Council of Young
Filipinx Americans in medicine
Social Conference
Committee
Kristen Ampig
Co-Head of Social Committee
Ms. Ampig is currently a medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine (DUCOM). She is currently interested in OBGYN or general surgery as specialties. At DUCOM, she is a co-president of the Filipino-American Medical Student Association and a co-steering coordinator of Mothers and Baby Dragons. She is also a patient advocate at the Eliza Shirley Clinic. She continues to explore her interests in research through the DUCOM Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship. She is also the lead female singer of the Dennis Novack Experience band that performs annually at the Pediatric Aids Benefit Concert.
At the University of California Irvine, Ms. Ampig pursued her passions for service and medicine. She was a member and leader of Phi Delta Epsilon pre-medical fraternity for 4 years. She volunteered at the UCI Outreach Clinic and Orange County Needle Exchange Program (OCNEP). She founded the OCNEP Undergraduate Division to increase awareness about the opiate epidemic, recruit volunteers, and raise funds for OCNEP. She was involved in research in all 4 years in numerous projects studying epilepsy, neuroanatomy, and development and cell biology. She was honored with Excellence in Research following presentations and a publication on her research in the assessment of Tox21 efficiency in identifying novel obesogens. She also presented at the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Conference for 3 years. Ms. Ampig currently has 3 publications through her research work in her undergraduate years. In her gap years, she worked as a scribe in an Obstetrics and Gynecology clinic, discovering her strong interests in women’s health.
Ms. Ampig graduated from Crescenta Valley High School with the honor of receiving the Falcon Award for leadership, service, and academics. She was also honored with the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Foundation award. She dedicated herself to service throughout high school by volunteering with Key Club and at the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. She was also involved with the National Honor Society and California Scholarship Federation. She was awarded the Character and Ethics Project Recognition by the Glendale Unified School District, Glendale Fire Department, City of Glendale Mayor, County of Los Angeles, California State Senate, California Legislature, and United States Congress for co-founding Camp Firework. She also continuously explored her interests in science through the CVHS Academy of Science and Medicine and the Caltech Summer Research Internship. Outside of academics, Ms. Ampig enjoyed being a part of the Charismatics Chamber Choir.
Claire Perez
(She/Her/Hers)
Co-Head of Social Committee
Claire currently attends Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. Originally raised on Guam, she ventured to the mainland to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor. She is applying general surgery in this upcoming match and is interested in Trauma/Critical Care, Surgical Oncology, or Thoracic Surgery. Her research interests vary from quality improvements and resident's health to diatom taxonomy.
She became involved with CYFAM through a classmate and proceeded to partake in the first national conference last year. She currently serves as the Regional Chair for Northeast and was the National Social Chair for SY 20-21.
During her free time, she likes to go to the gym and work out. She also likes to be around nature and go hiking. As a true islander, she always craves for the ocean and tries to go to the beach whenever possible. She also spends some of her free weekends volunteering at the local cat shelter.
Kiara Mina
(She/Her/Hers)
Social Committee Member
Kiara Mina was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Salem, Oregon, where she graduated from Willamette University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. She is currently a third-year student at Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest in Lebanon, Oregon. In tandem with her medical school curriculum, Kiara has dedicated time volunteering as co-curriculum coordinator of the Diversity Recognized, Emphasized and Assimilated into Medicine (DREAM) Program at her institution to work closely with and increase accessibility of medical school matriculation resources for historically underrepresented pre-medical students. Additionally, as a member of her institution’s White Coats for Black Lives leadership team, she has engaged in crucial discourse with students, staff, and faculty to advocate for increased representation of and resources for BIPOC as well as facilitated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workshops. Kiara is guided by her culturally-aware and community-driven advocacy. She is interested in primary care, and is considering pursuing family medicine or OB/gyn. She became involved with CYFAM after an overwhelmingly positive experience at the first annual conference in 2020. As a member of leadership, she aspires to broaden CYFAM’s reach, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, continue to build lifelong friendships, and grow into the mentor that she needed but never had in her pre-med journey. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, exploring Oregon, and painting.
Agustin Joshua Tongson
(He/Him/His)
Social Committee Member
A.J. Tongson is a pre-medical professional currently working as a clinical research coordinator at the University of California, San Francisco. Born and raised in San Diego, A.J. completed his BSc degree in Human Biology and Society at UCLA before moving to UCSF to complete his MSc degree in Global Health Sciences. Soon after the successful completion of his degree, A.J. presented his thesis research on the impact of a nonprofit on geriatric social capital outcomes in a typhoon-impacted city in the Philippines at CYFAM's inaugural conference in 2020. A.J. currently serves on the CYFAM Conference Social Committee, trying to come up with and facilitate games and other fun social activities for CYFAM leadership to bond over. In his free time, A.J. takes in all that the cold lands/SF has to offer, goes to the gym, watches anime, and learns to do new things like speaking Spanish or adulting.
