In 2022, Kao Lee Yang (MPA ’24) created some of the very first culturally and linguistically appropriate informational materials on dementia for the Hmong and Cambodian communities in Madison through her fellowship at the Morgridge Center for Public Service. When the Wisconsin Department of Health Services saw her work, they invited Yang to work on a project focused on creating educational materials about dementia for the Hmong community.
“I felt honored to take on this partnership,” Yang says. “My work is deeply rooted in service, and it is this belief in giving back to my community that drives me.” Yang began working with DHS in their Office on Aging on a recently funded grant called Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure. Yang is currently working on a collaboration with the Dane County Aging and Disability Resource Center developing tools for dementia outreach with the local Hmong community, work initiated by DHS as a way to support local public infrastructure that will serve the elderly community.
Yang received her MPA from La Follette in May 2024 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience through the Neuroscience and Public Policy combined degree program. Originally interested in becoming a psychologist, Yang’s career trajectory changed after witnessing her grandmother’s battle with dementia. Yang wanted to learn more about the illness and how scientific research could impact the policies, practices, and treatments for people affected by the disease.
Yang says several things attracted her to the Neuroscience and Public Policy program. “One clear reason is the wonderful partnership between the La Follette School and the Neuroscience Training Program that allows students in the combined program to simultaneously develop skills in science and policy. I could not see myself studying just science or policy. That was how I knew that the combined program was the right path to take.”
Yang’s mission as an Alzheimer’s disease researcher is to explore ways to be more inclusive in her work. “The Hmong and Cambodian communities are underrepresented in research, but they are not immune to Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias,” Yang says. “I learned through community conversations with the Southeast Asian Healing Center (a local nonprofit that serves Southeast Asian elders) that due to linguistic and cultural barriers, some elders in the Hmong and Cambodian communities experiencing memory problems are hesitant to seek medical care or do not know about medical resources.”
While studying at the La Follette School, Yang says that she learned the critical importance of stakeholder engagement. The lesson has shaped her approach to community projects and helped her prioritize inclusivity and diverse perspectives within her audiences and collaborators for more effective and sustainable outcomes.
Yang says that one of the most rewarding things about her work is the ability to include people from different walks of life in conversations around brain health. Her role allows her to bring the academic conversations she has as a researcher to the local community in a more accessible way, and make a difference in people’s lives. Yang’s advice for students interested in a career in research is to never be afraid to carve your own individual path. “Everyone’s journey is different,” Yang says. “Be fearless. There is more than one way to accomplish the same goal.”
– Story by Clare Brogan