Jhan Irish Balunos

Irish specializes in monitoring and analyzing health sector developments for BGA clients in the Philippines, providing essential insights and strategic recommendations. Concurrently, she serves as a senior research associate at a prominent think tank, the Stratbase Group. In this role, she delivers research and technical support with a focus on health, offering expert guidance to industry stakeholders. 

Irish has a robust background in evidence-based practices. Before joining BGA, she was a research and policy fellow at the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health. There, she collaborated closely with the Philippine Department of Health to develop rapid public health guidelines for emergencies and formulate the Omnibus Health Guidelines, which provide comprehensive guidance across various life stages. She also played a key role in developing a guideline implementation tool manual, which helps integrate national practice guidelines with clinical practice, enhancing evidence-based care and quality improvement. 

Earlier in her career, Irish worked with the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute. There, she engaged in research projects covering topics such as the Nutrition Act and the drivers of anemia reduction among women of reproductive age. 

Irish earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the University of the Philippines and is pursuing a master’s degree in public health in the same university. In 2019, she earned her registered nutritionist-dietitian license from the Professional Regulation Commission of the Philippines. She is set to expand her expertise by pursuing a master’s degree in health in humanitarian crises at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.