Darta Sipola ’26: Healthcare Volunteer & Global Researcher

Darta Sipola ’26 is a Brain, Behavior and Cognition major from Seattle. At Whitman College, Darta explored healthcare from every angle—through emergency response, volunteering at community clinics and conducting research around the world. These experiences inspired a passion for improving rural healthcare access, and after graduation, she’ll continue that work as a 2026 Watson Fellow.

Darta’s Whitman Highlights:

• Member of Whitman College First Responders 
• Volunteer at the SOS Health Services free clinic 
• Studied abroad in Kenya

Darta helped grow the Whitman College First Responders club as its first Community Executive, organizing the college’s first annual Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Week. At SOS Health Services, she was inspired by healthcare providers dedicating their time to addressing unmet needs in the community.

Darta’s Whitman experience also took her around the world for research and study abroad. Through two Whitman Internship Grants, she conducted research on neuroinflammation after West Nile virus infection at the University of Washington School of Medicine and later traveled to the Netherlands to study the effects of ketamine on suicidal ideation at the University Medical Center Groningen. During her semester abroad in Kenya, she also conducted independent research on respiratory disease management.

What’s next? Darta was a finalist for both a Fulbright Research Award and the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, ultimately accepting the Watson Fellowship. Over the next year, she will travel through Fiji, New Zealand, Nepal, Sweden, Senegal, Greece, Peru and Bolivia to study innovations in rural healthcare access with medical professionals, researchers, nongovernmental organizations and government officials.