh]

Past Events

The AANHPI-HSIG hosted host NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series on April 3, 2024, “Dynamic Interplay of Circadian Rhythms and Sleep on Health” by Phyllis C. Zee, M.D., Ph.D., Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. Watch the archive at https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=52619.
”Massage and Health Research” scientific education seminars as commemorating three-year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shooting on March 16, 2021, in which 8 People including 6 Asian descent women were killed; March 7 and 14, 2024.
The 2023 Annual NIH AANHPI Distinguished Scholar Virtual Lecture/Symposium on December 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET.
NIH Annual Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health Research Conference, May 3, 2023. Complete program website at https://events.cancer.gov/archive/2023-AANHPI-HSIG-Annual-Conference. 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