A pediatrician-geneticist, a parasitologist, and an urologist from UP Manila earned, for the second time, the rank of ‘UP Scientist III’ under the UP Scientific Productivity System (SPS). The three are Dr. Carmencita David-Padilla, Dr. Vicente Y. Belizario, Jr, and Dr. Maria Carmela M. Lapitan. They first received the award in 2012.

Dr. Padilla, the pediatrician-geneticist, is the Chancellor of UP Manila as well as the Executive Director of the Philippine Genome Center. Dr, Belizario is an Undersecretary of Health and a Professor of Parasitology (on secondment) at the College of Public Health. Dr. Lapitan is a faculty of both the College of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. She is also a consultant urologist at the Philippine General Hospital.

Of the three, only Chancellor Padilla was able to attend the program as Usec. Belizario and Dr. Lapitan had previous engagements

The doctors are some of the 27 UP faculty who received various ‘UP Scientist’ rankings in the yearly “APS & SPS Joint Awarding Ceremony” held on 28 August 2015 at the Ang Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman campus, Quezon City. Another set of UP awardees, artists and art scholars numbering 30 (faculty, REPS, and administrative personnel), were honored with ‘UP Artist’ rankings under the “UP Arts Productivity System” (APS). Aside from the rank which the awardees will retain for a period of three years, they also received monetary awards.

The awards were presented by UP President Alfredo E. Pascual, assisted by the Chancellors.

UP Manila has received 29 ‘UP Scientist’ awards since the award system was established by the Board of Regents in its 1199th meeting on 26 August 2005. It is meant to encourage and reward outstanding productivity of its people in the sciences, creative arts, and arts scholarship.

Text and poster: FMJemena/IPPAO-UPM