Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) Executive Director, Dr. Jaime C. Montoya led the presentation of the accomplishments in health research and development at the 3rd National Research and Development Conference (NRDC) last 20 April 2018 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

Scientists and researchers of the country came together at the annual conference to present projects on five sector components: (1) basic research, (2) agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources, (3) health, (4) industry, energy, and emerging technology, and (5) disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Underlining the Council’s support in every stage in health research, Dr. Montoya discussed the Council’s accomplishments of the previous year and the exciting developments to look forward to this 2018.

The health sector had a notable lineup of four speakers starting with Dr. Mario V. Capanzana of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute who talked about the Malnutrition Reduction Program.

Dr. Raul V. Destura of UP Manila and the Philippine Genome Center presented the “Lab-in-a-Mug Project: How Dengue brought us together,” and highlighted the development and the process behind the affordable, accurate, and rapid test kit for accurate detection of dengue infection—Biotek-M^TM Dengue aqua kit. Biotek-M^TM recently received a gold medal at the Salon International des Inventions de Genève.

The “Axis Knee System: Confidence in Every Step” by Dr. Ilustre I. Guloy of the Orthopaedic International Inc. and Asian Hospital and Medical Center discussed the cost-efficient, simple, and revolutionary knee replacement system that is now commercially available for individuals suffering from severe osteoarthritis.

Dr. Evangeline C. Amor discussed one of the projects under the Tuklas Lunas Program: Discovery and Development of Health Products: Terrestrial Herbals and Drug Candidates, a collaborative research program among institutions across the country. Supplements and medicine for disease such as diabetes, inflammation and pain, hypertension and high cholesterol, gout, and microbial infection could be made available through the discoveries of the projects.

DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña also recognized the recipients of the first Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D (NICER) Program and Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (CRADLE) Program.

Among the grantees are the health researches monitored by the Council, namely: Center for Innovations for Cost Effective Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Health (DRRM-H) outcomes in NCR and the Philippines by Dr. Carlos Primero Gundran of University of the Philippines Manila (NICER); PCOPEIA: Predictive Chromatography of Organic Plant Extracts with Intelligent Agents by Dr. Dranreb Earl Juanico of Technological Institute of the Philippines and Dr. Isagani Padolina of Pascual Pharma Corp (CRADLE); and M of Hypocholesterolemic Natural Products from Pineapple by Dr. Jonel Saludes of University of San Agustin.

The conference showcased updates on the Harmonized National R&D Agenda (HRNDA 2017-2022). The NRDC is an annual gathering to consult and gather inputs of government agencies, private R&D institutions, the academe, industry, and other concerned agencies for research and development plans and programs.