Chien-Wen Tseng, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.E.E., University of Hawaiʻi (UH) John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) associate professor and associate research director of family medicine and community health, has been appointed to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force) as one of its newest members.
“Dr. Tseng is the first USPSTF member appointed from the State of Hawaiʻi, said Dr. David Lassner, UH President. “Her perspectives, having worked with diverse communities in Hawaiʻi, will undoubtedly be a unique and valuable addition to the Task Force.”
Fast Fact: In recent years, the Task Force has put forth numerous clinical screening guidelines including guidelines on breast cancer, high blood pressure, depression in children and adults, and preventive medications such as aspirin to prevent heart disease and colon cancer.
The Task Force is an independent, volunteer panel of 16 national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. Members come from many health-related fields, including internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, obstetrics/gynecology, and nursing. Members are appointed to serve a 4-year term by the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with guidance from Task Force leadership.
“On behalf of my fellow Task Force members, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Tseng to the Task Force,” said Task Force chair Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., M.D., M.A.S. “Her clinical and research expertise in the areas of primary health care and preventive care will be a valuable addition to the Task Force.”
Dr. Allen L. Hixon, Professor and Chair of Family Medicine and Community Health at UH-JABSOM, describes the task force’s recommendations as “critical to the health of our nation, because they address topics that directly affect and improve the health of Americans.”
In recent years, the Task Force has put forth numerous clinical screening guidelines including guidelines on breast cancer, high blood pressure, depression in children and adults, and preventive medications such as aspirin to prevent heart disease and colon cancer.
“Task Force members review the latest scientific evidence and determine national preventive health standards. Physicians and payors alike rely on these measures in the delivery of high quality health care,” explained Dr. Hixon.
“This is a great responsibility for Dr. Tseng and an honor for the John A. Burns School of Medicine and the University of Hawaiʻi, said Dr. Jerris R. Hedges, JABSOM Dean. “Along with her colleagues in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, we are extremely proud of her service to the nation.”
Dr. Hedges also expressed deep gratitude to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi) for his support in nominating Dr. Tseng for consideration by the task force.
“I congratulate Dr. Tseng on this appointment and for making history as the first physician from Hawai‘i to serve in this role,” said Senator Schatz. “The task force will be well served by her years of clinical, research, and policy experience, and I’m proud to have nominated her for this esteemed position.”
About Dr. Tseng
Dr. Tseng is the Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association (HMSA) endowed chair in health services and quality research, an associate professor, and the associate research director in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She is also a physician investigator with the nonprofit Pacific Health Research and Education Institute, an affiliate of the Veterans Affairs Pacific Islands Health Care System. Dr. Tseng is an active physician and a teacher of primary health care and preventive care to medical students and family medicine residents. As a family physician, Dr. Tseng’s research focuses on improving quality of health care and lowering financial barriers to care, such as reducing the high cost of drugs for chronic and acute diseases.
Dr. Tseng, a graduate of Punahou School, received a B.S. in electrical engineering and a B.A. in mathematical sciences from Rice University, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and an M.P.H. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She earned her M.D. from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Washington. Dr. Tseng was a visiting scholar with the Robert Graham Center for Policy and Research in Washington, D.C. She is also an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar Program at UCLA and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar Program.
About the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine
The John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) at the University of Hawaiʻi honors its unique research environment to excel in science-based efforts to eliminate diseases that is proportionately affect people in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region. Annually at JABSOM, more than 600 future physicians are learning medicine JABSOM, researchers secure $52 million in grants, and overall economic stimulus to Hawaiʻi from the school tops $456 million annually. JABSOM also confers degrees in Clinical Translational Research, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Cell and Molecular Biology, Medical Technology and Developmental
and Reproductive Biology.
About the Task Force
The Task Force is an independent volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. The Task Force works to improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services, such as screenings, counseling services, or preventive medicines. More information on the Task Force is available at www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org.