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Dr. Baltazar D. Aguda is a multidisciplinary scientist who started his scientific career as a theoretical-physical chemist investigating the nonlinear dynamics of complex biochemical reaction systems, developing methods for predicting interaction network instabilities and the construction of predictive computational models. For the past 16 years, he has focused the applications of his methods to understanding how certain perturbations of gene & molecular interaction networks could lead to cancer. His initial contributions include seminal papers on checkpoints in the mammalian cell cycle [1-3]. He and his co-workers have further published mechanistic models of other cellular processes associated with hallmarks of cancer ([4-8]), and in 2008 his book Models of Cellular Regulation was published by Oxford University Press [9]. Constructing these complex gene regulatory network models has become increasingly possible as high-throughput data-acquisition technologies and omics datasets become available. More recently, Dr. Aguda has authored or co-authored a series of highly-cited papers on microRNAs – as biomarkers of human disease [10-11] and their roles in the regulation of cancer networks [12]. As evidence of the impact of his work, Dr. Aguda has been invited to contribute chapters in books on advances in the field [13-14]. The ultimate goal of Dr. Aguda’s research program is the control of gene & molecular networks that are deregulated during malignant transformation. He advocates the paradigm of network pharmacology that proposes targeting gene networks using combinations of drugs instead of the old one drug-one target strategy (see [15] for his review of the network pharmacology of glioblastoma). At the Philippine Genome Center, one of the projects of his research group is the creation of network modules databases that serve, in association with novel computer algorithms being created by his group, as in silico platforms to aid in combination drug targets & disease biomarkers discovery. Dr. Aguda has held faculty positions in Canada (Laurentian University) and the USA (Boston University School of Medicine), and senior research or visiting faculty positions at Singapore’s Biopolis (Bioinformatics Institute), Ohio State University (Mathematical Biosciences Institute), and the National Cancer Institute (National Institutes of Health, USA). As part of his services to his scientific community, he has refereed papers for at least 33 international scientific journals, reviewed research grant proposals for at least 9 international granting agencies, organized or co-organized many international conferences. Dr. Aguda has been an invited seminar speaker at Harvard University (USA), Caltech (USA), Weizmann Institute (Israel), University of Cambridge (UK), and Humboldt University (Germany), among many other research-intensive institutions.
Sex: Male
Education
- University of Alberta Canada, Ph.D. in Chemistry, 1986
- University of the Philippines, Los Baños, B.Sc. in Agricultural Chemistry, 1978
Field of Specialization
Systems Biology(Biomedical System Modeling)
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Dr. Agravante Josephine is recognized for her significant research studies on postharvest horticulture with emphasis on two important crops, the mango and the banana. Her achievements resulted not only in the improvement of postharvest systems for these crops, but in the generation of basic physiological information which can be used in designing other appropriate handling technologies that can help expand markets and minimize losses.
Sex: Female
Education
- University of the Philippines at Los Ba?os, College, Laguna, B.S. Agriculture (Major in Horticulture), 1982
- Kagawa University, Japan, Research Student, 1991
- Kagawa University, Japan, Ph.D. in Postharvest Horticulture, 1991
Field of Specialiation
Agriculture, Postharvest Physiology
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Sex: Male
Education
- Iowa State University, USA, M. S. A. E, 1931
- University of California, USA, B.S. A. E., 1929
Field of Specialization
Agricultural Engineering
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Sex: Female
Education
- De La Salle University, Doctor of Philosophy in Biology
- De La Salle University, Master of Science in Biology
- University of the Philippines, Bachelor of Science in Biological Science
Field of Specialization
Plant Ecology, Bioinformatics, Plant Conservation, Plant Systematics, Terrestrial Ecology, Plant Taxonomy
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Dr. Nelly S. Aggangan has been a researcher of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH), University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines since 1980. She is Scientist 1 under the Science Career Service of the Department of Science and Technology. She holds a PhD degree in Forest Biotechnology from Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia; MS and BS degrees in Forestry from UPLB. She also had a two year Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Institute of Forest Sciences (NIFoS, formerly Korea Forest Research Institute) in Suwon, South Korea where she developed protocol on mycorrhizal inoculation of somatic embryogenesis derived microplants. Currently, she is doing similar researches on the application of selected mycorrhizal fungi in combination with other beneficial microorganisms on micro and macropropagated plants (fruit crops and reforestation species) and on raised seedlings. Dr. Aggangan’s research activities address ecosystem renewal and sustainable productivity through the development and commercialization of various microbial-based (bio)fertilizers and related studies. She worked mainly on producing and commercializing mycorrhizal fungi that are effective in promoting plant growth, survival and yield of high value crops and forest tree species. She has isolated and produced mycorrhizal fungi that are tolerant to different environmental stresses and as biocontrol to root pathogens such as nematodes and Fusarium wilt causing organisms. She also developed a new, easier, cheap and more efficient production protocol, light weight and soilless carrier for both local and international use.
Sex: Female
Education
- Murdoch University, Perth Western, Australia, Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Pathology, 1996
Field of Specialization
Agriculture, Forestry, Plant Nutrition, Bioremediation, Forest Biotechnology, Mycorrhiza Technology for Agriculture and Forestry, Phytoremediation