Filipino Scientists 

Name of Scientist  Contributions    Achievements/ Awards  

Fe Del Mundo  ➔ Invention of medical incubator and jaundice relieving device ★ Active medical practice in the field of pediatrics in the Philippines that spanned
➔ Established her own hospital: ​The Children’s Medical Center- ​in 1957 inaugurated as the 8 decades and founded children’s hospital
first pediatric hospital in the Philippines; ​Institute of Maternal and Child Health- ​first ★ 1933- ​graduated with highest honors and received medical degree;
institution in its kind in Asia ★ National Scientist of the Philippines
★ 1966​- Elizabeth Blackwell Award for Outstanding Service to Mankind
★ 1977​- Ramon Magsaysay Award for Outstanding Public Service
★ 1977​- Outstanding Pediatrician and Humanitarian by the International Pediatric
Association

Abelardo Aguilar  ➔ Sent soil samples from Iloilo for testing, soil responsible for the development of ​Ilotycin ★ Known as the, “​doctor of poor​”
(​Erythromycin, Lilly​) ★ Started his private practice in Iloilo City
➔ Erythromycin- ​treatment for bacterial and respiratory tract infections (ear and skin ★ Received no recognition for the discovery of erythromycin
infection, syphilis, and rheumatic fever)

Raymundo Punongbayan  ➔ Exceptional research and assessment of natural hazards ★ 1972​- Obtained a doctorate degree in Geology from the University of Colorado
➔ Conducted intinital investigations that gave warning about the possible eruption of Mt. ★ 2003​- Awarded as Sergey Soloviev by the European Geophysical Society
Pinatubo in 1991- this helps the evacuation of approximately 20,000 people ★ Former director of PHIVOLCS
★ Served as a governor of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC)

William Padolina  ➔ Research interests include the chemistry of the coconut — production of novel derivatives ★ President of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)
of coconut fatty acids,medicinal plant chemistry ★ Has a PhD in Botany and Phytochemistry from the University of Texas
➔ Isolation, identification and biological testing of novel constituents of Philippine medicinal ★ Served as the Director of the UPLB - National Institute of Molecular Biology
plants and Biotechnology (BIOTECH)
➔ Pioneered in the promotion of natural products and biotechnology

Artemio Salazar  ➔ Promotes RiCo (rise-corn) blend as a healthy option and as a rice substitute ★ Obtained BSc in Agricultural Chemistry and MSc in Plant Breeding at the UPLB
➔ Conducts research on sorghum and corn at IPB ★ PhD in Plant Breeding at Iowa State University in Ames
★ Head of the Crop Genetics and Plant Breeding Division of UPLB’s Institute of
Plant Breeding (IPB)
★ One of Asian Scientists 100: headed the team producing IPB Quality Protein
Maize Var. 6
★ Won the Leads Agri for Agricultural Research given by the Philippine
Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology

Marissa Paglicawan  ➔ Research on turning abaca into an engineering material ★ Head of the Advanced Materials Section at the Materials Science Division at
➔ Used abaca fiber in “Tryk ni Juan”- common motorized tricycle DOST-ITDI
★ Included in Asian Scientist 100
★ Awarded 2018 Gregorio Zara Award for Applied Science Research

Lourdes Cruz  ➔ Helped discover a snail toxin as thousand times more powerful than morphine ★ First Filipino winner of 2010 L’ oreal-UNESCO “For Women In Science
➔ Isolation and characterization of venom called ​conotoxins ​from marine cone snails during Awards”
1970s ★ 1981​- DOST NAST Outstanding Young Scientist
➔ Established Rural LINC (Livelihood Incubator) Program in 2001- involves building a fruit ★ 1982​- DOST NRCP Achievement awardee
processing facility run by women farmers where indigenous tribes can sell fruits from ★ 1986​- One of the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS)
orchards and forest tree for Biochemistry
 ★ Currently works at the laboratory of Marine Science Institute, UPD
★ DOST member since March 2011

Rody Sy  ➔ He focused on hypertension, diabetic heart disease, metabolic syndrome, heart failure and ★ He is recognized as one of the Asia Scientist 100 this year.
atherosclerosis. ★ Received the Dr. Paulo Campos Award for Health Research
➔ His research in 2009, called LIFE, studied factors leading to the development of ★ He is a professor of the UP Medical Alumni Foundation incorporation
cardiovascular diseases.
➔ Researches in biomedical science

Fabian Dayrit  ➔ Scientific research in the field of chemistry, spectroscopy, and environmental science ★ Received a Bachelor degree in Chemistry in Ateneo de Manila University in
➔ Research in natural products has led to a better understanding of bioactives and the 1975
identification of a new compound from indigenous plants particularly lagundi ★ Master of Arts degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemistry in 1981
➔ Developed a methodology using ​Gas Chromatography​ coupled with high resolution from Princeton University
Mass Spectrometry​ for low-level analysis of compounds ★ Director of the National Chemistry Instrumentation Center (NCIC)
➔ Explored the use of nuclear magnetic resonance for chemical analysis as well as structural ★ Achieved the title “Professor Emeritus” teacher, highest rank at the Loyola
analysis of polysaccharides School of the Ateneo de Manila University
➔ ★ Currently the president of the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP)

Caesar Saloma  ➔ Photonics, signal processing and development of methods to generate high-contrast ★ Scientist, educator and once appointed as Chancellor of the UPD on 2011
images of semiconductor sites via one photon optical beam- introduced current imaging ★ 1981, 1984 and 1989-​ Obtain BS, MS and PhD degrees in Physics from UPD
and confocal reflectance microscopy ★ Physics Professor of the National Institute of Physics in UPD
➔ Development of efficient models for describing the dynamics of real-world systems that ★ Became Dean of the CS at UPD and NIP Director
involve large number of interacting agents ★ 2004- ​First ASEAN member to receive Galileo Galilei Award from International
Commission for Optics
★ 2010- ​Outstanding Science Administrator Award from DOAT and NAST

Ricardo Balog  ➔ Research on low-cost medical devices ★ Received the​ 2018​ Mario Cruel Award for Advanced Engineering Technology
➔ Low-cost, multipurpose, adjustable, and self-restraining retractor used by surgeons for Application
performing surgery on a patient’s abdominal area ★ Former Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
➔ An orthopedic device used to correct misaligned/dislocated bones, particularly a patient’s
lower limb bones

Elmer Dadios  ➔ Research interests include A.I., evo. systems, fuzzy logic, manufacturing processes, ★ BS Electrical Engineering in Mindanao State U., MS ComSci from DLSU, &
neural networks, robotics, software engineering, automation, & intelligent systems. PhD from the Manufacturing Engineering Loughborough University, UK.
➔ Editor of the Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Informatics of ★ Full Professor 10 (highest rank) at the Manufacturing Eng. & Management
Japan, Associate Editor of the Int’l Journal for Manufacturing S&T of USA, & Federation of Dept. at Gokongwei College of Engineering at DLSU.
Int’l Robot-Soccer Association (FIRA) Newsletter- he has prepared 40 paper presentations ★ Best Paper Presentation at the 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial
and refereed for int’l journals Electronics Society.
★ 2000​ - IECON-2000 Fellows at the IEEE Int’l Conference on Industrial
Electronics, Control, & Instrumentation.
★ 2009​ - DOST’s 50 Men and Women of S&T
★ 2009​ - DOST Scholar Achievers
★ 2010​ - National Research Council of the Phil.’s Achievement Award
★ 2011​ - NAST’s Outstanding Scientific Paper Award
★ Consultant for both gov’t and private corporations on software and hardware
development in the area of robotics and intelligent systems application
★ President of NEURONEMECH Inc.
★ Founder and past president of Mechatronics and Robotics Society of the Phil.
★ Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE)
Rosalinda Torres  ➔ Chief at the Standards and Testing Division of DOST-ITDI and studies applications of ★ 2019​ - one of Asian Scientist 100
chem. on natural products, drug discovery, and medicinal and pharmaceutical chem.
➔ Larvicidal potential of Phil. medicinal plants like avocado, guyabano, and pomelo.
➔ Researched on natural products that resulted in development of health supplements,
personal care products, and plant products w/ insecticidal properties: Development of
guyabano health supplements, anti-diabetic dietary supplements, Protocols for pectin
production from calamansi and mango, and standardized herbal processing tech.
➔ Novel Analgesic products and mosquito repellent from essential oil extraction.

Alonzo Gabriel  ➔ Recognized under Senate Resolution 875, by Sen. Manuel M. Lapid; Dr. Alonzo helps ★ Prof. of Food Science in the College of Economics at UPD
micro and small scale industry stakeholders who do not have ability to conduct their own ★ PhD in Bio-functional S&T in from Hiroshima University
research with newest food safety and processing innovations, for they are ★ Member of Saint Gallen of Japan, European Society of Clinical Microbio/ and
marginalized/underprivileged communities. Infectious Diseases (Germany), and Int’l Association for Food Protection (USA)
➔ Advocacy for improved food quality, safety, and defense moves for farmers, fishermen, & ★ 2013​ - Outstanding Young Scientist for Microbio. and Hygiene from NAST
food manufacturer to comply with int’l standards for production, distribution, and trade. ★ 2013​ - The Outstanding Young Men of the Phil. for Food S&T
➔ Hurdle Food Technology​ - application of multiple mild food processing tech. For food ★ 2013​ - Int’l Union of Food S&T, Young Scientist Excellence Award
safety and food quality ★ 2014 - ​Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Applied Research of the Phil. Association
➔ Precision Food Processing​ - establishment of models that estimate microbial for the Advancement of Science (PhilAAS)
inactivation and quality deterioration rates in food.

Gay Jane Perez  ➔ Research focused on using satellite data to forecast drought and identify the ideal planting ★ BS Applied Physics (2003), MS in Physics (2005), and PhD at UPD.
areas and seasons that result in improved crop yield. ★ Awarded the ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women and received $20,000 from
➔ She led the DOST-Phil. Microsat program and successfully sent into orbit ​DIWATA-1 US and Underwriters Lab.
(2016) ★ Postdoctoral fellow at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA)

Reinabelle Reyes  ➔ Research on “obscured quasars” and mass profiles of disk galaxies, observing at different ★ Valedictorian ​- Phil. Science HS and trained for National Physics Olympiad,
scales, imaging, long-slit spectroscopy and weak gravitational lensing. ★ BS Physics, summa cum laude​ - Ateneo de Manila
➔ Expanding “Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity” across galaxies outside the solar ★ MS in High Energy Physics​ - Abdus Salam International Center for
system. Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy
★ 2011​ - obtained PhD in Astrophysics at Princeton University and studied mass
profiles of disk galaxies
★ Received Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Award from the American
Astronomical Society for research on “obscured quasars”
★ The Filipina who proved Einstein right

Charissa Ferrera  ➔ Analysis of water quality in Anda and Bolinao, towns of Pangasinan that breed ​bangus ★ 2018​ - L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Fellowship for research on
➔ Studied amount of phosphorus​⁠— ​one of the nutrients that support the growth of algae improving water quality in coastal towns
and aquatic plants. ★ 2019​ - Recognized as one of the Asian Scientist 100