| Austin was born and raised in Des Moines and graduated from Hoover High School. His middle-class parents taught him the values of hard work and compassion and respect toward others. Those values led 16-year-old Austin to a job transporting patients in wheelchairs through the hospital. Austin loved listening to his patients' stories and he was struck by their humility and strength in the face of adversity. The experience inspired Austin to become a doctor to help those in their time of greatest need.
After eight years of study at the University of Iowa, Austin earned a medical degree before setting off to specialize in internal medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver. It was in Denver where Austin met his now wife, Stephanie, who turned out to be an Iowan herself.
Both Austin and Stephanie were always proud of their home state and often boasted to their Colorado friends that Iowa had twice elected Barack Obama, championed marriage equality, and provided a strong public education. Naturally, the couple soon returned to Des Moines and have now resided in the Sherman Hill neighborhood for several years. They have two young children, Javier and Ruby.
Austin sees patients in an internal medicine clinic and teaches medicine as an adjunct professor for the University of Iowa. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Iowa Medical Society and advocates for state policy that promotes equitable and accessible health care. As a creative outlet, Austin also joined three friends and opened an independent pizza restaurant in the Drake neighborhood.
Through these roles in the community, Austin has met far too many people struggling to get by. The Iowa that he and Stephanie had once boasted about has since been dwindling under Republican control. Austin can't just stand by watching the GOP dismantle his home state. |