AANHPI Heritage Month

What is AANHPI Heritage Month?

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, AANHPI Month for short, is the celebration recognizing cultures from all across Asia and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia and their contributions to the United States.

When is AANHPI Heritage Month?

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush signed a law that officially designated May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Renamed Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2009, the celebration recognizes cultures from all across Asia and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, and their contributions to the United States.

St. Jude patient Bella

Why does St. Jude celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month?

Danny Thomas founded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on the principles of equity and inclusion. When it opened in Memphis, Tenn., in 1962, St. Jude became the first fully integrated children's hospital in the South. For more than 60 years, St. Jude has cared for some of the world’s sickest children regardless of their race, ethnicity, beliefs or ability to pay.

St. Jude remains committed to diversity and is proud to celebrate the culture of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and their contributions to the lifesaving mission of St. Jude.

Meet AANHPI St. Jude doctors and researchers

Advancements through innovation help ensure that St. Jude continues to lead the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Ching-Hon Pui, MD

Chair, Department of Oncology
Heritage: Chinese

Dr. Ching-Hon Pui is internationally renowned for his work to improve survival rates and the quality of life for kids with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer.

He’s coupled those efforts with a personal campaign to extend that advanced care to families around the world, including those in low- and middle-income countries.

Meet Dr. Ching-Hon Pui >

Amar Gajjar, MD

Chair, Department of Pediatric Medicine
Heritage: Indian

Throughout his career, Dr. Amar Gajjar has authored more than 370 papers, many of which have contributed to the improved clinical care of children with medulloblastoma and other pediatric brain tumors.

And all the while, he has steadily progressed in his career at St. Jude, helping lead a program that uses sophisticated imaging to diagnose and track medulloblastoma and other brain tumors.

Meet Dr. Amar Gajjar >

Hiroto Inaba, MD, Ph.D.

Program Director, Pediatric Hematology Oncology Fellowship
Heritage: Japanese

Hiroto Inaba, MD, PhD, is an oncologist at St. Jude leading the Total Therapy 17 clinical trial investigating treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoma. Dr. Inaba is also a 17th-generation samurai.

Meet Dr. Inaba >

Making lifesaving discoveries

At the heart of our mission is a team of doctors and researchers committed to equity in global cancer treatment and care.

Meet AANHPI fundraisers

Because of our supporters, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — so they can focus on helping their child live.

Josh Colfer

Senior Specialist - Digital Content Strategy – ALSAC®, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude
Heritage: Chinese-Hungarian-Mexican American

Josh came from a family of storytellers who made history rich and vivid. He grew up in Southern California hearing how his great-grandfather served as an ambassador to countries throughout the world on behalf of political leader Chiang Kai-shek, and how his grandmother courageously immigrated to the United States, navigating an unfamiliar country without any family during her high school and college years.

Meet Josh

Arsh Pal

The 13-year-old Chicago resident has two passions — art and fundraising for St. Jude.

Meet Arsh >

St. Jude patient and fundraiser Ayaan

Patient Ayaan finishes his first 5K to raise money for St. Jude.

Meet Ayaan>

Meet our patients

Our patients inspire our lifesaving mission: Finding cures. Saving children.® Everywhere.

How your support helps St. Jude

We won't stop until no child dies from cancer.

St. Jude has helped increase the long-term survival rates for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) from 40% to 94%.

St. Jude is developing new, improved treatments for children with cancer, creating more clinical trials for cancer than any other children’s hospital.

St. Jude is leading research to improve chemotherapy safety and effectiveness for pediatric patients of East Asian descent affected by ALL.

Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped raise the survival rate for children with cancer in the United States, where 4 out of 5 children survive cancer. In many countries, however, 1 out of 5 children diagnosed with cancer will survive. We won’t stop until no child dies from cancer, no matter where they live. Learn more about the St. Jude Global initiative.