What is AANHPI Heritage Month?
Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, AANHPI Heritage 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. The month of recognition was renamed Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2009. President Barack Obama expanded the recognition to include Native Hawaiians in 2021.
AANHPI Heritage Month history
In the late 1970s, the U.S. Congress proposed designating a time to highlight and honor the accomplishments of the Asian American and Pacific Islander people within the U.S. In 1978, the U.S. House of Representatives designated a week within the month of May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.
Roughly 10 years later, President George H.W. Bush proposed an extension of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week to cover the whole of May.
The month of May was chosen in particular to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants into America in the early 1840s, as well as the establishment of the transcontinental railroad, which was completed in May of 1869, in large part by Chinese workers.
St. Jude patient Bella
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 its mission 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.
How St. Jude celebrates AANHPI Heritage Month
To celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month, we’re sharing stories and contributions from our doctors and researchers, teams, patients and supporters who are both from and who celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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At St. Jude, Dr. Amar Gajjar's work reveals a lifetime of progress for brain cancer patients
Gajjar will be honored with the prestigious ASCO Pediatric Oncology Award this summer for his work to transform how doctors around the world understand and treat medulloblastoma.
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St. Jude survivorship portal brings researchers ‘one-click’ away from discovery
Learn about the survivorship portal, a part of the St. Jude Cloud ecosystem, and find out how researchers can use the portal to make new discoveries.
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Study finds children's genetic ancestry impacts treatment, survival for kids with ALL
Findings bolster St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital's work to improve outcomes for kids with cancer across the world.
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St. Jude develops new tool to track genetic variations for rare diseases, shares it freely
Scientists have developed and shared a computational tool that could help identify why some people are prone to rare diseases — from multiple cancers to neurodegenerative diseases like ALS.
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House of Hope
Foundation in Philippines collaborates with St. Jude to help children with cancer.
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St. Jude researcher Ching-Hon Pui, MD, honored for contributions in treatment of pediatric blood cancers
Dr. Pui, chair of the St. Jude Department of Oncology, has helped raise the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia to 94 percent.
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Where We Are
St. Jude Global has developed regional programs to maintain a strong network among our international partners. Find out where our programs are located.
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Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital honors the contributions and influence the AANHPI community has on its mission while sharing the stories of the children and families St. Jude serves.
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.
Arsh Pal
The 13-year-old Chicago resident has two passions — art and fundraising for St. Jude.
St. Jude patient and fundraiser Ayaan
Patient Ayaan finishes his first 5K to raise money for St. Jude.
Meet our patients
Our patients inspire our lifesaving mission: Finding cures. Saving children.® Everywhere.
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Aspen's smile lights up a room
Aspen was only 1 year and ten months old when she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma.
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Even cancer couldn’t change her inner spirit
After 15 months of treatment at St. Jude, Kenadie is back home enjoying life.
Read about Kenadie, who was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma when she was 8 years old >
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Luna finds hope and healing at St. Jude
Luna's cancer journey gives her dad a new perspective and big dreams for his daughter.
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'So much support, so much hope'
Griffin was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when his family was living in Germany. Within hours of his diganosis, he and his mother were on their way to St. Jude.
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'She's absolutely brilliant'
Bella was referred to St. Jude after surgery to remove her brain tumor. Today, she's thriving.
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.
St. Jude patient Aria and her mom
Make a donation
Your support can help St. Jude find cures for childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
St. Jude patient Hadleigh
Send a free virtual card to St. Jude patients
Brighten the day of St. Jude patients by creating and sending a card.
Fundraise for St. Jude kids
Every dollar you raise makes a real impact in the lives of St. Jude kids and their families.
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Our stories
Meet the patients, families, supporters and staff of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and experience the stories that happen here every day.
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Why support St. Jude?
Learn how supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital helps pediatric cancer patients worldwide.
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Ways to give
Find ways to give to St. Jude. Make a donation, memorialize a loved one, give through work or include St. Jude in your will.