APIAHF Programs

Chronic Diseases Program

APINCSN Steering Committee Members*

Members of the Steering Committee

APINCSN established its Steering Committee in 1998 to provide guidance, input, and support to APIAHF staff in implementing program activities. The Steering Committee is composed of cancer survivors, family of cancer survivors, researchers, physicians, and health and policy advocates. *Steering Committee Members are listed in alphabetical order by last name, with affiliations listed for identification purposes only

Frank A. Chong

Frank Chong, MDiv, MSW is a 25-year nasopharyngeal cancer survivor. In addition to being a minister, he is currently a Public Policy Specialist with AlohaCare in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has been an instructor at the University of Hawaii’s School of Social Work and School of Public Health and at Hawaii Pacific University. Rev. Chong is extensively involved in community activities serving as a board member and current and past presidents of various organizations including the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, AlohaCare, American Cancer Society, Hawaii State Coalition on the Homeless, Hawaii Council of Churches, Hawaii State Primary Care Association, and Queen’s Cancer Institute. He also serves as chair on different committees such as the Needle Exchange Committee of the Governor’s Committee on AIDS, Committee on Human Subjects, Cancer Committee, Committee on Moral, Ethical, Religious and Legal Issues of the Hawaii Medical Association. Most recently he was appointed by Governor Cayetano to serve as a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Cancer Care in Hawaii. Rev. Chong gives lectures and writes about health ethics, policy and access. He is a regular guest editor on the Island Voices and serves as an editor on The Legislation Action Yellow Pages.

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Reginald C.S. Ho

Dr. Reginald Ho, is a medical oncologist at the Straub Clinic and Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also teaches and does clinical research at the John A.Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Ho has been an active volunteer for the American Cancer Society for over thirty years and served as the first Asian to be the National President of the Society. He has been active with the Intercultural Cancer Council and received the LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. Award for service to minorities and the medically underserved. Dr.Ho is the recipient of numerous national and state awards. He is also on the Board or Advisory Committee of APPEAL, Hospice Hawaii, Blood Bank of Hawaii and the Hawaii Cancer Pain Initiative. Recently he was named Chair of Governor Cayetano’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Cancer Care in Hawaii.

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Joan Kajiwara Neveu

Joan Kajiwara Neveu is a third generation Japanese American born in Livingston, a central California farm community. She has worked at the Asian Community Mental Health Services for 16 years. Ms. Kajiwara Neveu was diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 1996 at the age of 45 after she discovered a lump through a breast self-exam and had a biopsy. She subsequently had a lumpectomy, went through four treatments of chemotherapy and 33 treatments of radiation. Her husband, Bill, and her two children, Emily and Daniel (who were 12 and 8 years old at the time of the diagnosis), have given her tremendous support throughout her struggle with the disease. After her diagnosis, she discovered that it was not that there were not very many Asian breast cancer survivors, but that there were very few who felt comfortable in talking about it. This was the case in both Asian immigrant and Asian American women. Consequently, she became involved in this groundbreaking network because she would like to support other Asian cancer survivors and their families and to encourage them to speak out more and not to feel ashamed about having this dreadful disease. She would like to get our voices heard-beginning in our own communities throughout the state, and then on a national level so that Asian cancer survivors and their families can be provided with services and the support necessary to maintain a healthy and hopeful existence. Ms. Kajiwara Neveu was a participant in Art Rage Us event in San Francisco in May 1998 and she was also a participant in a Contra Costa County public service video called "Breast Cancer Awareness: Every Woman Counts Every Year." Recently, she was one of the 11 panel speakers at the "Equally at Risk: Asian & Pacific Islander Survivors Speak Out About Breast Cancer," event in Oakland in October 1999 and a panelist at the workshop entitled, "Cancer in Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: Myths and Realities," sponsored by the Network at the Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association Conference in San Francisco in November 1999.

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Phuong Lan Thi Lê

Phuong Lan Thi Lê came to the U.S. in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam. As the oldest daughter in a family of eleven and a mother in tow, she capitalized on her experiences to navigate the health care system in San Diego, to advocate for others and to build their capacity to advocate for themselves. In addition to attending community forums and informational meetings, she also encourages others to attend and to participate. Ms. Lê goes as far as picking her clients up one by one, trip after trip, just to make sure they are aware of current issues such as welfare reform, changes from Medi-Cal to Managed Care, and how to access quality care that are affecting their lives and survival in their "new land." As the senior health educator at the Union of Pan Asian Communities, she works to reduce cultural and linguistic barriers to cancer and heart disease and related health services. Ms. Lê also leads an active role in the community with her involvement in the City Heights Town Council, Vietnamese Federation of San Diego, Viet-American Parent & Teacher Association and the Refugee Women's Network.

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Dr. Wendy Leembruggen

Dr. Wendy Leembruggen has wanted to pursue a career in oncology since her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer 13 years ago. Every new phase that her life has entered has contributed to nurturing her goals--attending a high school for sciences and math, studying chemistry at Duke University, working in the summer in a research laboratory, spending a year with the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, and finished medical school. She has been fortunate to be able to see cancer from many directions, and she hopes to be able to use these perspectives to effectively fight the War Against Cancer. She is currently a resident at the Calfiornia Pacific Medical Center.

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Sala Mataalii

Sala Mataalii, RN, is the founder and President of the Samoan National Nurses Association, the only community-based health organization of Samoan professional nurses in the U.S. The association was established in 1996.

Ms. Mataalii is a professional Registered Nurse and is currently employed as an Administrative Nursing Supervisor by the Little Company of Mary Health System in Los Angeles, California. She has been an active health advocate for the Samoan and Pacific Islander communities for many years. Ms. Mataalii has directed the Samoan National Nurses Association in conducting community health education and outreach activities on various health issues including cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and tobacco control. In addition, she oversees the Samoan community component of the Special Service of Groups, API Senior Managed Care Project in Los Angeles County. She is currently serving on various committees and task forces including the Asian and Pacific Islander Task Force for Los Angeles' Partnered for Progress, API advisory committee of Breast Cancer Early Detection Program. Ms. Mataalii is also a member of the first group of Pacific Islanders women trained by the American Cancer Society as a facilitator under the Special Touch (breast self-examination) program.

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Thoa Nguyen

Thoa Nguyen is currently the Project Director of the Vietnamese Breast Cancer Early Detection Program and Community Intervention Coordinator of the Hepatitis B Project of the Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the executive producer of four Vietnamese health education videotapes and the author of printed materials and several articles to promote preventive health care, hepatitis B immunization, breast and cervical screening.

Ms. Nguyen has over 20 years experience in the health field. She is an active advocate for accessible health care at the national, state and local levels. Ms. Nguyen is also involved in numerous civic and community activities. She is a founder of the Huong Viet Community Center, an organization which serves Vietnamese youth in Bay area and a community Board member of Vanguard Foundation.

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Christopher G. Pablo, Esq.

Chris Pablo has been Director of Public, Government and Community Affairs for the Hawaii Region since January 1992. In this capacity, he supervises the Region's government relations activities with the State legislative and executive branches. He is also responsible for communications, news media relations and community relations. That includes everything from influencing the outcome of health care legislation, to advising how community service funds should be spent in the Region, to educating our youth through Kaiser Permanente's Educational Theater Programs. He is a member of Governor Cayetano’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Cancer Care in Hawaii. On the national level, he chairs the Kaiser Permanente Public Affairs Leadership Team.

Before joining Kaiser, Mr. Pablo was Director of Government Relations at HMSA-Hawaii's Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan and Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI). Prior to this, he was in private law practice with Hawaii's former Governor John Waihee. Mr. Pablo is a graduate of the University of Santa Clara and its law school, where he received a Bachelor degree and a law degree in 1972 and 1975 respectively, and hails from the Class of '68 from St. Louis High School in Honolulu.

In June of 1995 Mr. Pablo was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia. After participating in several bone marrow donor recruitment drives in 1996, an unrelated matching donor was found. He underwent a bone marrow transplant at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California in November 1996 and returned home in March 1997. He and his wife, Sandy, continue to be active in recruitment drives and activities to support leukemia patients and their families. Mr. Pablo is a recipient of numerous awards including the "Champions Award" from the Leukemia Society of America's Hawaii and San Diego Chapter and the corporate award on behalf of Kaiser Permanente at the National Marrow Donor Program's annual meeting in 1997. However, his greatest joy comes from working with patients one-on-one.

Mr. Pablo is currently on the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society, HI-TEX Division and is Co-Chairman of the Government Affairs & Advocacy Committee along with Rev. Frank Chong. Mr. Pablo is Vice Chair of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on cancer. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Adult Friends For Youth and the Minority Organ & Tissue Transplant Educational Program (MOTTEP). He serves as one of the Vice Chairs for the 1999 Aloha United Way Campaign. In the past, he has served as President of the Young Lawyers-Hawaii State Bar Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Bar Foundation, Board of Directors of the Aloha Council Boy Scouts of America and President of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce.

Chris Pablo and Sandy have two sons, Nathan, age 10 and Zachary, age 7. They reside in Kaneohe, Hawaii.

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Dr. Neal Palafox

Dr. Palafox is presently the co-chair for the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and the Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at the John Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. He is a co-editor of the publication Cross Cultural Caring: A Handbook for Health Care Professionals in Hawaii. He has lived and worked with the health care services in the Republic of the Marshall Islands for over 9 years. Dr. Palafox has worked with health care delivery to radiation affected people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) since 1985. He is presently working with RMI and the U.S. government to design better health care programs, including cancer screening and treatment for persons who received direct radiation fallout in 1954 US nuclear weapons testing. He has done cancer epidemiology studies in the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Belau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Kiribatri.

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Jina Peiris

Ms. Peiris is a breast cancer survivor and celebrated her sixth year of survivorship in March of 1999. At the time Jina was diagnosed with breast cancer, she did not have any knowledge of breast cancer nor any cancer at all. Only when it happened to her did she realized the stigma attached to cancer in the Asian culture. Then she started to focus her energy in that direction to positively influence the way people within the South Asian communities think about cancer.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) was Ms. Peiris' only strength and hope for survival during her cancer treatments. As her desire to educate the community about early detection and preventive measures against cancer grew, she joined ACS and received specialized training as a Reach to Recovery volunteer. Even with her many physical disabilities, as a volunteer visitor she plays a major role in the recovery for many breast cancer patients. During her volunteer work with ACS to under-served communities, she was introduced to the South Asian Network (SAN). Since then she has been offered many opportunities to tell her story on breast cancer survivorship and speak at many Asian conferences, forums, media events and meetings to encourage women of Asian origin to speak out about their cancer.

Through SAN, Ms. Peiris was able to include the South Asian communities in the activities and agenda of other Asian and Pacific Islander organizations. For example, Ms. Peiris was involved in the development of a breast cancer brochure for the API community by coordinating focus groups of English speaking South Asians women over the age of 60. Ms. Peiris believes that it was so encouraging to see an image of a South Asian woman on the cover page along with other API families to motivate women in her communities. Currently, the Sri Lankan community is just about to reap the benefits of health care programs due to her effort with the SAN.

Ms. Peiris is an A3M volunteer and has organized drives to encourage donors to participate in the Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, a bond marrow donor program for the National Bone Marrow Foundation. Ms. Peiris also participated in the breast cancer video filmed by Pacific Film Currents, a non-profit organization to promote early detection programs for API women, in October of 1999. Additionally, she participated in several panels in Asian community forums and spoke on behalf of Asian breast cancer survivors. She enjoyed the participation in a fashion show celebrating cancer survivors at a fundraising for ACS in June of 1999. One of Ms. Peiris' goal is to recognize all South Asian cancer survivors and establish culturally appropriate support and focus groups in collaboration with the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum and the Asian and Pacific Islander National Cancer Survivor Network.

Ms. Peiris' work also takes her to her homeland Sri Lanka. Jina is a Life Member of the Sri Lanka Cancer Society in Sri Lanka. She has supported many projects related to cancer hospice care and treatment in under-served communities in Sri Lanka. She personally distributed the much needed food to cancer patients in the main cancer hospital in Sri Lanka four years ago. This was the most gratifying moment she has ever experienced. Her immediate reaction to the situation was to run away from it and to just ignore it. Yet, the next moment, her immediate thought kept her going until the food was distributed to all the cancer patients in the hospital. Seeing these cancer patients suffering in pain without any support and struggling to live created an urgency to fulfill her dream of offering help to cancer patients to LIVE a quality life and to DIE with dignity. Ms. Peiris believes that her efforts will eventually lead to making her dreams come true.

Ms. Peiris is also a strong advocate for domestic violence and family crisis support services. As a Women's Advocate Counselor, she enjoys listening to women who need someone trustworthy to talk about their family issues and challenges in life. The South Asian culture, like many other cultures, does not allow the victims to come forward on their own and get the appropriate support. Ms. Peiris is taking the initial steps to build trust between the community and domestic violence organizations by sharing information at meetings, forums, and conferences. She is in the process of organizing small groups of Asian women to provide education and support on family issues.

Finally, Ms. Peiris wants to utilize the knowledge and experiences in community health to educate and encourage the South Asian communities to access benefits and health services. According to Ms. Peiris, "Unfortunately, our Sri Lankan community does not have any health oriented services organization to help the needy in the community. Sri Lankan are, mostly, involved in the advocacy of political and religious issues and …cultural aspect of the community. Since we do not have the capacity to voice our needs out loud alone, I want to join hand with SAN to provide any support needed to women like me as well as to other under-served groups in the community."

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Lola Sablan Santos

Lola Sablan Santos is the Executive Director of Guam Communications Network (GCN), the only non-profit community-based organization providing multi-service to the Chamorro/Guamanian community in Los Angeles County, throughout the U.S. and Guam. Her knowledge of the Chamorro culture and community infrastructure has allowed her to gain access and establish strong ties with the Pacific Islander community. She has been involved in breast cancer outreach and education for nearly three years. Ms. Sablan Santos has served as the project director for the first Pacific Islander program in Orange and Los Angeles County in California. She was also a consultant for the Cancer and Pacific Islander Research Project with University of California at Irvine, and for Pacific Asian Language Services in their Asian and Pacific Islander breast cancer outreach and education program. Through her organization, she along with a group of women became the first Pacific Islander women to be trained as "Special Touch Facilitators" with the American Cancer Society and as a result, more than 500 Pacific Islander women have been reached and recruited to attend breast self-exam presentations. Ms. Sablan Santos serves on various committees, councils, task forces including the Breast Cancer Early Detection Program Asian and Pacific Islander advisory committee, the Executive Council of the Orange County Breast Cancer Partnership, API Task Force of the Orange County Breast Cancer Partnership, API Task Force for Partnered for Progress and BCEDP's Media Ad Hoc committee. Finally, she is responsible for the development of breast and cervical cancer health materials in Chamorro, Samoan and Tongan languages.

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Susan M. Shinagawa

Susan M. Shinagawa is a survivor of recurrent breast cancer who celebrated her eighth year of "thriveship" in October 1999.  Since her initial diagnosis at the age of 34 in 1991, Ms. Shinagawa has been an active national advocate on programs and policies related to cancer research, surveillance and data, prevention and control, survivorship, and advocacy with a primary focus on cancer outreach, education and healthcare services access/models of care for minority and medically underserved populations. She is featured in the just-released Pacific Film Currents documentary Mothers, Daughters, Sisters: the story of breast cancer in Asian Pacific Islander families, on Asian and Pacific Islander women and breast cancer.)

Ms. Shinagawa co-chairs the Intercultural Cancer Council, the nation's largest multicultural and multidisciplinary coalition addressing the unequal burden of cancer in minority and medically underserved communities, and will assume the sole chair-ship in February of 2000. She is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Special Populations Working Group, California Department of Health Services (CDHS)'s Breast & Cervical Cancer Advisory Council, co-chairs the Council's Public Education/Outreach Subcommittee/Work Group and Asian & Pacific Islander Advisory Committee.  She is a former member and Chair of the California Breast Cancer Research Council, as well as the Board of Directors of The Breast Cancer Fund.  Included among her many other volunteer activities, Ms. Shinagawa has served in an advisory or committee capacity for the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, the American Cancer Society (national), the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer, and the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship.  She is the recipient of numerous awards for her voluntary and civic activities, and is an outspoken advocate related to breast cancer, as well as cancer in minority and medically underserved populations.  She has appeared on local and national television and radio, her story has been featured in numerous print media, and is prominently featured in a documentary on breast cancer in Asian and Pacific Islander communities, as well as a 2.5-hour cancer special to be broadcast on HBO in March 2000.  Ms. Shinagawa, who was diagnosed and treated for a recurrence in early 1997, lives in Spring Valley (San Diego), California with her husband, Rob Norberg, stepdaughter, Claire, and their three dogs.

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Xiem Mai Tran

Xiem Tran was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year in May.  Mrs. Tran found a lump in her left breast during a self breast examination.  At that time, her mammogram was five months old and it was fine.  Her cancer was in stage 1 which later was upgraded to stage two with two positive lymph nodes.  Mrs. Tran had four rounds of chemotherapy and also enrolled herself in a clinical trial for breast cancer treatment.  Mrs. Tran came here in 1975 and lives with her husband and two grown children in Walnut Creek.  She works full-time as a computer analyst with Chevron.

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Debra Tsai

Debra Tsai, MSW has dedicated herself to studying the connection between the mind, body and spirit. As a medical social worker, she helps cancer patients and their families deal with their illness. Ms. Tsai has been a pioneer in advocating for cancer services for the Chinese community. In 1994, Ms. Tsai started a Chinese cancer program with the American Cancer Society. Since then the Chinese program has grown in its services offered to the Chinese community including seminars, an early detection program, social service referrals, and a cancer journal. Ms. Tsai has also established and facilitated several cancer support groups in Chinese as well as organized a network system to increase psychosocial support for both survivors and family members. As a volunteer for American Cancer Society, Ms. Tsai advocates for the needs of Asian American and for culture diversity. In addition to her work as a social worker, Ms. Tsai is involved in the National Breast Cancer LEAD Project and the California Women Leadership Training program. Ms. Tsai also works with the media including TV, radio and newspaper to promote cancer awareness in Asian American communities. She would like to continue fighting against cancer as a life long endeavor.

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Dr. Jackie Young

Jackie Young, Ph.D. was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 1998. While continuing her political work as campaign director of a controversial ballot initiative campaign, she used the spotlight to immediately step into an advocacy role by being featured in the media, openly discussing her chemotherapy and radiation treatment. For the past two years she has served as the Honorary Survivor Chair for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Honolulu and will continue as its chair for the year 2000. Dr. Young was a former state legislator and the first woman to serve as vice speaker of the House of Representatives. She has a record of civil rights activism. She is a member of Governor Cayetano’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Cancer Care in Hawaii. She recently received the National Education Association’s Futrell Award for her work in advancing women’s rights. She has also been honored with awards by ACLU of Hawaii, Hawaii Women Lawyers, Hawaii Pacific University, The Union Institute and other community organizations. Dr. Young’s story as a breast cancer survivor has been featured in MAMM Magazine, KoreAmJournal, The Honolulu Star Bulletin (June 1, 1998 issue) and most recently in the Pacific Film Currents documentary, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters: the story of breast cancer and Asian Pacific Islander families.

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Lucy Young

Lucy Young is a name well-known in the Chinese community of New York City. She has been invited to speak in different groups as a cancer survivor and an advocate. Ms. Young was born in Taiwan. In 1987, she came back to the US from overseas missionary work with her family and started the New Life United Methodist Church with her husband, Rev. Dr. William Young. Half a year later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After having been through surgery, chemotherapy, and recovery, Ms. Young decided to devote herself to the fight against the disease. Her goals were to provide cancer education as well as cancer services to the Chinese-American community. In 1992, she published Those Days, a book about her experiences in her struggle against breast cancer. That same year she also established the Chinese-American Cancer Association which was officially accepted into the American Cancer Society, Queens Division, as their Chinese Unit a year later in 1993. Ms. Young also helped in the founding of other Chinese Units in Fremont, California, and Parssipany, New Jersey. Ms. Young was featured in the Daily News in April, 1992; A Magazine in August/September, 1995; Family/Culture in March/April, 1996; NAWHO Newsletter in their Fall Edition, 1998. She was also profiled in Newsday on December 8 th, 1996 and in MAMM magazine in February/March 1999. She was the Achievement Award Recipient in 1999 for the Chinese American Association, Long Island Chapter. She was honored as one of the photographic portraits of remarkable women for The Many Faces of Queens Women, presented by Newsday and Jamaica Center for the Art & Learning.

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