In an interview with the Communications Bureau, Vasquez disclosed the plans of the division for the coming years, as encapsulated in the title: “Fostering Filipino Excellence in Pharmaceutical Science: Advancing Research, Transforming Healthcare, and Enhancing Lives for a Healthier and Resilient Nation.” Vasquez disclosed that the division leaders and members envision the group “to be a dynamic and forward-thinking hub of scientific exploration, dedicated to transforming innovative ideas into tangible healthcare solutions.” Collaborations among academic, industry, and healthcare organizations are expected “to amplify the impact of pharmaceutical research, fostering a collaborative ecosystem that accelerates progress and health for Filipinos.”

Among Vasquez’s recent research projects are painkillers screening and the potential cardiovascular toxicity of anti-leukemia drugs. Currently, he is working on natural mood enhancement products from Philippine sources. He is also working on a UST-funded project entitled “Utilization of zebrafish model for human diseases and the application of AI tools in Pharmacology and Toxicology Research.”

NRCP is a national organization of researchers that aims to advocate frontier science and humanities research and evidence-informed policies with the highest ethical standards committed to impact national and global sustainable development.

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Tan, a faculty member of the Department of Chemistry, was recognized for his contributions to the chemical and pharmacological significance of 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴 species and endemic Rubiaceae plants.

“[Tan’s] extensive studies have illuminated the rich therapeutic potential of these plant varieties, particularly in the realm of neuroprotection and natural products, with a special focus on potential therapies for Alzheimer’s disease,” as read in his citation.

His research tackled the anti-amyloidogenic activity inherent in pure compounds isolated from nature and crude extracts from Philippine endemic and indigenous plants, offering valuable insights into developing neuroprotective agents utilizing the bioactive compounds derived from the said plant species.

In the same NRCP division, the Thomasian researchers who previously received the award were Prof. Emeritus Fortunato B. Sevilla III (1994), Prof. Emeritus Beatrice Q. Guevara (1999), Prof. Emeritus Maribel G. Nonato (2006), Prof. Alicia M. Aguinaldo (2011), and Prof. Christina A. Binag (2013).

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Under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s New Southbound 2.0 Program, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital has been proactively involved in “New Southbound Medical and Health Cooperation and Industrial Chain Development.” A pivotal development occurred in 2023 when the hospital facilitated the establishment of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Chongren General Hospital in the Philippines. This strategic move has laid the foundation for a multinational clinical trial program, which commenced in mid-October, carried out in close collaboration with the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. This comprehensive program not only involves imparting technical training to the Philippine medical and research team but also encompasses the creation of a DNA database, with the overarching aim of advancing the treatment of telomere-related diseases.

Dr. Shang-Hsien Yang, who conducted extensive research on bone marrow failure syndrome at Boston Children’s Hospital in the United States, played a pivotal role in establishing the technical platform for telomere-related research. Under his guidance and with support from Cheng Yoong Pang, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Research, and Dr. Liuh-Yow Chen, Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, this international clinical trial collaboration program with the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines became a reality.

Director Li emphasized the growing importance of cross-border clinical trials by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. He underscored the rarity of clinical trial cooperation between Taiwan and the Philippines, making this partnership a significant achievement.

Relatedly, the “Telomere Clinical Research and Taiwan Medical Humanities Exchange Workshop” took place at Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital and Medical Center in Hualien City, Taiwan, from October 10 to 16, 2023. The inaugural ceremony gathered a distinguished assembly of key figures in the medical field. UST participants in the said workshop included Prof. Pia Marie Albano, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Maureen Sabit, Ph.D. and Ms. Mariella Cielo Cobarrubias, M.Sc. – academic staff of the UST Department of Biological Sciences, BS Biology alumnus Jerome Alfred Tabajonda, and Dr. Flordeluna Zapata-Mesina, a hematologic oncologist from the University of Santo Tomas Hospital. Their presence marked a historic moment in the burgeoning transnational medical collaboration between Taiwan and the Philippines.

Director Yang expressed optimism that the collaboration and hands-on laboratory work would foster mutual understanding between Taiwan and the Philippines, ensuring smoother cooperation in future clinical trials. Dr. Albano, renowned for her work in cancer research, aspired to uncover the link between telomeres and human health through future clinical trials, with the potential to advance cancer research. The workshop, spanning several days, included presentations on telomere research, laboratory training, and in-depth discussions with the Philippine team. This initiative holds the potential to advance our understanding of telomeres and their role in healthcare, ultimately benefiting patients and medical practitioners worldwide.

This cooperative endeavor not only signifies a rare instance of clinical trial cooperation between the two nations but also represents a significant step forward in the healthcare domain.

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After registering 2,995 indexed entries last week, UST tallied on October 19, 2023 3,003 journal articles, book chapters, books, conference papers, and other research materials.

The eight most recent co-authored works, covering journal articles and conference papers, came from the following:

·       Ross Vasquez of the Faculty of Pharmacy (Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy);

·       Carlo Gabriel Casipit of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (IJC Heart and Vasculature);

·       Jojo Blanza of the Faculty of Engineering (International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering);

·       Frederick Masangkay of the Faculty of Pharmacy (three journals articles in Scientific Reports);

·       Marc Eric Reyes of the College of Science (BMC Psychology); and

·       Jame Monren Mercado and advisee students from the College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (Journal of Ethnic Foods).

Citing Scopus’ labels for disciplines and research themes, UST’s ten leading research themes in terms of total indexed works are Medicine (1,284); the Social Sciences (473); the Agricultural and Biological Sciences (432); Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (367); Environmental Sciences (260); Engineering (233); Computer Science (209); Arts and Humanities (180); Immunology and Microbiology (147); and Neuroscience (139).

UST finally got ranked in TIMES Higher Education’s World University Rankings (particularly the 2024 edition) after meeting the minimum requirement for Scopus-indexed materials in the last five years: 150 per year and at least 1,000 in the last five years. The 2024 World University Rankings covered the years 2018 to 2022.

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Salcedo’s work, based on papers co-authored with Academician Professor Emeritus Fortunato B. Sevilla III, PhD and published in Instrumentation Science and Technology and Acta Manilana, was a response to the need for ways to detect atmospheric pollutants of concern in the environment. Using digital imaging analysis, the parameters included the color values, polymer reagent binder, amount of Cul, exposure time, and Hg⁰ concentration.

With the theme “Establishment of Sustainable Technological Solution for Industry and Society”, the two-day conference gathered academics, researchers, scholars, and industry practitioners from around the world to share and discuss recent advances in sustainable science, technology, and innovation. The four Innovative Tracks of the conference – Innovative Life Science and Smart Materials (iLS), Innovative Advanced Production and Industrial Engineering (iAP), Innovative Sharing Economy and Sustainable Science (iSE), and Innovative Education Science and Quality Assurance (iES) – guided the discourse, encapsulating a wide array of topics and scopes within the realm of sustainable development.

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The PHILAAST program described Benjamin in this way: “Dr. Benjamin develops various frameworks for designing integrated biorefineries (IBR) using Philippines agricultural residues (e.g., rice and corn-derived). IBRs are biomass-processing plants that produce multiple products in the form of biofuels, power, and chemicals. The development of IBRs in the country is a circular economy (CE) and sustainability approach. His work provides a reference for creating an IBR using local feedstock, thereby valorizing agricultural residues. The utilization of agricultural waste in the country is vital as this could improve energy security by producing biofuels and bioenergy products. Other benefits include increasing farmers’ revenue and reducing poverty incidence due to job creation, an ideal scenario in developing countries. The results from his study are used as input to the Policy Brief Series being prepared by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) entitled Achieving Energy Sustainability Through Integrated Biorefineries.”

A research fellow at the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, among Benjamin’s major research works and activities are:

• Developed P-graph approaches to optimize crisis operations in an industrial complex in order to minimize manufacturing losses as well as determined critical components of integrated bioenergy systems (IBS)
• A Monte Carlo simulation approach to assess the vulnerability of bioenergy parks to variable capacity disruptions
• A criticality index for component plants to measure the relative impact of a plant’s failure within a bioenergy park using Input-Output (I-O) analysis
• A multi-disruption risk index using an integrated I-O and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)-based method. This network risk index measures the bioenergy park’s robustness to an array of probabilistic plant disruption scenarios.
• A disruption resilience framework to analyze the recovery of disrupted component plants and determine the overall resilience of a bioenergy park using Dynamic Inoperability Input-Output Modeling (DIIM)

In 2019, he was an awardee in the 3rd ASEAN Science Diplomats Assembly. He was also the recipient of the National Research Council of the Philippines Research Grant for his project “Development of a P-graph based model for designing Philippine agricultural waste-based integrated biorefinery”.

This award is one of the annual awards of PhilAAST, an association comprised of scientists and technologists. PhilAAST was founded in 1951 and its main objective is to promote the value of science in our community.

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The decorated Thomasian chemical engineer who specializes in energy engineering, specifically on biochar, renewable energy, and thermal energy storage, is a multi-awarded researcher who was named the “Most Outstanding Professional in Chemical Engineering” during the 2022 Professional Regulation Commission Awards.

In 2021, she was named by the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineer as an Outstanding Chemical Engineer for Research and Development. She also received the 2011 Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Applied Research from the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PHILAAST) and is a recipient of the Achievement Award from the National Research Council of the Philippines.

Dimaano is also a faculty member of the Graduate School, where she serves as Program Lead for Engineering.

Among the previous recipients of Dangal ng Lipi were former UST Rectors Rev. fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P., PhD and Rev. fr. Ernesto Arceo, O.P., PhD; Prof. Clarita Carillo, PhD; Prof. Armando F. de Jesus, PhD; Prof. Allan B. de Guzman, PhD.

The awarding ceremonies was spearheaded by Dangal ng Bulacan Foundation, Inc.

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Internationally renowned phage experts such as Dr. Martha Clokie (University of Leicester, United Kingdom), Dr. Sunee Korbsrisate (Mahidol University, Thailand), Dr. Heera Rajandas and Dr. Sivachandran Parimannan (AIMST University, Malaysia) joined Dr. Donna May Papa (University of Santo Tomas, Philippines), Dr. Ron Dy (University of the Philippines – Diliman, Philippines), and Dr. Tobi Nagel to serve as workshop facilitators and instructors.

The workshop was attended by 36 participants from Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and from all over the Philippines. They were asked to join either a workshop on basic phage research methods or a training in bioinformatics. The workshop on phage methods included sample collection, isolation, purification and amplification of phages, webbed plate preparation, one-step growth experiments up to DNA extraction. Meanwhile, the workshop on bioinformatics included trainings on processing phage sequences, training on installation and troubleshooting of virtualization engines was done in order to run Ubuntu and Linux in windows systems, sample exercises were given on basics of linux and coding language in installation of softwares,�� pre-processing and quality control of sequence data, de novo assembly of phage sequences, genome annotation and core gene analysis and phylogenetic analysis of processed sample sequences.  The culminating activity included reports delivered by the participants based on the results they generated and the learnings they gained during the workshop.

The PGH has been working tirelessly to facilitate the application of antibacterial phage technology in the developing world.  The PGH has two different types of programs as they promote the use of phages through the conduct of Laboratory Training Workshops in developing countries and conduct Product Development Projects where they create International, multi-disciplinary teams that co-develop phage products for specific applications. They have initially conducted trainings in Africa but have since branched out to SouthEast Asia in 2022. As such, PGH funded all expenses for the participants and instructors for this workshop.

The BEATS group is the pioneering group of phage researchers in the Philippines. It is headed by Assoc. Prof. Donna May D.C. Papa, PhD of the Department of Biological Sciences of the College of Science and of the Sciences programs of the Graduate School. She is an academic researcher of the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences.

Bacteriophages or phages are viruses that specifically target bacterial organisms and are not harmful to human, animal, or plant cells.  They are used and even sold commercially in other countries as alternatives to antibiotics to help address the growing global concern against antimicrobial resistance not just in the medical field but also in the Food industry, Aquaculture, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. 

Apart from capacity-building and teaching phage biology to scientists in Southeast Asia, the Phages for Global Health and the UST BEATS Research group aimed to create a consortium of phage biologists in the region through this workshop to further phage research and exchange of knowledge between institutions from the different countries in Southeast Asia and look into antibacterial phage technology as an alternative to antibiotics since antimicrobial resistance is one of the major concerns in the region.

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According to the citation read out during the conferment ceremonies, “Professor Emeritus Fortunato B. Sevilla III of the University of Santo Tomas is an NRCP Achievement awardee and an Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology who has been recognized locally and globally for his pioneering contribution in sensors and instrumentation science research in the Philippines. He conducted training workshops on the development of low-cost instrumentation and microscale chemistry in different parts of the country and in Asia and Latin America. Acd. Sevilla is a beacon to his numerous students and colleagues in the academe and in the Chemistry profession. He contributed to the professional growth of several generations of chemists, mentors, and institutional leaders. He serves as Chair of the Technical Committee for Chemistry of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and has been President of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS), Kapisanang Kimika ng Pilipinas (KKP), Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP), Organic Chemistry Teachers Association (OCTA), Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies (PFCS), and Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST).”

Sevilla is a prime mover of developing low-cost instrumentation and microscale chemistry in the country and has been mentoring chemists and researchers for decades. In the University, he has served as Assistant to the Rector for Research and Development and two-time Dean of the College of Science, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Summa cum Laude, in 1968. It was in 2015 when he was elevated to the rank of Professor Emeritus, in a solemn ceremony that celebrated his preeminence as a professor, researcher, and mentor.

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Running tally from Scopus, the Elsevier-owned scholarly indexing service, as of February 27, 2023 shows that UST (Scopus ID number: 60071488) had 354 scholarly materials (mostly journal articles) in 2022. Scopus adds that the 354 materials are broken down into published works (318) and “articles in press” (36). These materials were authored solely by Thomasians or were co-authored by Thomasians and research partners from other academic and non-academic affiliations.

The 354 materials cover journal articles (274), book reviews (35), conference papers lodged in proceedings (22), “notes” (22), book chapters (six), letters to the editor (six), editorials (two) and erratum (1). Spanning multiple disciplinal areas, the leading disciplines where the scholarly materials were lodged came from “Medicine” (128), “Social Sciences” (62), “Agricultural and Biological Sciences” (42), “Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology” (40), and “Arts and Humanities” (32). The UST materials landed in 26 categorizations of disciplines in the Scopus database for 2022.

This 2022 total is the highest since Scopus tallied scholarly works authored by researchers—faculty members and students—from UST since 1946.

Among those currently affiliated with UST, the top producers of Scopus-indexed academic journal articles tallied in 2022 is Prof. Daniel Joseph Berdida of the College of Nursing (15), Prof. Marc Eric Reyes, PhD of the College of Science (13), Prof. Frederick Masangkay of the Faculty of Pharmacy (11), former Faculty of Engineering academic staff Adrvin Kester Ong (11), Prof. Ross Vasquez, PhD of the Faculty Pharmacy (11), Prof. Marri Jmelou Roldan also of the Faculty of Pharmacy (10), and Prof. Allan de Guzman, PhD of the College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (10).

Meanwhile, out of the 2,042 journal articles that Thomasian researchers have produced for Scopus-indexed journals since Scopus began the count, De Guzman has produced the most number: 129. Professors Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, Dr. rer. nat. of the Graduate School and the College of Science (97), Thomas Edison E. dela Cruz, Dr. rer. nat. (63), Fortunato B. Sevilla III, PhD (60), Allan Patrick Macabeo, Dr. rer. nat. of the College of Science (55), Raymond Rosales, MD (53) of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Rey Donne S. Papa, PhD (47) of the College of Science, Marc Eric S. Reyes, PhD (44) of the College of Science, and Sandra Navarra, MD (42) of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery followed suit.

The University of Santo Tomas Hospital (Scopus ID: 60071489), for its part, has separately produced 509 scholarly materials since 1955, and 45 in 2022. Medical doctors teaching at UST also affiliate themselves with the UST Hospital.

The Scopus index is the database used by Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) when tallying the research productivity of universities in their annual world university rankings. UST has been ranked in the QS World University Rankings for multiple years, and recently received a “Reporter” status in the 2023 THE World University Rankings last year.

The running tally of scholarly materials indexed in Scopus shows that UST produced 225 materials in 2017, 175 in 2018, 228 in 2019, 278 in 2020, and 333 in 2021.

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