UC grad and COVID doctor presents at virtual Emmy Awards
Dr. Kevin Tsai finds himself in unlikely spotlight on star-studded night
By Rebecca Schweitzer
It’s not every day that physicians find themselves in the spotlight presenting at the Emmy Awards. But University of Cincinnati graduate Dr. Kevin Tsai found himself there presenting the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series alongside his sister, Dr. Karen Tsai, at the 72nd Emmy Awards.
Because of COVID-19, Emmy producers reached out to members of the community directly working on the front lines to present the awards. This included medical professionals, teachers, delivery truck drivers and more. Aware of the work being done by DonatePPE.org--a nonprofit co-founded by the siblings, they asked them to submit an audition tape.
Dr. Kevin Tsai of Cedars-Sinai, A&S grad and 2020 Emmy Awards presenter.
Tsai, a graduate of UC's College of Arts and Sciences, currently works as a resident anesthesiology physician at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. His primary work is with patients undergoing surgery, while his sister is an endocrinology fellow.
Tsai also serves as chief medical officer at DonatePPE.org. The nonprofit began as a way to provide personal protective equipment such as face masks, gloves, medical gowns and other supplies to health care workers, medical centers, schoolteachers and homeless shelters.
To date, the organization has donated more than 2 million articles of personal protective equipment across all 50 states, and recently to hospitals in Haiti and Uganda.
“As doctors ourselves, we’ve seen firsthand how working in a COVID hotspot can exhaust PPE resources and that working in close proximity with patients without proper protection is stressful and dangerous,” Tsai said.
The organization has also started outreach to young children to promote good hand hygiene and mask wearing. In order to accomplish this, they teamed up with Muppets cartoonist Guy Gilchrist to create original artwork of the well-known characters spreading good hygiene messages to his young audience.
The experiences I had as a student of A&S ... and as a Bearcat as a whole offered me so many opportunities to identify, clarify and affirm my postgraduate aspirations, including to become a physician.
Dr. Kevin Tsai, UC graduate
As for his beginnings at A&S, Tsai said, “To be frank, entering college was, to me, supposed to be another step on the way to medical school, a prerequisite to preparing for higher education. But my experiences as a student of the college and the Honors Program were nothing short of colorful, character developing, confidence building, and deeply memorable.”
Tsai had high praises for the premedical and A&S professors he had along during his time at UC, as they helped mentor him through his full college experience.
“The experiences I had as a student of the A&S, as a member of Greek life (a brother of Phi Delta Theta), and as a Bearcat as a whole offered so many opportunities to identify, clarify, and affirm my postgraduate aspirations, including to become a physician.”
Featured image at top: Stylized film reels. Credit: Tomislav Jakupec/Pixabay
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