Researcher Spotlight: Tina Pham Hang

What is your professional background?
While I primarily grew up in Georgia, I left briefly for Northern California, where I attended Stanford University and received a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with Honors in Asian American Studies and Biology. I returned closer to home and obtained my medical degree at the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership (Medical College of Georgia Athens Campus). I completed my Internal Medicine Residency and Gastroenterology Fellowship at Emory and had the pleasure of being one of the Chief GI Fellows last year. I have since stayed on as an Assistant Professor in Medicine and focus primarily on general hepatology at the Atlanta VA. I have an interest in medical education, health equity, cross-cultural healthcare, and quality improvement.

Which division do you work in? Who is your mentor?
I work in the Division of Digestive Diseases. Dr. Anand S. Shah is my mentor and I’m so thrilled to be working alongside him now serving our veterans with liver disease.

Briefly describe your research. Why is it important?
Most of my research focuses on QI projects aimed at improving care for patients with cirrhosis and meeting quality metrics such as ensuring viral hepatitis immunity and being up to date on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening. As a fellow, Dr. Shah and I participated in the Faculty Development QI course, which provided me the skill set to better understand and tackle barriers from both providers and patients to create and implement sustainable PDSA cycles. For example, my viral hepatitis immunity project led to the creation of “liver passports” that patients can use and help empower themselves to take part in their cirrhosis care. Dr. Shah and I are currently working with one of the VA QI scholars, Dr. Maureen Onweni- Eze, to increase HCC screening rates via a patient outreach program.

What do you like most about Emory?
I have been at Emory since 2016 and have really felt supported by all the faculty and staff I worked with, and I like that Emory has been striving to increase diversity in its trainees and faculty. I also love that training here enabled me to interact with patients from different backgrounds across multiple sites.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?
I’m a fan of The Witcher, so I’m pretty bummed that Henry Cavill will be leaving the show. 🙁

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I enjoy going to new cafes and restaurants, indulging in bubble tea/boba, hiking (there are so many good places in Georgia), playing board games, and making paper crafts (especially Studio Ghibli ones).

What is a fun fact about you?
I’m a certified foodie/Yelp Elite member!