TAMPA, Fla. — Finding a cure for cancer is what Dr. Eric Lau and his team work toward every day. 

Being Chinese American, Lau said he learned from a young age what it meant not to fit in. 

As he got older, things got better and he decided he wouldn't let what others thought get to him. But when coronavirus hit, some things could not be ignored — things like violence toward so many in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. 

It was that anti-Asian sentiment that prompted Lau and others at Moffitt Cancer Center to form the Asian Team Member Engagement Network — commonly called TMEN within Moffitt. 

“It really just sort of alerted us, who didn’t really think of these things, and we are just sort of going about our days doing cancer research or working in the clinic with patients, or whatever in our daily capacity, it really made us think how important it is to represent our community, and to really be visible," Lau said. "To show we are not this nebulous 'other' that should be feared. But we are just like everybody else here, trying to do good things."

Inside his lab at Moffitt Research Center, he specifically studies a type of seaweed sugar in hopes it can shrink melanoma and breast tumors. 

He isn't one to shy away from a challenge — not a big challenge like curing cancer, nor one as big as not being accepted. 

“Pretty much every other Chinese American that I knew experienced this identity crisis that we just didn’t fit," said Lau.  “We were not fully accepted by American colleagues, because we don’t look the same.

"And yet if we go back to, let’s say Chinatown, or other more Chinese predominate communities, we also don’t fit in there, because they think of us as American born, so by default we are not them."

"I think that is what makes the AAPI community so complex, because there are so many different layers, whether it’s language, or it’s culture, or whatever barriers that sort of distance them from accessing timely care,” Lau continued.

The leadership of TMEN is made up of Lau and three others: Wen Creighton, who works at the inpatient pharmacy; Christine Sobel, who works with Moffitt strategic marketing; and Dr. Xuefeng Wang, an associate professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics.

“There isn’t a coherent voice inside of Moffitt that says, ‘Hey these are some things, these are some issues that faces AAPI that are different than a lot of the issues that may face different communities in Moffitt," said Creighton. 

One of the group's goals is to help their colleagues deal with the backlash of hate and uncertainty. 

“I think our Asian TMEN are hurting because of discrimination," said Sobel. "And that it could impact their job, their mental health and well being." 

But they said speaking up still wasn't easy, and all four admitted that culture plays a part in that difficulty. 

“In the traditional Asian culture, we are trying to be low profile, to only mind our own business or our families business," said Wang. 

At first Wang said he wasn't sure about joining, but Lau helped him see the importance of it. 

“He changed my mind," said Wang. "So a lot of Asian post-doc students are stereotyped as silent workhorses in this country. So they never speak up for themselves, so there’s got to be someone to do something like that.”

Members of the group are speaking up, and are ready to help their colleagues because so many at Moffitt — 9% of the overall workforce — are part of the AAPI community. 

 “And 24% of employees in research section are AAPI," said Wang. 

TMEN members said the group's future goals include getting more people in the AAPI communities involved with leadership at Moffitt.