“Our vision is to become the powerhouse of health research in the country,” said Dr. Josefina P. Tuazon, President of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) Scholars Society (PSS) and former Dean of the College of Nursing, University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) during the PSS Convention at Makati Shangri-La Hotel on 14 March 2014.

According to Dr. Josefina Tuazon, the PSS will focus on capacity building this year to help PCHRD develop the critical mass of health research human resource in the country. In fact, PSS has created new committees for capacity building where scholars become trainers or mentors to health researchers.

PCHRD taps the expertise of its scholars in the council’s capacity building program. According to Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, PCHRD Executive Director, the scholars help the Regional Health Research and Development Consortia (RHRDC) not only as mentors, research evaluators, but as researchers themselves.

Dr. Montoya encouraged scholars to be part of the country’s health research pool. “The PCHRD would like to contribute to your individual and professional growth, as you help us address the country’s pressing health problems. Your success is also the success of PCHRD and the community that you serve.”

Meanwhile, the PSS launched its new website to enable other members to participate in the society through its online membership application and database. The website will serve as a channel for information dissemination among its members and target clienteles. PCHRD scholars and graduates are encouraged to register at http://pss.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/.

PSS is an organized group of PCHRD scholars aimed to assist PCHRD in fulfilling its mission in creating and sustaining an enabling environment for health research in the country.