Text by Charmaine Lingdas
Photos by Ronald Verceles
The University of the Philippines Manila College of Public Health (CPH) and the National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (NUS-SSHSPH) took a major step toward regional cooperation in public health education and research through an exploratory meeting held on Oct. 24, 2025, at UP Manila.
The meeting facilitated by Dr. Vivien Fe Fadrilan-Camacho, director of the Office of International and Local Linkages, aimed to identify specific areas for collaboration in research, faculty and student mobility, and capacity building, as well as discuss the status of an upcoming Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.
UPM-CPH Dean Fernando Garcia Jr. highlighted the role of the CPH as the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (SEAMEO TROPMED) Regional Centre (TROPMED/Philippines) in the fields of public health, rural medicine, hospital administration, environmental and occupational health, health policy and management, and affirmed its commitment to advancing regional partnerships in public health education and research.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sharon Villanueva presented the UPM-CPH research agenda under UP Manila’s Advancing Health through Research Utilization and Global Alliance (ARUGA) framework, highlighting priorities such as infectious and non-communicable diseases, health equity, systems strengthening, and themes on antimicrobial resistance and NCD risk factors.
Leading the NUS-SSHSPH delegation, Prof. Alex Cook, Vice Dean for Global Health described UPM-CPH as a partner for evidence-based and policy-oriented research in the ASEAN region. He also shared NUS-SSHSPH’s model of “Research × Practice,” which integrates academic research with government policymaking through close collaboration with the Singapore Ministry of Health. He also presented NUS-SSHSPH’s major research centers, including the Centre for Modelling Infectious Diseases (CERM), the Centre for Health Security, and the Centre for AI in Public Health.
Both institutions explored opportunities for academic and student exchange, with short-term faculty visits identified as the most feasible starting point. Meanwhile, joint short courses, workshops, and guest lectures were also proposed, with an emphasis on shared thematic strengths such as digital health, climate and health, and antimicrobial resistance.
A highlight of their meeting was the proposal to launch a joint ASEAN-themed webinar series designed to foster knowledge exchange among public health researchers and students across the region.
Both institutions committed to undertaking four principal mechanisms of collaboration: collaborative grant applications, staff and student exchanges, co-supervised PhD programs, and advisory positions in regional research projects.
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