Local Professor Meets With President, First Lady In Celebration of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month

In celebration of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Dr. Quyen Ngo-Metzger, Professor of Health Systems Science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena, was at the White House on Tuesday, May 17, to meet with President Joe Biden and the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden.

Dr. Ngo-Metzger was invited to the reception following her recent appointment as a voting member of the Health Equity Subcommittee of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

“This Commission is part of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI),” Dr. Ngo-Metzger said. “As an internal medicine physician with expertise in prevention and health promotion, I will help craft recommendations to President Biden on ways to advance health equity for AA and NHPI communities.”

The initiative intends to drive an ambitious whole-of-government agenda to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AANHPI communities by helping to coordinate a comprehensive Federal response to anti-Asian bias and violence, addressing the lack of data on AA and NHPI communities in Federal statistical systems, and expanding language access and language assistance programs for AANHPI individuals across federal programs.

It also aims to strengthen economic security and opportunity for AANHPI communities by empowering entrepreneurs, building new workforce training opportunities, and promoting workplaces that are free from harassment against AANHPI workers.

Dr. Ngo-Metzger has more than a decade of leadership experience with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted the first national study to look at the quality of healthcare delivered to limited-English proficient Asian Americans almost 20 years ago.

At the Health Department, she was Chief of the Data Branch at the Bureau of Primary Health Care of the Health and Resources Services Administration, and later served as Scientific Director of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Program of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

A Vietnam War refugee who came with her family to the U.S. when she was eight, Dr. Ngo-Metzger said she is happy that the current administration values the health and well-being of the AANHPI community.

“My family suffered a lot of trauma during the war and also as post-Vietnam war refugees in the United States,” she said. “My parents sacrificed and worked hard to rebuild their lives in the U.S. They inspired me to work hard to accomplish all my dreams. I was happy to be at the White House to represent them and all members of the AANHPI community who have given their sweat and tears to build this nation.”

Dr. Ngo-Metzger has a BA from Illinois Wesleyan University and completed her MD studies at University of Chicago. She obtained her MPH degree at the Harvard School of Public Health.

At the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, she teaches and mentors students and junior faculty in prevention, population health, health disparities, and evidence-based medicine.