SPEAKERS

 

Jeff Belkora, Ph.D.
Jeff Belkora, PhD, is Director of Decision Services at the UCSF Breast Care Center and Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Belkora is a systems engineer who develops, implements, and evaluates patient education, decision support, and participation programs. His programs have been implemented and evaluated in academic and community settings in the United States. He is involved with national and international initiatives promoting patient-centered care as a part of quality improvement in medicine. He is the author of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and case studies on decision-making. Dr. Belkora also disseminates his work internationally through speaking, training, and consulting engagements. Prior to joining the UCSF faculty, Dr. Belkora was a co-founder of Outcome Software, a decision analysis software company. Before Outcome, Dr. Belkora worked as a management consultant at Strategic Decisions Group. Dr. Belkora earned a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from Brown University. His graduate training at Stanford University included an M.Sc. in Statistics and culminated with a Ph.D in Engineering.

 

Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D., MPH
Dr. Betancourt is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and directs the Disparities Solutions Center, which works with healthcare organizations to improve quality of care, address racial and ethnic disparities, and achieve equity. He is also Director of Multicultural Education for Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and an expert in cross-cultural care and communication. He practices Internal Medicine at the MGH Internal Medicine Associates.  Dr. Betancourt has served on several Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committees, including those that produced “Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health Care”, “Guidance for a National Health Care Disparities Report”, and “In the Nation’s Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health Care Workforce.” and served on the IOM Roundtable on Health Literacy. He was a member of the Massachusetts State Committee on Racial/Ethnic Disparities and served on the Boston Public Health Commission Committee on Racial/Ethnic Disparities. Dr. Betancourt co-chairs the MGH Committee on Racial and Ethnic Disparities and the Harvard Medical School Cross-Cultural Care Committee, and sits on the Boston Board of Health as well as Health Equity Committee, and the Massachusetts Disparities Council.   Dr. Betancourt has served as Principal Investigator on grants from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Commonwealth Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Amgen Foundation, the Aetna Foundation, and the California Endowment, in addition to being co-investigator on a project funded by the National Cancer Institute and the Health Resources and Services Administration. He has authored peer-reviewed articles on topics including racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care; public health; hypertension, diabetes, and cerebrovascular disease in minority communities; cross-cultural care and education; clinical decision making; ethics; workforce diversity; and the impact of language barriers on health care. Dr. Betancourt also teaches cross-cultural medicine, health disparities, and health policy to medical students and residents at MGH-Harvard Medical School and to students at the Harvard School of Public Health.  Dr. Betancourt has advised federal, state and local government, foundations, health plans, hospitals, health centers, professional societies, trade organizations, pharma, and private industry on strategies to improve quality of care and eliminate disparities. He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland, his medical degree from the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Following residency, he completed The Commonwealth Fund-Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy, and received his Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

 

Bradley Chun, M.D.
Dr. Chun is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UH-JABSOM in the Department of Medicine. He was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine (UH – JABSOM). He completed his residency in Internal Medicine in 2004 at the UH – JABSOM Internal Medicine Residency Program. He has worked as an internist at Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services (KKV) since 2004. KKV is a federally qualified community health center serving an ethnically and culturally diverse, underserved population in urban Honolulu’s Kalihi Valley. His interest in cross-cultural health care comes from the day-to-day challenges of caring for patients in a cross-cultural setting and in teaching these skills to medical students and residents.

 

Christina Cordero, Ph.D.
Christina Cordero is an Associate Project Director in the Department of Standards and Survey Methods, Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation at The Joint Commission.  Dr. Cordero is currently focused on standards development projects for the hospital and laboratory accreditation programs. She previously developed the patient-centered communication standards and The Joint Commission monograph Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals as part of a grant-funded initiative supported by The Commonwealth Fund. Dr. Cordero has also provided research and technical support to The Joint Commission’s Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation study, and she is a contributing author of One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations.  Prior to joining The Joint Commission, Dr. Cordero conducted basic science and public health research at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.  Dr. Cordero earned both her Doctor of Philosophy in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis, and her Master of Public Health degrees from Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.

 

Jerris Hedges, M.D., M.S., MMM
Dr. Jerris Hedges has served as the Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, John a. Burns School of Medicine since March 2008.  Trained as an emergency physician, Dr. Hedges has spent the last 35 years contributing to the medical field through his work in clinical care, university teaching, research and administration.  At the internationally-respected Oregon Health  & Science  University’s  (OHSU) School of Medicine, Dr. Hedges served as Professor and Department Chair in Emergency Medicine and was named Vice Dean at OHSU in 2005.   Dr. Hedges’ leadership helped OHSU earn recognition as one of the “top ten” National Institutes of Health-funded academic emergency medicine research departments in the nation.  Dr. Hedges has also served as President of both the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine. In October 2000, Dr. Hedges was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine.  Dr.  Hedges earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics, a master’s degree in chemical engineering, and a medical degree at the University of Washington.   He completed his residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine before joining OHSU.  Dr. Hedges also holds a Master of Medical Management degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

 

Mark Hochberg, M.D.
Dr. Hochberg is Professor and Vice Chairman of Surgery at the New York University Medical Center.  He trained in general and cardiac surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he served as Chief Resident in 1980. He served as Director of Cardiac Surgery at Newark Beth Israel from 1981 to 1993, where his team performed the first heart transplant in New Jersey. In the past Dr. Hochberg was CEO and Executive Vice President at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, a not-for-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of medicine and the roles of the physician in contemporary society. He was also the founding President and CEO of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, a private $180 million grant-making institution whose mission is to identify and strengthen existing healthcare programs and to seed innovative projects that address unmet healthcare needs.  He is married to the Honorable Faith Shapiro Hochberg, a former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. She currently serves as a United States District Judge.

 

Keawe`aimoku Kaholokula, Ph.D.
Keawe`aimoku Kaholokula has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is the Chair and Associate Professor of Native Hawaiian Health and Deputy Director for the Center of Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research in the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.  He is a licensed clinical psychologist and has clinical experience in behavioral medicine.  His current research is funded by the National Institutes of Health to examine biological, pyschological, and socio-cultural factors (and their interplay) affecting Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander health and to develop community-based and culturally-relevant interventions.  He has worked in the area of Native Hawaiian health for 18 years.

 

Martina Kamaka, M.D.
Martina Leialoha Kamaka, MD is a Native Hawaiian physician who received her undergraduate degree (BA) from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana and MD degree from the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) at the University of Hawaii.  She is board certified in Family Practice.  She has been in private practice both in Pennsylvania and Hawaii.  From 1999-2005, she worked as Faculty and Curriculum Development Coordinator at the JABSOM Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence.  Currently she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health (DNHH) at JABSOM where she is the director for the DNHH Cultural Competency Curriculum Development project.  The project, whose primary focus is addressing Native Hawaiian health disparities, is looking at innovative ways to teach cultural competency including the use of a variety of teaching methodologies.  She is blessed with the support of an incredible collaborative team comprised of members from the Department of Family Medicine, School of Social Work, Queen’s Hospital and a retired Department of Health official.  Dr. Kamaka is a founding member and past president of the ‘Ahahui o na Kauka (Association of Native Hawaiian Physicians).  Currently she serves on the Institutional Review Board and scientific advisory council for the Native Hawaiian Health Systems ‘Imi Hale Native Hawaiian Cancer Network.  She is extremely honored to be a founding member as well international steering committee representative on the board of the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress (PRIDoC).  She recently co-chaired the 4^th biannual meeting of PRIDoC which has reinforced her beliefs that we have much to learn form and share with our indigenous colleagues from other countries.  Finally, she is very, very grateful for the incredible patience and support of her family.

 

Lauren Kwak, J.D.
Ms. Kwak is the Contracts Officer for the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine and leads the Office of Hospital and External Business Affairs.  She is also the Risk Manager for the University, Clinical, Education and Research Associates, the practice plan for the physicians of the School of Medicine.  She oversees the malpractice and risk management program for JABSOM and UCERA as well as contracts and leases related to the School of Medicine.  Prior to joining the University of Hawaii, Ms. Kwak practiced in civil litigation in the State of Washington.  She moved back to Hawaii in 2004, where she was born and raised, and became a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association in 2005.

 

Winona Lee, M.D.
Dr. Lee is the Director of the ‘Imi Ho‘ola Post-Baccalaureate Program and Principle Investigator for the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence.  ‘Imi Ho‘ola and the NHCOE are key diversity programs located in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). The mission of the ‘Imi Ho‘ola program is to improve health care in Hawai‘i and the Pacific by providing educational opportunities to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the potential to succeed in medicine and are committed to practice in underserved communities.  The Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence seeks to improve the health of all Native Hawaiians by recruiting students into the health professions, conducting health disparities research, promoting faculty and student development, implementing cultural competence development training, and disseminating information resources relevant to the health of Native Hawaiians. Dr. Lee received her medical degree from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa JABSOM and completed her residency in Pediatrics at the University of Hawai‘i Integrated Pediatrics Residency Program in Honolulu.  Dr. Lee’s primary interests include under-represented student recruitment and retention, medical professionalism, mentoring at risk youth, and cultural competency.

 

Desiree Lie, M.D., MSEd.
Dr. Lie is currently a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Southern California.  Previously, she was Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the University of California, Irvine for 22 years, a role combining clinical practice, teaching, educational leadership and research. She was also recently appointed to the position of Professor of Medicine at the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate School of Medicine where she will serve as clinician-educator and advisor for faculty research in education and qualitative studies. She is a clinician-educator active in medical education research and participates on national projects focused on cultural competency, faculty development, preceptor training and health literacy; as well as publishing widely and being an expert speaker on these topics.

 

Robert Like, M.D., M.S.
Dr. Like is a Professor and Director of the Center for Healthy Families and Cultural Diversity, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Like received his MD degree from Harvard Medical School in 1979, and completed his residency and MS degree fellowship training in family medicine from Case Western Reserve University in 1984. He is a practicing family physician with a background in medical anthropology, and has carried out fieldwork in the Azores Islands, Portugal; Beer Sheva, Israel; Zuni, New Mexico; and the Kingdom of Tonga in Western Polynesia. Dr. Like has served as co-chair of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s Group on Multicultural Health Care and Education, a member of the DHHS Office of Minority Health’s CLAS Standards National Project Advisory Committee, and on numerous expert panels, committees, and task forces. He currently represents the Medical Society of New Jersey on the AMA/NMA/NHMA Commission to End Health Care Disparities. Dr. Like was the principal investigator on an Aetna Foundation-funded study entitled, “Assessing the Impact of Cultural Competency Training Using Participatory Quality Improvement Methods.” He previously served as director of the HRSA-funded NRSA Primary Care/Health Services Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in the Department of Family Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He also consulted to the European Union’s Migrant-Friendly Hospitals initiative and is a member of the WHO Health Promoting Hospital’s Task Force on Migrant Friendly Culturally Competent Health Care.  Dr. Like is nationally known for his work in the area of cultural competency and health professions education. He has received a variety of awards including the 2004 Distinguished Service in the Health Field Award from the National Association of Medical Minority Educators, and is a 2004 and 2007 Pfizer/American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Visiting Professor in Family Medicine. He is actively involved in developing medical education programs and provides training and technical assistance relating to the delivery of patient-centered, culturally responsive care to diverse populations.

 

Mark Mugiishi, M.D.
Dr. Mark M. Mugiishi has been recognized as one of Hawai‘i’s top doctors by Honolulu Magazine since 2003. The Northwestern University honors graduate practices surgery at Central Medical Clinic/Kuakini Medical Center with Dr. Racquel Bueno. He is also director of surgical education for the UH School of Medicine and medical director for HMSA.  As medical director at Cellular Bioengineering/Skai Ventures, Dr. Mugiishi supervises research and healthcare development for projects including Trutags anti-counterfeiting nanotechnology, DeconGel chem/bio/rad/nuclear decontamination, Eyegenix artificial cornea and Skai Vision Institute/Eye Surgery Center of Hawaii.  Mugiishi is vice chair of the ‘Iolani School Board of Governors, where he coached 20 seasons of varsity boys’ basketball, leading the Raiders to 7 state and 11 league championships. He served as a coach for the Jordan Brand (Nike) All-American Classic in Madison Square Garden last year. He returns to New York in 2012 as producer of Broadway-bound musical “Allegiance,” which stars Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables), George Takei (Star Trek) and Telly Leung (Glee).

 

Gerald Ohta, MPH
Mr. Ohta is the Affirmative Action Officer of the Hawaii State Department of Health.  Currently, he is the State Agency Representative and Vice-Chair of the State Language Access Advisory Council and the Department of Health Language Access Coordinator.  He brings the perspective of a government agency administrator and provider to the council as well as the view of someone who was in on the development and passage of the Hawaii Language Access Law.  He has worked with schools, universities, enforcement agencies and public health agencies.  Mr. Ohta also brings to the council a wide range of contacts with language access advocates, organizations, and agencies here and nationally.

 

Elyse Park, Ph.D.
Dr. Park is a clinical health psychologist and health services researcher who focuses on understanding and improving health-related behaviors, especially tobacco treatment among vulnerable medical populations. Her research interests extend across physician and patient behavior change, the role of culture on cancer preventive behaviors and health care utilization. For her translational research in cancer prevention counseling, Dr. Park has designed and evaluated motivational interviewing interventions. She is experienced in qualitative research development and uses qualitative research to inform quantitative survey design and intervention development.  Dr. Park has led numerous externally-funded research projects, including a study examining risk perceptions of individuals undergoing lung cancer screening (American Cancer Society) and research assessing the feasibility of a pilot smoking cessation trial for lung cancer patients (National Cancer Institute). Dr. Park is currently conducting a national survey, funded by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, to examine underinsurance issues among adult survivors of childhood cancer. She recently received funding, as part of a Dana-Farber/University of Massachusetts NCI U54 collaborative grant (National Cancer Institute), to examine racial differences in coping with lung cancer. She completed a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant examining how depression and anxiety affect postpartum relapse to smoking. Other interest areas include exploring cross cultural care issues with grants from The Commonwealth Fund and the Avon Foundation for Women. Dr. Park has published more than 70 original articles in a variety of peer reviewed journals. She has reviewed grant applications for the National Cancer Institute, Lance Armstrong Foundation, and the American Legacy Foundation and is currently Chair of the American Cancer Society’s peer review committee for Cancer Control and Prevention.

Dr. Park’s clinical work focuses on oncology patients. In addition to MIHP roles, she is a founding member of the MGH behavioral medicine program, serves as Director of Behavioral Health Research for the MGH Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine as well as Director of Behavioral Science Research at the MGH Cancer Center’s Psychiatric and Behavioral Sciences Center.

 

Arthur F. Roeca, J.D.
Mr. Roeca is a partner in the law firm of Roeca, Louie & Hiraoka, LLP, a firm which concentrates in civil litigation, including the defense of healthcare providers. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California Los Angeles and his law degree from Southwestern University. He has lectured before the legal and medical community, civic groups and professional organizations on numerous topics including issues pertaining to healthcare professionals and medicine in the courtroom. Mr. Roeca has been a faculty member for a HICLE seminar on medical malpractice; ACOG seminar on liability; Hawaii Medical Association’s Annual Meeting Panel Discussion on Tort Reform; MIEC seminar on medical malpractice; seminars on risk management for HAPI; OMIC seminars on the risks of telephone screening and treatment for OMIC and general risk reduction. He has been invited to present cases in Grand Rounds at Kapiolani Medical Center and the University of Iowa Medical School. He has personally tried many lawsuits involving the defense of physicians. Mr. Roeca is a member of the State Bar of California, the Hawaii State Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute and the Hawaii Defense Lawyers Association.

 

Victoria H. Rollins, MHA, RN, CPHRM
Victoria Rollins earned a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration.  She is also a registered nurse and a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM).  Ms. Rollins has served as faculty for the California Society for Healthcare Risk Management.  She has held leadership positions with the state risk management organization.  She is published in the journal “Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare.”  Her expertise of more than 30 years includes hospital and health care administration, physician practice management, and health care regulatory compliance.  She continues to practice at a local hospital in addition to her full time positions.

  

 

Jennifer Rose, J.D.
Serving as the Gender Equity Specialist under the Office of the Chancellor, Jennifer Solidum Rose provides training and advocacy for students, staff and faculty with respect to sexual harassment, sexual assault and stalking on campus, and is responsible for implementing policy and procedures regarding issues of compliance and safety. Jennifer teaches the Family Law Clinic, focusing on domestic violence and civil issues. She has received the law school’s “Adjunct Professor of the Year” award in 2005 and 2006. More recently, Jennifer was honored for her commitment to supporting law students’ public interest work receiving the inaugural “Advocates for Public Interest Law Faculty Award” in March 2011.  As former director at the Domestic Violence Action Center in Hawai`i where she worked for ten years, Jennifer was a managing attorney and founded one of the country’s few culturally-based intervention efforts supporting the leadership of Filipino survivors of intimate partner abuse and creating community ownership of intimate partner abuse. Her community work is currently focused on increasing linguistic and cultural access issues for immigrant populations, community-driven preventative strategies for changing social norms regarding sexual violence and intimate partner abuse, and grassroots organizing efforts to build community capacity to address violence against women.  Jennifer was recently recognized by the Honolulu County’s Committee on the Status of Women as on of “Honolulu’s Most Inspiring Women”. She was awarded the Hawai`i Women Legal Foundation 2006 “Rhoda Lewis Award” for outstanding public interest work for a female lawyer. Jennifer sits on the advisory boards of the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women and the National Asian Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence. Jennifer Is a member of the Judiciary’s Committee on Equality and Access to the Courts, the Hawai`i State Commission on Access to Justice’s “Overcoming Barriers to Access” committee, and chairs the Diversity, Equality and Access to the Law Committee of the Hawai`i State Bar Association. Jennifer is licensed to practice law in Hawai`i and California.

 

Merina Sapolu
Merina Sapolu is the Kokua Kalihi Valley (KKV) Health Education Coordinator and has been working within the organization to serve the people of Kalihi for 36 years. She has an extensive background in health education and community outreach in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural setting. She is certified to train medical interpreters by the Cross Cultural Bridges Program using the Bridging the Gap curriculum. Over the last 5 years, she has trained well over 100 medical interpreters.

 

Todd Seto, M.D.
Dr. Todd Seto focuses on non-invasive cardiology and outcomes research. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine and completed his training in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases at the Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. He also completed a Fellowship in General Medicine at Harvard Medical School, which included training in health services and outcomes research.   Affiliated with Queen’s Heart Physician Practice, Dr. Seto is currently Medical Director of the Non Invasive Cardiology Laboratory at The Queen’s Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). He is also Medical Director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), a multidisciplinary group that is involved in data analysis, process and outcomes assessment, and quality improvement initiatives.  Dr. Seto has received continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2001, and maintains an active research program evaluating innovative ways to improve the quality of cardiovascular care and decrease racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes.

 

Dina Shek, J.D.
Dina Shek is a licensed attorney in Hawai’i. Specializing in child abuse and neglect cases through the Law School’s Hawai’i Child Welfare Program, Dina has assisted parents in child welfare court cases, and also worked with judges, lawyers and child welfare administrators to improve court practices and explore best practices in child welfare.  Prior to entering law school, Dina spent nearly ten years as a community organizer, educator and advocate for social justice with organizations including Asian Improv aRts, Justice Matters Institute, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund. She also has extensive development and fundraising experience, all of it on behalf of the public sector. Dina holds a Master of Arts degree from San Francisco State University in Ethnic Studies (Asian American Studies) where she taught “Concentration Camps, USA” and completed a thesis titled, “Re-visiting Japanese American Redress: Loyalty and the Exclusion of Expatriates.”  Dina has received numerous awards and distinctions for her social justice work including the Samuel Soifer Social Justice Award, the Justice Edward H. Nakamura Memorial Scholarship and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Law Foundation Scholarship. Currently, Dina is working with pediatrician Dr. Chris Derauf to develop a Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai’i, seeking to improve the health and well-being of low- and moderate-income families in Hawai’i's Kalihi Valley.

 

Bruce Shiramizu, M.D.
Bruce Shiramizu, M.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine at UHM JABSOM.  He is a physician scientist with the Hawaii Center for AIDS.  He completed medical school at the University of Utah; pediatric residency at Buffalo Children’s Hospital, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York; and pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.  He is the Executive Program Director for the RMATRIX Program [RCMI (Research Centers in Minority Institutions) Multidisciplinary Translational Research Infrastructure Expansion] for JABSOM. His research interests focus around the role of HIV-1 in causing neurological problems and cancer, and childhood cancers.  Dr. Shiramizu is a Member of the Children’s Oncology Group Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Strategy Group and is on the Editorial Board of Pediatric Pathology and Molecular Medicine and the Journal of NeuroVirology.

 

Danny M. Takanishi, Jr., M.D., FACS
Dr. Takanishi is currently Professor and Chair of Surgery for the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), UHM, Program Director for the UHM General Surgery Residency Program, and Director of Surgical Clinical Research at the Queen’s Medical Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  A graduate of JABSOM, he completed his General Surgery Residency and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship in Hawaii, obtaining American Board of Surgery certification in both specialties.  He then completed a National Institutes of Health-sponsored, Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the University of Chicago and remained on the faculty for a number of years, serving as an Associate Program Director for the Surgical Residency Program and the Director of the Comprehensive Breast Center, prior to returning to Hawaii in 2001.  He is the President of the Hawaii Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Chair of the Hawaii Medical Board, and the State Chair for the Commission on Cancer.  He is also a member of a number of national organizations, such as the Society of University Surgeons, Western Surgical Association, Society of Surgical Chairmen, Society of Surgical Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Breast Surgeons, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Pan Pacific Surgical Association, Association for Program Directors in Surgery, and Chair for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Transitional Year Residency Review Committee.  He received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer during the American College of Surgeons 92^nd annual Clinical Congress in 2006.  He serves on the National Board of Examiners and United States Medical Licensing Examination Step II Surgery Test Development Committees and the American Medical Association House of Delegates representing the State of Hawaii.  He has also served as the Chair of the ACGME’s Common Program Requirements Committee and was recently appointed to the Surgery Residency Review Committee, which has a 6 year term, ending in 2018.

 

Ann Marie Yamada, Ph.D.
Dr. Yamada is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work, at the University of Southern California.  She completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Hawaii Manoa and completed a research fellowship in international and intercultural research at the East West Center.  Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of cultural research methodology and cultural competence. She is especially interested in enhancing the cultural relevance of community mental health services for adults and older adults with severe mental illness and in developing services for Asian Americans and other underrepresented groups with documented disparities in mental health service use.  In 2007, Dr. Yamada received a three year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to pilot test a new intervention to give mental health providers in Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services a more effective way to assess sociocultural issues across diverse client populations.  Dr. Yamada currently chairs the school’s Diversity Committee and is active in developing student learning outcomes regarding cultural competence.