UPINHF officers hand the 2024 International Health Professional Award for Excellence to Dr. Regina Berba.
Dr. Regina P. Berba, principal investigator of the study on Philippine Vaccine Effectiveness (PhilVE), received the 2024 International Health Professional Award for Excellence from the University of the Philippines International Nursing and Healthcare Forum, Inc. (UPINHF) on August 10, 2024 during the UPINHF’s 8th Annual International Forum and Reunion held in Los Angeles, California. The special recognition is given by UPINHF to distinguished UP alumni who demonstrate exemplary leadership, vision, and compassion in the fields of nursing and healthcare.
The Philippine Vaccine Effectiveness Project: A Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Surveillance among Filipino Adults, or PhilVE Project, is a research spearheaded by Dr. Berba together with Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-dela Paz, Executive Director of the UP Manila National Institutes of Health (UPM NIH), and Dr. Marissa Alejandria, Director of the Institute of Clinical Epidemiology. The project aims to estimate the real-world effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines used among adults in the Philippines, particularly those at higher risk for developing COVID-19 like healthcare workers, elderly and those with comorbidities, essential workers, as well as those from indigent communities.
Dr. Berba is an infectious disease expert and currently serves as Professor 3 at the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine. She was the recipient of The Outstanding Filipino Physicians (TOFP) for 2022 by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) of the Philippine Senate, awarded in collaboration with the Philippine Medical Association (PMA).
She had served as the head of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Hospital Infection Control Unit (HICU) for more than a decade. She also led the crafting of the COVID-19 treatment protocols to ensure the safety of health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Berba presents the PhilVE Project at the UPINHF 8th Annual International Forum and Reunion.
The award-giving body, UPINHF, was incorporated in California on June 1, 2017 as a non-stock, nonprofit corporation. It is an accredited provider of Continuing Education by the California Board of Registered Nursing (CE Provider Number 16871), and accredited by the UP Alumni Association and the UP Board of Regents on June 21, 2018.
Since its founding, the organization has presented awards to notable UP alumni in the fields of nursing and healthcare as a part of its mission of “transforming healthcare by fostering inter-professional and multi-sectoral dialogue and collaboration in the advancement of professional practices, services, education, and research.” Previous UPINHF awardees include Philippine General Hospital Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, incumbent National Association of Public Health Nurses President Dr. Cora Añonuevo, and UP Manila College of Nursing Dean Dr. Sheila Bonito. #
