Stanford CARE Monthly Community Health Talk Series
Please join us for a monthly series of Community Health Talks by our very own Stanford CARE Faculty and Global Faculty! Community Health Talks present an exciting opportunity for anyone to learn about cutting-edge medical technology, social disparities in health, precision medicine, and much more.
This Community Health Talk Series was made possible through the generous support of the Vincent V.C. Woo Memorial Foundation.
Upcoming 2023 Talks
Unveiling Health Disparities and Advancing Health Equity for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs)
October 17th, 2023, 6:30 PM, PST
Achieving health equity is a compelling vision for our diverse nation, but it requires a clear understanding of health outcomes for all major American populations and their subgroups. In the case of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs), the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, fundamental data challenges have hindered progress. However, over the last decade, there have been notable advancements.
Dr. Howard Koh will delve into the complexities of AANHPI health disparities and explore the strides made in achieving health equity. AANHPI communities encompass more than 50 different ethnicities, 100 languages, and span from the US territories in the Pacific to New England. Understanding the heterogeneity within this population is crucial for documenting health outcomes, both overall and by subgroup, and comparing them with those of non-Hispanic whites and other populations.
Dr. Howard K. Koh is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He previously served as the 14th Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009-2014) after being nominated by President Barack Obama, and as Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1997-2003) after being appointed by Governor William Weld. A graduate of Yale College and the Yale University School of Medicine, he trained at Boston City Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, earned board certifications in four medical fields, has been Principal Investigator of research grants totaling $27M, published more than 300 articles in the medical and public health literature and has received over 70 awards, including six honorary doctorate degrees.
Previous 2023 Community Health Talks
Changing Your Heart Valve through Your Leg: Is it Real or Fake News?
September 12th, 2023, 7PM, PST
Changing a worn-out heart valve, specifically the aortic valve, through the leg artery without bypass and avoiding the need to open the chest may seem like a storyline from a science fiction tale. However, since 2008, we have been at the forefront of this pioneering work at Stanford, having successfully performed over 2600 of these procedures. In most cases, patients are able to return home the day after the procedure, resuming their normal activities with minimal restrictions or discomfort. The incidence of worn-out heart valves typically rises in the eighth decade of life. Given the longevity of Asian women and men, this condition is relatively common in our community. Unfortunately, it is often overlooked, especially among the elderly. Both the patients and their primary care physicians frequently believe that it is too late and too risky to replace the valve, and there is also a cultural aversion among Asians towards undergoing "open heart operations." In this discussion, Dr. Alan Yeung will shed light on a specific condition known as aortic stenosis, the treatment known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), and the outcomes, particularly among the Asian population.
Dr. Yeung is a highly experienced, world-renowned interventional cardiologist and cardiologist. He has board certification in interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease, and internal medicine. He completed fellowship training in cardiology. He is the Stanford University School of Medicine Li Ka Shing Professor in Cardiology. He is the past chief of the Stanford Medicine Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Dr. Yeung provides care for the complete range of cardiovascular conditions such as coronary artery disease and heart valve disease. He performs treatment procedures including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), cardiac catheterization, and balloon valvuloplasty. He has conducted numerous research studies as a principal investigator or co-investigator. He has researched the placement of aortic transcatheter valves, use of a novel device to improve ventricular compliance, use of a vascular scaffold to treat coronary artery lesions, and other advances in techniques and technology. He has received grants supporting his research from industry leaders as well as from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Yeung has published his research findings in more than 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as the American Heart Journal, International Journal of Cardiology, and Circulation: Cardiovascular Intervention.
Previous 2022 Community Health Talks
Caring for Family Members with Chronic or Serious Illnesses: Roles, Challenges, and Coping
November 8th, 2022, 7 PM PST
Asian cultures typically pride themselves on taking care of the elderly and those with severe or chronic health conditions. Caregiving can be both rewarding and stressful and can become overwhelming. However, individuals with Asian heritage often feel that they cannot share caregiving stress or seek help.
In this talk, Dr. Ranak Trivedi reviewed the larger scientific knowledge around caregiver rewards and burdens and anchored it to the Asian experience. She shared research on caregiving among Asians, which has often focused on dementia caregiving. She shared some of our data describing the South Asian experience in managing breast cancer. I then provided strategies to identify stress, strategies to cope with the various stressful aspects of being a caregiver, and strategies to determine when caregivers should seek professional help.
As a clinical health psychologist and a health services researcher, Dr. Ranak Trivedi envisions a culturally attuned health care system that are not only patient centered, but framily centered. Such a system would engage and empower framily (family members and friends) in navigating the healthcare system on the patient’s behalf while receiving the culturally attuned supports and services receive that they need. Her studies have provided insights into how framilies and chronically and seriously ill patients collaborate around their mutual health, understanding the impact of their interpersonal relationship on chronic illness self-management, and the individual, dyadic, and systems-level barriers that they encounter. She has developed two technology-enabled dyadic self-management programs to address the stress management needs of both patients and their framily.