HEALTH

Japanese, Denver

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Dr. Yasui (she/her), a Japanese American from the East Coast, has called Denver home for over 30 years. She is a geriatrician practicing at Denver Health, caring for seniors representing 65 different countries. This allows her to interact with fascinating patients from every corner of the world. It also allows her to teach students about cultural richness of Denver as well as the culture of aging, in and of itself. She has a particular interest in looking for commonalities among Denver’s diverse communities, working with young Japanese Americans as they develop their leadership roles in our city. As a person of mixed heritage, she encourages us all to explore the various identities that make us who we are, finding ways in which we connect with one another rather than divide us. Connect with Dr. Yasui at:

robinyasui@gmail.com.

Dr. Robin Yasui

Health & Wellness Champions

These health advocates provide direct services to Colorado’s diverse communities as well as work to ensure that health issues are being addressed in our marginalized communities.

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Dr. Ida (she/her) grew up attending the Denver Buddhist Temple where she served as youth director for over 15 years. She serves on the Sakura Foundation and Sakura Square, LLC Boards and helped start the Asian American Educational Opportunity Program on the CU Boulder campus, the Asian Pacific Development Center and the National Asian Ameri-

can Pacific Islander Mental Health Associa-

tion where she serves as Executive Director. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology and has spent over 40 years addressing mental health of AAPIs. One of her greatest joys is working with community-based organizations around the country. Connect with Dr. Ida at: djaida@gmail.

com or naapimha.org.

Dr. DJ Ida

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Japanese, Denver

Vietnamese, Denver

Teresa (she/her) is from Denver. She identifies as a Vietnamese-American woman with a disability. Living with a disability and being a first-generation child of immigrants, she has a deep understanding of how challenging navigating systems was for multicultural families, like hers. Teresa received her Master of Public Health from the University of Colorado and has dedicated her career to improving health care policies and systems for underserved populations. Her policy experience expands from state to federal level and has a focus on bridging the gaps between the pediatric and adult health care systems for people with disabilities. Connect with Teresa at: teresa.nguyen.official@

gmail.com or @teresa.grams (Instagram).

Dr. PJ Parmar

Punjabi,

Physician Dr. P.J. Parmar (he/him) founded Ardas Aurora Family Medicine, a private practice that serves resettled refugees, and Mango House, a home for refugees with activities and services that include dental 64 care, food and clothing banks, churches, scout troops and afterschool programs in Aurora. In addition to being a family doctor, Dr. Parmar runs a dental clinic, youth programs and other endeavors for resettled refugees in the Denver area. A TED speaker, he focuses on process efficiencies in underserved primary care medicine and challenges the notion that private practices can’t thrive while serving low-income patients. He has also been recognized for his work founding a Boy Scout Troop for resettled refugees. Connect with Dr. Parmar at: mangohouse@ardasclinic.com