2025 #AANHPIhealth Heroes

To commemorate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month (APAHM), we are highlighting #AANHPIhealth Heroes — individuals who are committed to improving the health of Asian Americans (AAs), Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (NH/PIs). These heroes have made great strides to ensure that AA and NH/PI communities have better access to affordable, high-quality, and culturally and linguistically proficient health care that they need and deserve.

Meet this year’s #AANHPIhealth Heroes! Last year’s heroes can be found here.

Vija Sehgal, MD, MPH, PhD

As a pediatrician with over 30 years of clinical service at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, my work is rooted in a deep commitment to the health and future of our community — especially our keiki. Serving a primarily Native Hawaiian population, I’ve seen firsthand the disparities and challenges our families face, and I’ve dedicated my career to addressing them through compassionate, culturally grounded care.

I’ve had the privilege of overseeing our Pediatrics Department and leading the development of six School-Based Health Centers. These centers bring vital care directly to where our youth are — improving access, removing barriers, and creating safe spaces for them to receive medical, mental, and behavioral health support. I’m passionate about empowering young people, increasing their health literacy, and helping them grow into healthy, informed adults.

As Chief Quality Officer, I also focus on population health, ensuring our care systems are effective, equitable, and accountable. My work is important because it uplifts not just individual patients, but entire families and generations — building a healthier, more resilient community for the future.

Dr. Sehgal is the Chief Quality Officer at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center in Waianae, HI.

Jake Edilyong, MBBS, MD

The work I do is not just work it is a passion realised. Becoming a physician has always been a passion of mine and being in this position now has been a tremendously rewarding experience. Serving the community in Yap at the roots and being a non-communicable diseases (NCD) champion is a huge responsibility that I take very seriously. Working in tandem with organizations that operate in the Pacific, like AAPCHO and their public health champions, has helped put me in a better position to serve my people and our communities.

With the rise in NCDs in not just Yap but across the Pacific, working to implement effective change to protect our future generations and those living with NCDs today is so important, now more than ever.

Dr. Edilyong is the Site Physician/Supervisor/NCD Champion/Assistant Medical Doctor at Wa’ab Community Health Centers in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia.

Huong Le, DDS, MA

“Often, people think the mouth and teeth are somehow separate from the body. Scientific research has shown how oral health is closely related with general health and quality of life. For example, dental caries may cause impaired chewing, decreased appetite, sleep problems, poor school, and work performance as well as depression stemming from low self-esteem.

A patient at Asian Health Services (AHS) years ago asked AHS administration “How can I have good health without having good teeth?”

Today, the dental department at AHS is a one-stop shop dental center where patients can receive comprehensive integrated care with dental specialties in oral surgery, periodontics, endodontics and pediatrics. But they do not stop there. Besides providing oral health services, we also recognize that to help patients improve their health outcomes, we must function as part of health care team. Our dental patients also are screened for depression, as the first health center to do this in the country in 2015, and screened for diabetes and tested for HbA1C as needed.

To meet our patients’ needs, we hire staff who can speak 14 different Asian languages. We focus on data analysis to learn more about the dental conditions and needs of smaller communities. That all patients should be treated equal is the reason for us to focus on our data so that we can provide better care to the underserved and smaller communities.”

Dr. Le is the Chief Dental Officer at Asian Health Services, located in Oakland, CA.