Make sure to check out our new podcast, "Discussing Disparities" on YouTube and Spotify where we will collaborate with professionals and other motivated student organizations to discuss the complexities of health disparities. Updated every other weekend! Listen on Spotify/Anchor: https://anchor.fm/healthneedsrx
Episode 19: Asian Healthcare Disparities, ft. Asian Youth Act
In this episode of Discussing Disparities, we met with Asian Youth Act, a youth organization created to empower and educate Asian youth to take action through innovation and discussion. Here, we talk about the recent events regarding the rise in Asian hate crimes, disparities faced by Asian/PI Americans, and more.
Make sure to check out: Instagram: @asianyouthact Website: asianyouthact.org
More on AYA & Founder
Asian Youth Act seeks to promote the political and civic engagement of Asian youth through informative, research-centered projects and personal narratives. AYA is a non-partisan organization constructed to be an open-minded space where youth seek empathy, understanding, and collaboration. The team empowers Asian students from all over the world to not only be proactive and informed world citizens but to inspire change in all-generations of the Asian community by providing conversation-starting resources. In addition, we hope to spark important conversations regarding these issues within friends, family, community, and oneself.
Ngan Le is a founder and executive director of Asian Youth Act. As an intersectional activist, she focuses on racial justice, feminism, mental health, and climate advocacy. Due to her various experiences throughout her childhood and curiosity about the world around her, Le began to clearly see racial discrimination and a lack of empathy in many communities. Thus, she began a new journey in meeting people of color and listening to their stories, which subsequently led to the creation of Asian Youth Act. In her free time, she loves to perform and does epidemiological research in her spare time. Through her passion, a strong sense of empathy, and desire to see a more inclusive community, she continues to inspire many youths globally.
Episode 18: Latin American Healthcare Disparities, ft. Dr. Nikita Rabelo, MD
In this episode of Discussing Disparities, we met with Dr. Nikita Rabelo, MD, an internist from Puerto Rico. We discussed important health disparities impacting the Latino community.
Make sure to check out: Her Instagram: @elrincondelainternista El Rincón de la Internista: www.elrincondelainternista.com
More on Dr. Rableo
Dr. Nikita L. Rabelo-Pagán, MD, is a mom of a very savvy 6 year old and an Internist. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and was always interested in healthcare. She completed her graduate education in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico. She obtained her Medical Doctorate in the Universidad Iberoamericana, UNIBE School of Medicine, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Completed a one year Internship in the Dr. Isaac González Martínez Oncology Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and formally trained as an Internal Medicine Specialist in the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. She is now a part time Hospitalist in Weill Cornell, New York Presbyterian Hospital, while also training in the Fellowship of Hospital Medicine Point of Care Ultrasound. She is the creator behind the blog and IG page El Rincón de la Internista (www.elrincondelainternista.com | @elrincondelainternista) which she created as a place for education in Internal Medicine issues, motivation for future medical doctors and safe place to discuss ongoing issues in the Medical community.
Episode 17: Racism and Naturopathic Medicine, ft. Dr. Hanisha Patel, ND
In this episode of "Discussing Disparities," we met with Dr. Hanisha Patel, a licensed Naturopathic doctor and a leading expert in integrative natural medicine. We sat to discuss what naturopathic medicine is, the colonization of medicine, the connection between mental and hormonal health, and more.
Dr. Hanisha Patel graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and received her medical education at Bastyr University California in San Diego. With her background in both conventional and natural medicine, she works with each individual to find what works best for them and their unique genetic and environmental makeup. She dealt with her own personal autoimmune issues since birth until she finally saw a Naturopathic doctor who helped her reverse all of her symptoms. She realized she didn't have to deal with all of those symptoms and she was finally able to experience mahan (great) health. Now, as a Naturopathic Physician herself, she aspires to see a world where mahan health is not only achievable but the norm. She believes this happens from a holistic perspective. This is why she not only works with patients in person and via telemedicine, but also empowers the local and international community with her talks and podcast, Mahan Health, she is a published author in The Townsend Letter, and she works alongside legislators as a patient advocate. When she's not doing all those things, you can find her outside in nature, watching the sunrise or sunset, working out, doing yoga, cooking, dancing, or traveling!
Episode 16: Disparities in Vision Health, ft. Dr. Hardeep K. Kataria, OD, FAAO
In this episode of “Discussing Disparities”, we were joined by Dr. Hardeep Kataria, OD, FAAO, a medically-oriented optometrist at Advanced Retina Associates. We discuss common vision problems that often go overlooked, how to make optic healthcare more accessible, and more!
Make sure to check out: Her Instagram: @dr.hardeep.kataria
More on Dr. Kataria
Dr. Hardeep Kataria is originally from the United Kingdom. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida and is a 2012 graduate from the New England College of Optometry. After completing her residency in Primary Care and Ocular Disease, she relocated to the sunny west coast of Los Angeles, California. She practices in a medical office primarily managing dry eye disease and medical glaucoma. She is passionate about using advanced diagnostic techniques to treat dry eye disease and glaucoma, and enjoys the challenge of complex cases. Outside of optometry, Dr. Kataria enjoys weightlifting and enjoying the coastal weather of Southern California.
Episode 15: Mental Health and First-Gen Americans, ft. Sara Stanizai, LMFT, from Prospect Therapy
In this episode of “Discussing Disparities”, we were joined by Sara Stanizai from Prospect Therapy, a queer-and-trans-affirming therapy practice with a special focus on first-and-second-gen immigrants and other BIPOC communities. Here, we discuss mental health/healthcare issues in general for non-white Americans and their internal struggle with finding their own identity.
Make sure to check out: Prospect Therapy: www.prospecttherapy.com Their Instagram: @prospecttherapy
More on Ms. Stanizai
Sara Stanizai, LMFT is a licensed therapist and the owner of Prospect Therapy. Sara and her team of therapists help individuals, teens, couples and families work through complex trauma and emotional neglect in order to create relationships in their lives that do more healing than any therapist could. She is currently offering a Afghan-American women's group program, as well as a two-month workshop series focused on Impostor Syndrome in First-Generation Americans. She is also on the board of the LA Bisexual Task Force, which promotes education, advocacy, and visibility for the Bi+ community in Los Angeles.
Episode 14: Tuberculosis Health Disparities, ft. Dr. Lisa V. Adams, MD
In this episode of “Discussing Disparities”, we were joined by Dr. Lisa V. Adams-- Professor of Medicine, Community and Family Medicine, and Epidemiology; Associate Dean for Global Health; and the Director of the Center for Global Health Equity at Dartmouth College-- who will talk more about tuberculosis (TB) health disparities and her work in combating these disparities in Tanzania with the DarDar and Rwandan Human Resources for Health programs.
Dr. Adams is the Associate Dean for Global Health and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Infectious Disease and International Health at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. She oversees Dartmouth College’s Global Health Initiative at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and is the Director of Geisel’s Center for Health Equity. In all her roles, she develops and oversees cross-cutting global health programs involving faculty and students. Dr. Adams has worked in domestic and international TB control for over 20 years. At Dartmouth, she teaches global health to medical and college students. She has been a co-investigator on several clinical and operations research trials on TB and HIV through the DarDar Programs, a collaboration between Dartmouth and Muhimbili University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In 2012, she spent 6 months in Rwanda as Geisel’s lead to launch the major medical education initiative, the Rwandan Human Resources for Health Program. She is currently engaged with local partners in Swaziland to improve delivery of TB care services to children and persons living with HIV. Dr. Adams is a 1990 graduate of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
Episode 13: Violence Victimization & Disparities, ft. Dr. Hsing-Fang Hsieh, PhD
In this episode of "Discussing Disparities," co-founder Pranav Kancherla is joined by Dr. Hsing-Fang Hsieh, PhD., assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She will be talking more about her research on violence victimization and its associated disparities.
Dr. Hsieh is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Hsieh is PI on an NIJ funded evaluation of Sandy Hook Promise Anonymous Reporting System and Co-I on several school safety projects the project director for the University of Michigan Flint Adolescent Study, a 20-year longitudinal study of youth growing up in Flint, MI. Her research focuses on adolescent resilience, youth violence, and violence victimization, and has expertise in longitudinal and cross-domain data analysis.
Dr. Hsieh's research interests also include adolescent resiliency and health disparities, with a focus on substance use and other health behaviors related to cancer and cancer prevention. Her research on health and resiliency of adolescents covers topics of adolescent substance use, violence, violence victimization, prevention research, and social-ecological factors on adolescent health. She is also interested in the longitudinal and cross-domain relations of individual and social ecological factors of risk behaviors in adolescence to adulthood.
Episode 12: Infectious Disease Health Disparities, ft. Dr. Uzma Syed
In this episode of "Discussing Disparities", we interviewed Dr. Uzma Syed, a board-certified Infectious Disease specialist, Chair of the COVID-19 Task Force at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center (GSHMC), and the Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence at GSHMC. Dr. Syed has been featured as an expert on several media outlets as an expert in Infectious Diseases. Here, we will go over infectious diseases and disparities, prevention methods, COVID-19, and more.
Dr. Syed is well-published in pneumonia-related research and has been leading several COVID-19 clinical trials. She teaches students of all ages as well as medical residents about her specialty. Dr. Syed is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Access & Equity Task Force of the Infectious Disease Society of America. Dr. Syed cares passionately about education. She is the founder & CEO of a non-profit organization Align Us Inc, which provides career mentorship or high school students. She serves on three school committees (safety, business advisory & diversity). She’s a community and youth leader with a focus on teen initiatives as a member of the Interfaith Council of Syosset-Woodbury-Jericho. Dr. Syed co-founded the Eid Holiday Coalition Long Island and founded the National Eid Coalition helping over two dozen school districts obtain Eid holidays. Dr. Syed serves on the Nassau County Police Commissioner’s Community Council, she was recognized by the Legislature as a female trailblazer, and campaigned for a Syosset school board trustee position. Her humanitarian work has spanned refugee resettlement to annual school supply and holiday toy drives to serving at soup kitchens. Dr. Syed has volunteered with UNICEF for children’s rights, the Global Youth Assembly and the United Nations to help promote mobile health to underserved countries. Dr. Syed’s work has been covered by numerous media outlets including BBC, CBS, ABC NPR, Fox 5, Pix11,New 12, Fios, Newsday, Syosset Advance, Jericho Tribune and more.
Episode 11: Disparities in Childhood Obesity, ft. Dr. Rebecca Hasson
In this special episode of "Discussing Disparities," co-founder Pranav Kancherla was joined by Dr. Hasson, an Associate Professor in the Schools of Kinesiology and Public Health and Director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan, to discuss her research with childhood obesity and the disparities that impact it, as well as the risk factors, consequences, and ways to mitigate adolescent obesity disparities.
Episode 10: Relating Economic and Health Disparities (Team Podcast!)
In this episode of "Discussing Disparities", catch co-founder Pallavi Ghosh and some members from the HNRx team taking a look at the intersectionality between socio-economic status and health disparities.
Episode 9: Interviewing a School Social Worker, ft. Lillian Altaian, ACSW, PPSC
In this week's episode of "Discussing Disparities", we met with Lillian Altaian, MSW, ACSW, PPSC, a school social worker based in Northern California. She is a UC Irvine and San Jose State alumni and has a BA in psychology and social behavior and a masters in social work and has been serving as a social worker for grades K-8 for 3 years. She plays a role as an individual/group counselor for students to provide case management for families who are in need of help with homelessness, food, healthcare, etc. In this interview, we discuss her perspective of health disparities as seen in her field of work.
Visit her Instagram: @syriancali.schoolsocialworker
Episode 8: Dental Health Disparities, ft. Youth In Dentistry
In this week's episode of "Discussing Disparities", we met with two members from Youth In Dentistry, a student-led organization helping to educate people interested in the dental field. Here, we discuss some tips and misconceptions on maintaining good oral health, how other dentists are combating dental health disparities, and more.
Visit their Instagram: @youthindentistry
Episode 7: LGBT Health Disparities, ft. Youth Professionals
In this episode of "Discussing Disparities", we were joined with two officers from Youth Professionals, a nonprofit dedicated towards helping BIPOC andLGBTQ+ youth achieve their academic and career goals. Founder Zara Rahman and executive Cole Harms sat with us to discuss the state of health disparities and common struggles faced by youth in the LGBTQ+ community and ways to combat them.
Visit their Instagram: @youthprofessionals Their Facebook: youthprofessionalsorg Their Linkedin: Youth Professionals Their Twitter: @YouthPro_
Episode 6: Reproductive Health Disparities (Team Podcast!)
In this special episode of "Discussing Disparities", our co-founder Pallavi Ghosh is joined with two of our HealthNeedsRx team members to engage in an educational collaborative podcast episode! Here, they discuss the implications of the US's political climate on Planned Parenthood and Roe v. Wade and how the dismantling these aspects of reproductive health care has an impact on exacerbating disparities for not only women but people in general. They also dive into the factors behind why these disparities exist and why they are important.
For more information on Planned Parenthood, sexual education, or if you are in need of cost-effective reproductive health care, check out www.plannedparenthood.org.
Episode 5: Mental Health Disparities ft. Devika Srivastava
In this week's episode of "Discussing Disparities", we met with Dr. Devika Srivastava, Ph.D., chair of DoSAA (Division on South Asian Americans) and a licensed psychologist in private practice, based in Texas and Florida. She helps us learn more about the importance of mental health, coping with mental health in day-to-day life, mental health disparities in the South Asian community and other groups, and much more. Follow her on Instagram: @dr_srivastava DoSAA: https://aapaonline.org/divisions/division-on-south-asian-americans/?fbclid=IwAR2gv4nOt4l4dDJ3V1wPt2Ed9Ak4g5vTB13uBn42qHeFuVu7cstiD0FhRFw If you are in need of a psychologist, check out www.psychologisttoday.com
Episode 4: Middle Eastern Health Disparities ft. The Middle East Today
*Trigger Warning: torture, concentration camps, Islamaphobia* In this episode of "Discussing Disparities", we were met with The Middle East Today, another student organization formed to bring awareness to the major humanitarian issues and crises currently faced by many in the Middle East and China. Here, they elaborate more on the medical aspect of these issues and how the conflicts and the pandemic have impacted their health and more.
Episode 3: Discussing ASD Disparities ft. Dr. Sarah Prestegard
In this episode of "Discussing Disparities", we were met with Dr. Sarah Prestegard, PT, DPT, who has worked with individuals with autism for the past 7 years with Alternatives for People with Autism, Inc. and Fraser, group homes both based in Minnesota. Here, she sheds light on common struggles those on the spectrum face in the healthcare field and in general.
Check out her Instagram: @pelvismatters Alternatives for People with Autism: afpwa.org Fraser: fraser.org
Episode 2: Cultural Competence ft. Humanity In Health
Welcome back to "Discussing Disparities"! In this episode, co-founder Pallavi Ghosh is joined with Sreenidhi Saripalli from Humanity in Health, an organization educating future health professionals about the need for cultural competence and the prevalence of disparities in healthcare. They will be discussing cultural competence and its relevance in the healthcare field today.
Episode 1: COVID-19 Healthcare Disparities ft. Dr. Denise White Perkins
Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast, "Discussing Disparities"! In this episode, co-founder Pranav Kancherla is joined with Dr. Denise White Perkins, a family medicine physician at the Henry Ford Health System. She is also the director of the Institute on Multicultural Health at Henry Ford. They will be discussing racial disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.