Pinoys urged to patronize own

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential Awardee Dr. Samuel D. Bernal, a Filipino-American regenerative medicine expert, medical oncologist, molecular biologist, chemist and a lawyer, urged Filipinos to patronize the technology we have here in the country.

Dr. Bernal was the recipient of Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas conferred by President Aquino and the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) last Dec. 5.

“Non-Filipino patients from all over the world would come to the Philippines for treatment because of the very advanced technology we have here particularly on regenerative medicine. We are far better than Germany,” Dr. Bernal claims.

Dr. Bernal finished his fellowship training in cancer medicine and cell biology at Harvard Medical School and internship and residency in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He came back to the country to put-up facility on regenerative medicine, molecular medicine laboratory for tumor profiling for drug resistance and sensitivity, and a comprehensive stem cell bank which collects baby’s umbilical cord for the family’s future use in treatment using stem cell technology.

During the conferring of awards by President Aquino, Dr. Bernal stated, “We need to support Filipino ingenuity and give them the chance to do what is right and show the world what Filipinos are really made of.”

Dr. Bernal who is mostly based in US and Europe was nominated by the Philippine Embassy in Czech Republic for his unwavering support to the Filipino communities particularly in the field of science and medicine.

A staunch advocate of Filipino talent, Dr. Bernal put up Globetek Science Foundation Inc. in 2004 to train local scientists in the fields of molecular medicine and stem cell research. His laboratories in California, Prague, Makati and Davao are active in studies of the molecular biology of cancer stem cells and clinical applications of regenerative stem cell.