Darwin Baluran

Filipino-American

2017 Graduate, B.S. in Health Systems Mgmt./Ph.D. Student (expected 2022)

Instagram: @dar_1294

Darwin was born in Cebu City, Philippines, but grew up in the country’s island of Mindanao, in a small town called Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay.

While Darwin’s family was fortunate enough to be shielded from the poverty and violence on the island, which is infamous for poverty, underdevelopment, militant religious extremists, and communist rebels, his surroundings developed his passion to promote equity and justice for underserved communities.

At age 11, Darwin immigrated to the U.S., where the Chicago suburbs became his new home. Surrounded by other immigrants from Southeast Asia and Latin America, he once again bared witness to inequities and injustices centered on ethnicity and race.

Darwin recently graduated with a B.S. in Health Systems Management from Loyola University Chicago. And this fall, he will begin his Ph.D. program in Sociology, with a focus on Medical Sociology and Immigration, at Vanderbilt University.

Filipino at heart, mind and soul, Darwin's future work will aim to improve our understanding of underrepresented groups and immigrants through research.