Leadership Team
Dr. Thanh Kirkpatrick, M.D., M.P.H. | Pediatrician, VFAAB Executive Director
Dr. Thanh Kirkpatrick, MD, MPH, is a former refugee from Vietnam. She graduated from Pomona College in anthropology and received her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Vermont and her Masters in Public Health in Health Administration from Loma Linda University. She completed her pediatrics residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She currently serves as an Executive Director of the Vietnamese Family Autism Advisory Board helping families connect to therapeutic and support services across the care system and educating the community about autism and developmental delay. She was appointed to the Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council in 2017 where she currently serves as a council member. Dr. Kirkpatrick is a pediatrician at HopeCentral Pediatrics and Behavioral Health, a clinic designated by the Washington Healthcare Authority as an Autism Center of Excellence to provide a range of services for families with children on the Autism Spectrum. She provides pediatric care for the linguistically and economically diverse community surrounding the clinic in southeast Seattle. Dr. Kirkpatrick is passionate about serving immigrant patients and outreaching to the Developmental Disabilities community.
Annie Nguyen | VFAAB Associate Director
Annie Nguyen, Fluent in both Vietnamese and English, is an experienced professional with years of expertise in Human Resources with a deep understanding of diverse cultures. Inspired by her family's struggles as immigrants navigating language barriers, she serves as the Associate Director of VFAAB, passionately dedicated to assisting Vietnamese families in finding support for their family and children with disabilities. Annie's experience fuels her commitment to empowering families and bridging linguistic gaps, ensuring access to essential resources. Annie enjoys spending time with her children and engaging in casual conversations with friends and family.
Dr. Patricia Scott, M.D. | Board Certified Pediatrics, HopeCentral Community Health Director
Dr. Patricia Scott is passionate about creating and supporting environments where children thrive. During college, exposure to the community development philosophy of Dr. John Perkins ignited a deep passion for justice in healthcare delivery and spurred Patricia’s pursuit of medicine. Patricia received her medical degree from Georgetown University and completed her pediatrics residency at the University of California San Francisco. She spends her free time with her husband John and their three children, and her weekends cheering at sporting events.
Nhon Tran | VFAAB Clinical Patient Navigator
Nhon Tran is highly recommended and known for his work ethic, teamwork, and motivation. He enjoys giving back to his community and has been working with families for more than five years. He looks forward to helping Vietnamese families and children with Autism/Developmental Delays.
Christina Lai | Cultural Patient Navigator
Christina wants to help children build a strong foundation so they may grow up happy and healthy. She is fluent in English and Vietnamese. Christina graduated from the University of Washington, Bothell, in 2022 with a Health Studies degree, minored in Biology, and is currently studying for the MCAT in hopes of applying to medical school in the near future. In her free time, she likes to spend time with family and friends, hike, create art, travel, and explore.
She looks forward to working with the children and families here in the HopeCentral community.
Karen Yao | VFAAB Parent Champion
Karen Yao was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States in 2001. She is a proud parent of an autistic son who is fluent in Cantonese, Vietnamese and English. As a Vietnamese immigrant, she understands how hard it is to adapt to American culture, such as learning and talking in a new language, integrating into society, struggling with finances and raising a child with autism. It is particularly challenging to navigate the health care system to get him the services he needs. She looks forward to sharing her experiences raising her autistic son to help the Vietnamese families in the VFAAB and HopeCentral community who have autistic children. She loves cooking, baking and spending her time with her son and family.
Ben Nguyen | VFAAB Program Manager
As an immigrant from Vietnam, Ben Nguyen is deeply passionate about supporting families, community members, and local health providers to assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder/Developmental Delay (ASD/DD) to connect to therapeutic, educational, and support services available in King County. Fluency in both English and Vietnamese, his goal is to share the love of Jesus, strengthen our community, and promote a positive environment where families and children of all abilities are treasured and thriving.