Meet the Team: Shama Farhad, Program Manager, Research
Welcome to our blog series, “Meet the AAPCHO Team,” where you’ll have a chance to get to know our staff! Meet Shama Farhad, Project Manager, Research, as she answers some questions.
What’s your role at AAPCHO?
I am a project manager under the Research and Data department here at AAPCHO! I will be primarily focusing on the CHIDE project, which focuses on advancing health equity by supporting community health centers (CHCs) through data modernization practices and essentially improving patient care and health outcomes. I will also be supporting other research projects, using methods like data disaggregation to uplift our underserved AA and NH/PI populations.
What are three Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander health topics that you think people should know about?
As an Indo-Fijian woman in public health, I constantly strive to put my own community on the map because we are very underrepresented in healthcare, let alone in the general media. I think it’s extremely important to address public issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, and mental health in our community. The Indo-Fijian community is quite the unique one- we have South Asian ancestry and are culturally influenced by the lifestyle in the Fiji Islands. I always wonder- does our twice-migrant identity exacerbate the health risks of our community? I strive to begin and continue these conversations in work and research but more importantly- providing our community a platform to speak on these public health issues.
How would you describe what CHCs do and why they should support them to someone who may not be familiar with them?
CHCs are essential because these sites provide primary care to many different populations, and that may include vulnerable and underserved communities. They are essential in providing culturally-competent care to their patients, ultimately bridging affordable services and increasing access, overall playing a crucial role in improving the health outcomes of our underrepresented communities.
What are you most looking forward to in your new position at AAPCHO?
I am excited to be able to collaborate with our partners to further promote health equity amongst our CHCs through research and data, which I am very passionate about. Oftentimes our underserved communities are grouped into one category, which dismisses the representation and the need for culturally tailored interventions for all the different subgroups within the large AA and NH/PI umbrella. AAPCHO values storytelling to highlight these unique experiences, and that aligns with my personal experiences as a first-generation Indo-Fijian.
What is your favorite go-to childhood comfort food?
My childhood comfort food would be crab curry, which is one of the traditional Indo-Fijian dishes that consists of crab and many Indian spices. I remember being super excited as a kid wherever my family would make this dish, it’s very flavorful and sometimes spicy!
