Angela Rose Manalo David brings a caregiver’s clarity and a researcher’s rigor to her pursuit of medicine. Having grown up in a rural village in the Philippines and later as her grandparents’ caregiver, she became her family’s translator, interpreter, and advocate at a young age, guiding them through crowded clinics and fragmented care. Those years taught her that healthcare access is about more than seeing a doctor; it is about whether a system can truly support those most in need. Her understanding of the mistrust many Filipinx families carry toward medicine comes from lived experience, not theory.

Her vision is focused and long-term. Building on her Fulbright research on Advance Care Planning in Filipino communities, where she interviewed patients and families about end-of-life care, she aspires to become a geriatrician who brings culturally tailored, bilingual planning resources to aging Filipinx and immigrant communities. With experience managing a Filipino research lab, MPH training, and a commitment to policy advocacy, she is already connecting clinical care, community education, and systems-level change. Part of the CYFAM community since its first conference in 2020 and a former conference coordinator, she has helped build the very spaces that now nurture the next generation.

Luis-Jaime Cabaliw Caseñas brings a thoughtful, deeply honest voice to one of the most overlooked issues in our community: mental health. He writes with clarity about how expectations of endurance, silence, and putting family first can keep Filipinx Americans from seeking care until distress becomes a crisis, and about how aggregated “Asian American” data hides the risks our communities carry. His reflections reveal a rare understanding of how much timely, accessible, and culturally sensitive care can change a life.

He aspires to become a psychiatrist-scientist who advances mental healthcare through research, patient literacy through teaching, and community wellbeing through advocacy. He is already putting that vision into practice: helping coordinate a Filipino Community Resource and Health Fair, contributing to public-facing science communication, and conducting community-level mental health research. For Luis-Jaime, education is often a community’s first point of contact with care. His memory of a CYFAM workshop on medical Tagalog, the first time he could picture his future in medicine without separating it from his culture, captures why this community matters so much to him.

Alexander Andrew Argame brings the perspective of a seasoned clinician to his medical training. Before medical school, he worked as a Registered Nurse caring for military veterans and patients from underserved communities, often asking, “How did it get to this point?” His answers point to delayed screening, financial strain, mistrust of the healthcare system, and the quiet resignation of bahala na. Leaving a stable nursing career to begin again as a medical student took courage, and supporting his family through his training has given him a clear view of how exhausting the healthcare system can feel for patients and families alike.

His path toward plastic and reconstructive surgery is rooted in a memory of his late grandmother, Lola Fely, who held up a mirror one Sunday morning and said, “Apo, look at me. I am beautiful again.” That moment taught him that reconstructive care restores more than anatomy; it restores wholeness. Today his research uses patient-reported outcomes and socioeconomic indices to understand who receives reconstructive care and who is left behind. As an Arthur L. Garnes Society Scholar, he is equally committed to mentorship and to building pathways into the field for those underrepresented in it.

Eliza Marie Tindog Tagle brings courage and candor to conversations many in our community avoid. She writes about how stigma rooted in cultural and religious values can surround mental health, sexual health, and reproductive care, leaving patients to navigate their health in silence. Having worked her way through college in New York City, and now serving as a medical scribe at an urgent care, she understands the real tradeoffs patients face, from missing a paycheck to stretching a grocery budget, and why care is so often delayed.

Her research year in the Philippines, alongside Indigenous Filipino communities, sharpened her purpose. After witnessing Indigenous women face discrimination and pressure to set aside their cultural practices in order to receive care, she committed to care models that uphold cultural identity and bring Indigenous knowledge together with evidence-based medicine. As a future OB-GYN, she hopes to offer judgment-free counseling and create spaces where patients never have to choose between their values and their health. She also brings a perspective too rarely heard in Filipinx health: that of Indigenous communities so often left out of the conversation.

Angeline Blancia is a powerful example of resilience transformed into purpose. Growing up in a low-income household facing food insecurity, she not only navigated those challenges but has used them as the foundation for her advocacy in health equity and nutrition education. From early volunteer work to clinical roles in underserved communities, she’s carried those lived experiences forward with intention. As a scribe and head trainer, she not only led with empathy but wove health literacy and cultural humility into training new team members. Her understanding of systemic barriers, particularly how food insecurity and cultural disconnects impact Filipinx patients, comes from a place of deep personal insight and professional clarity.

Her journey reveals maturity and heart, especially in her reflections on mentorship and community empowerment. Angeline’s vision isn’t just about becoming a doctor. It’s about creating spaces of belonging and agency for others like her. Her passion for culturally sensitive care and her commitment to uplifting others through mentorship reflect the values at the core of CYFAM.

Katherine Chua embodies the heart of the CYFAM Ramos Scholarship through their sustained leadership, cultural humility, and commitment to health equity. As a 1.5-generation Filipinx American and first in their family to pursue medicine, their path has been shaped by navigating systems with limited guidance and finding strength through community. Their deep involvement in CYFAM, from its early days during the pandemic to coordinating national conferences, demonstrates commitment and growth, evolving from mentee to mentor and advocate. With a clear understanding of Filipinx Americans’ barriers, from structural data invisibility to cultural stigmas like bahala na, they bring both lived experience and insight to their work.

Now a medical student passionate about oncology, they aspire to return to Los Angeles to deliver culturally tailored care and co-create community-driven cancer screening and prevention programs. Their responses reflect emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and a vision grounded in partnership, equity, and cultural resonance.

Gabriel Ordonez stands out as a powerful and poetic voice. His writing is not only eloquent, but deeply intentional. Each response reads like a call to action, grounded in lived experience, cultural reflection, and scientific vision. Gabriel brings a unique dual lens to medicine: the heart of a community-rooted healer and the mind of an aspiring physician-scientist. Whether reflecting on his father’s A1c levels over dinner or envisioning a nationwide Filipinx research consortium, he draws clear connections between personal memory, community needs, and systems-level change. His journey reflects not only great thoughtfulness, but a rare kind of clarity: he knows exactly why he’s here, and who he’s here for.

His vision for a Filipinx-led research consortium, paired with a commitment to NIH-funded work in cardiovascular and metabolic disease, speaks to his desire to uplift an entire community, both in representation and in health outcomes. He comes with his grounded perspective, his commitment to culturally competent care, and his ability to translate both scientific knowledge and cultural nuance into actionable plans.

Juben Angelo Saez brings a grounded, authentic voice to his pursuit of medicine, one shaped by self-discovery, service, and an unwavering commitment to underserved communities. His journey has been anything but linear, marked by bold exploration, from nearly pursuing professional soccer to seriously considering other careers. Yet through immersive experiences in global health, particularly with Rocky Point Medical Clinics, he found clarity in his purpose. His writing reveals a steady realism; he does not overstate or romanticize his goals, but rather reflects thoughtfully on what he’s seen, what he’s capable of now, and what he’s building toward.

At the heart of his vision is a deep investment in global health equity, especially in the Philippines. His plan to build a sustainable clinic model, informed by both his leadership in the Global Health Honor Society and his work with community health initiatives, is ambitious but deeply personal. Juben is already putting in the work: joining missions, building networks, and learning from mentors like those he connected with at the 2025 CYFAM Conference. What stands out is not just what he wants to do, but how he’s getting there: step by step, skill by skill, and always with community in mind.