The Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) awarded the winners of the 2023 Best Mentor in Health Research Awards during its 42nd Anniversary Celebration on 25 March 2024 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). 

Dr. Janet Alexis A. De Los Santos of the Visayas State University (VSU) won the national prize for the 2023 Best Mentor in Health Research – Undergraduate Students Category. Dr. De Los Santos, with expertise and research interests in public health, is currently an Associate Professor IV of VSU’s Faculty of Nursing and has mentored over 16 groups of undergraduate students.

For the Graduate Students Category, Dr. May Anne E. Mata of UP Mindanao won the national award. While serving as the Director of the Office of Research, Professor of Applied Mathematics, and as a University Scientist of UP Mindanao, Dr. Mata has mentored at least 15 graduate students and 15 undergraduate students. She is also the project leader of the PCHRD-supported project that developed a virtual planning tool  that can generate forecasts and models of disease outbreaks for disease outbreak management. 

For the third category, Dr. Daisy R. Palompon of the Cebu Normal University (CNU) bagged the national Best Mentor in Health Research Award for the Early Career or Junior Researchers. Dr. Palompon has mentored over 24 junior/early career researchers while working as a professor at the CNU. She previously served as the Vice President for Academics, Vice President for Research Extension and Publication, and Director of the Center for Research and Development of her institution. 

“I am extremely proud of our Best Mentors in Health Research Awardees who are also our partners in building our human resources in health research,” said DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Jaime Montoya. “I hope that you can continue inspiring more to take this path of driving innovation for a healthier Filipino nation,” he added. 

Along with the national winners, Cluster Winners were also awarded during the celebration. For the Luzon Cluster, Dr. Jinky Marie T. Chua (Undergraduate Students Category), Dr. Jacqueline V. Bagunu (Graduate Students Category), and Dr. Reynaldo DL. Bundalian (Early Career/Junior Researchers Category) received the cluster awards. 

For the Visayas Cluster, Dr. Janet Alexis A. De Los Santos (Undergraduate Students Category), Dr. Laurence L. Garcia (Graduate Students Category), and Dr. Daisy R. Palompon (Early Career/Junior Researchers Category) were awarded. 

As the lone winner for the Mindanao Cluster, Dr. May Anne E. Mata won the Best Mentor in Health Research under the Graduate Students Category. Lastly, the NCR Cluster recognized two mentors namely, Dr. Reynaldo L. Garcia (Undergraduate Students Category) and Dr. Valentin C. Dones III (Early Career/Junior Researchers Category). 

The Best Mentor in Health Research is a biennial award conferred by the DOST-PCHRD to mentors in health research who have built the capacities of researchers in the health sector which and in the process, propelled significant advances in health research. Awardees are selected per cluster (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and NCR) and categorized according to their mentees (Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students and Junior/Early Career Researchers). Among the cluster winners, one national winner per category was selected.