Happy Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

Asiroh Cham has been in the UCLA community for over two decades and considers herself a Bruin for life (as double alumni and dedicated employee). She is currently the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in the Department of History and the Co-Chair of Professional Development for the Asian Pacific Islander Faculty and Staff Association (APIFSA). Prior to joining the History department, she worked as the CAO in the Biology Group and Director of Academic and Student Services in the Life Sciences South Administration. Throughout her career at UCLA, she has served in diverse capacities including working as a Student Affairs Officer in the International Institute and Humanities, as a T.A. while in graduate school, and as the Manager of Curricular Initiatives for the Humanities Administrative Group. She has served as Co-Chair for the Association of Graduate Counselors and Advisors (AGCA), President of the University Apartment South Resident Association, and Treasurer of the University Parents Nursery School Board of Advisors. Asiroh holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Development Studies and Southeast Asian Studies and a Master’s degree in Asian American Studies from UCLA. In her spare time, Asiroh is a filmmaker and has received the Armed with a Camera Fellowship through Visual Communications and awarded the inaugural Linda Mabalot Legacy Scholarship for her work as an emerging documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on social issues in 2013. In 2019, she was recognized for her contributions to social justice and civic engagement by UCLA’s Institute of American Cultures. She is also a mom to a rambunctious 5 year old and loves to cook.

Grace currently serves as the Co-Chair of Professional Development for APIFSA and works as a Fund Manager in the Department of Neurobiology. She started her career at UCLA in 2014 and has since worked in various capacities, including operations and student advising. During her spare time, Grace enjoys going on exploring new hiking trails, baking egg tarts, cooking recipes from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbooks, binge watching shows (her latest obsession is Moon Knight on Disney+), and playing board games.

Patty Gonzalez Johnson serves Vice Chair/Chair Elect for the Administrative Management Professionals (AMG). She is employed as the Sr. Manager of Academic Services & Operations for the Full Time MBA Program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Patty has worked at Anderson for over 20 years in various capacities. In her current role, Patty works primarily with faculty and administration on academic planning and scheduling. Patty is a first-gen college student, she graduated from UCLA in 1999 with a degree in Psychology and a specialization in Business Administration. She is a graduate of the Riordan Scholars Program (’02) and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from CSUN (’18). Patty is passionate about personal and professional growth and when she is not spending time with her husband and three young children, she is reading or taking online classes to learn new skills. She is excited to help bring her knowledge and ideas for programming to AMG and build upon the current offerings.

Mark Lucas serves as Chair of the UCLA campus Administrative Management Professionals (AMG). He previously served as Chair of the UC Systemwide Administrative Management Professionals (UC AMP). In his day job, he is the Chief Administrative Officer for the Departments of Neurobiology and of Computational Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Mark has been with the University for 30 years in a variety of administrative and management capacities. He has a background in business from both USC and UCLA Anderson. His professional interests include mentoring, training, research administration, and general management theory

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Grace currently serves as the Co-Chair of Professional Development for APIFSA and works as a Fund Manager in the Department of Neurobiology. She started her career at UCLA in 2014 and has since worked in various capacities, including operations and student advising. During her spare time, Grace enjoys going on exploring new hiking trails, baking egg tarts, cooking recipes from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbooks, binge watching shows (her latest obsession is Moon Knight on Disney+), and playing board games.

Ninez A. Ponce, MPP, PhD is Professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Director of its Center for Health Policy Research. She leads the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation’s largest state health survey, recognized as a national model for data collection on race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity and immigrant health. Her research contributes to the elimination of racial/ethnic/social disparities in health. Dr. Ponce has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Health Statistics and on committees for the National Academy of Sciences and the National Quality Forum, where her expertise has focused on setting guidance for health systems in the measurement and use of race/ethnicity and social determinants of health as tools to monitor health equity. She has received numerous awards from community organizations recognizing her work in community-engaged research, which includes community-academic partnerships with the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations and Asian Health Services. In 2019 Dr. Ponce and the CHIS team received the AcademyHealth Impact award for her contributions to population health measurement to inform public policies.

Animesh Sabnis, MD, MSHS, is Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Medical Director of Newborn Nurseries at UCLA Health, and serves as the inaugural Director of Quality & Equity for the Division of Neonatology & Developmental Biology. He practices and teaches neonatal-perinatal medicine in UCLA’s neonatal intensive care units. He founded and leads the Anti-Racist Neonatal Care Working Group, and co-leads the Perinatal EDI Coalition, which are health equity affinity groups of healthcare professionals caring for newborns and birthing families at UCLA Health. He guides equity-focused quality improvement efforts that aim to detect and rectify inequities in maternal-neonatal outcomes at UCLA Health using health informatics tools and community-engaged initiatives.

Roger Wakimoto began as the Vice Chancellor for Research at UCLA in July 2017. He is an accomplished atmospheric scientist specializing in research on mesoscale meteorology, particularly severe convective storms and radar meteorology. In 2017, he returned to UCLA’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences faculty, having previously served as a member in 1983-2005 and as its chair in 1996-2000. After his initial tenure at UCLA, he served as the director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Earth Observing Laboratory from 2005-2010 and subsequently as director of NCAR from 2010-2013. Vice Chancellor Wakimoto was also assistant director of the National Science Foundation Directorate for Geosciences from 2013-2017; where he led a division that supported the atmospheric, geospace, polar, earth, and ocean sciences with a $1.3 billion annual budget, and president of the American Meteorological Society in 2017-2019.

Vice Chancellor Wakimoto is well published in his field and has served on many panels, committees, and boards for research organizations. He has published a number of journal articles throughout his career. He was an associate editor of the Monthly Weather Review and a co-editor of the American Meteorological Society Meteorological Monograph Radar and Atmospheric Sciences: A Collection of Essays in Honor of David Atlas.

Vice Chancellor Wakimoto received his B.S. with honors and great distinction in meteorology from San Jose State University and his Ph.D. in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago. He previously held a professorship at both UCLA and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has received many honors, including a scientific and technical achievement award from the Environmental Protection Agency for observations of air pollution as well as the Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award from the American Meteorological Society for his contributions to understanding of mesoscale phenomena.

UCLA Asian Pacific Islander Faculty & Staff Association

APIFSA started toward the end of 2020 for the purpose of engaging and informing faculty & staff on the various cultures represented in the Asian Pacific Islander community. As a staff affinity group, we are focused on building community and sharing cultural knowledge and insights with the entire Bruin family and beyond. We welcome faculty & staff of all backgrounds to learn, share, and grow with us!

All are welcome to join, if you identify with the API community, API allies, or if you are interested in learning about the API community.

Check out our webpage | Join our APIFSA mailing list | Email us

InspirASIAN UCLA Health Affinity Group

UCLA Health’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Affinity Group InspirASIAN started in mid-2021 to foster inclusion and community through a support network of mentors, allies, and peers to act as advisors to UCLA Health around AAPI issues for faculty, staff, students, trainees, and patients. We aspire to increase the visibility of the AAPI community and highlight issues and concerns centered around the AAPI experience.

Sign Up to Join InspirASIAN | Email us