Meet the Team: Justine Paragas, Shama Farhad, and Riana Tadeo, Summer Interns
Welcome to our blog series, “Meet the AAPCHO Team,” where you’ll have a chance to get to know our staff! Meet our summer interns, Justine Paragas, Shama Farhad, and Riana Tadeo.
Justine Paragas, Policy and Advocacy Intern
How did you hear about AAPCHO?
I first heard about AAPCHO through my mentor Kathie Westpheling who is an alum of Simmons University, my college. I was then introduced to Brianna by Kathie where last July 2023 we met via Zoom to learn more about AAPCHO and how I can be an intern for Summer 2024. She then told me to apply through Health Career Connections (HCC) to intern for AAPCHO.
Who is an Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander health champion that you think people should know about?
I think people should know about Teresita Batayola, a Filipino American in Seattle, where she has made significant contributions to healthcare and community service as the CEO and president emeritus of International Community Health Services (ICHS), the largest AAPI nonprofit that provides primary care services. I really admire the work she has done in advocating for health equity particularly for AA and NH/PI communities. She is a true health champion, demonstrating the importance of public health and bridging the gaps in social determinants of health for AA and NH/PI communities. Her influence extends to shaping health policies and addressing these determinants, making her a pivotal figure in advancing public health and community well-being. I hope to meet her someday.
What are you most looking forward to during your internship with AAPCHO?
One thing I’m really looking forward to is being well-versed in health policy in general. I’m excited to learn about the health policy advocacy work of AAPCHO and I look forward to developing deliverables that will be impactful and meaningful to AAPCHO and to AA and NH/PI communities as a whole. I also look forward to honing my advocacy and public speaking skills. As an aspiring physician, being well-versed in health policy and advocacy besides the clinical aspect is significant to achieving health equity. I hope to use my experience here with AAPCHO as a foundation to the work I plan to do in health policy throughout my career as I intertwine it with medicine and public health.
What are your plans after your internship with AAPCHO?
After AAPCHO, I will be entering my junior year at Simmons University where I will continue my autism genetics research project and also fully launch my project with Fenway Health, a FQHC in Boston where we will be assessing the COVID-19 vaccine confidence of students of color of the College of the Fenway Consortium. Besides these two projects, I am also looking to work on another public health focused project alongside gaining clinical experience for medical school.
What is your favorite go-to childhood comfort food?
Banana cue. It’s a Filipino dessert where a plantain is coated in brown sugar then deeply fried. I used to eat this a lot growing up in the Philippines.
Shama Farhad, Training and Technical Assistance Intern
How did you hear about AAPCHO?
I first heard about AAPCHO when I had the wonderful opportunity to match with them through Health Career Connections (HCC). I was so excited to be in a space that promotes culturally responsive care for the underserved AA and NH/PI communities. I come from both Asian American and Pacific Islander backgrounds and I can see the drastic need for representation and advocacy for my communities. I feel seen, heard, and validated for my own experiences upon starting my internship, and it made me realize how much AAPCHO values and highlights the experiences and wellbeing of our underserved communities. I am beyond ecstatic to begin my project here!
Who is an Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander health champion that you think people should know about?
I look up to Dr. Majorie Mau, she paved the way for research in metabolic disorders amongst the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population. Dr. Mau stated she was the only Native Hawaiian in her graduating class and that she broke through gender/ethnic standards to work on improving the health and wellness of her community. Dr. Mau’s work is inspiring to me because I want to follow her footsteps and uplift my own community through the public health lens of advocacy, policy, and research.
What are you most looking forward to during your internship with AAPCHO?
As a training and technical assistance intern, I am excited to be able to collaborate with our partners to further promote health equity amongst our community health centers (CHCs) through training and listening sessions. I am also very excited to work on the data disaggregation campaign, as it is something I am very passionate about. Oftentimes our 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 I am excited to be able to do that with my own Indo-Fijian community!
What are your plans after your internship with AAPCHO?
As a recent graduate entering the public health field, I am eager to apply the skills and knowledge that I have learned over the course of my academic/professional experiences. I look forward to properly representing, advocating and uplifting underserved AA and NH/PI communities with the skills that I will gain from interning at AAPCHO in the public health workforce. I am also looking forward to applying for my Masters in Public Health (MPH) in the next year or two.
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!
Riana Tadeo, Infectious Diseases Intern
How did you hear about AAPCHO?
I did not know about AAPCHO until I interviewed with HCC. I did however know of the various partner organizations that AAPCHO worked with, such as Asian Health Services, as I used to see their clinics around when I would go with my grandparents to Oakland Chinatown growing up. It feels like a full circle moment that I am now here at AAPCHO, given that I did not realize the work they have been doing to uplight and support the community I grew up in!
Who is an Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander health champion that you think people should know about?
Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH. She is the dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh and is one of the Board Chairs for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH). I first met her when I attended this past year’s CUGH Conference in Los Angeles where she was one of the conference’s opening speakers. It was the first time I ever saw someone that looked like me, an asian woman, in such a high position of power in the Public Health space. Her speech was very inspiring and empowering. One specific quote that stood out to me was her comparing women to teabags: “women are like teabags, you only know how strong they are when you put them in hot water”. She is definitely a strong, inspirational public health figurehead I will continue to look up to and follow in my career.
What are you most looking forward to during your internship with AAPCHO?
I am most looking forward to learning all I can from my preceptor, Chibo Shinagawa, and the rest of the AAPCHO team! I am excited to make new connections with other AA and NH/PI public health professionals and gain a better insight into the community health advocacy scene.
What are your plans after your internship with AAPCHO?
After my internship with AAPCHO, I hope to continue my work in the community health education/advocacy realm. As of right now, my plans are to be determined! However, I look forward to what the future may hold for opportunities!
What is your favorite go-to childhood comfort food?
I would say my go-to childhood comfort food would have to be either Champorado (a chocolate rice porridge) or Arroz Caldo! Both are definitely a great pick for days at home during cold and gloomy weather!
