My story starts in the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). The RITM is the cluster of white buildings on top of the only hill in Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang. You will not miss it if you only look to your right when passing the Alabang overpass across Zapote Road. Before 2003, its existence was not well-known to many, except for those who were bitten by dogs and needed anti-rabies shots. RITM’s most illustrious moment came when SARS came to the Philippines. This was after the family of Adela Catalon, who died of SARS, and other suspected SARS victims were brought and quarantined in the hospital wing of the institute. During this time, the RITM was featured on television and in newspapers with an image that made the institute the most fearsome place and its workers the most fearsome people in the country.
As for me, I have known the RITM since 1995 when I used to go there as a product specialist of a company that offered products for molecular biology researches. I went there, still having to pass a bumpy dirt road that had not yet been developed by Filinvest Corp., to troubleshoot PCR machines, discuss the advantages of a top-of-the-line DNA sequencer and promote different laboratory products. It was just the beginning.
In 1998, I came to know the RITM more and got involved in their research activities when I joined the Marine Science Institute in UP Diliman (UPMSI) as a science research specialist. During that time, I started working on collaborative projects between the UPMSI and RITM. The first project I worked on involved searching for potential antimalarial compounds from marine sponges. At UPMSI, we collected marine sponges by scuba-diving in different sites in the country and from which we extract, purify and characterize various compounds with biological activities that have therapeutic potential. The project ended with a candidate that we still hope to pursue for further studies.
The funding for the first project ended, but my involvement in the RITM continued when I worked on my masteral thesis. The Immunology Department head, Dr. Luz P. Acosta, the director of the RITM, Dr. Remegio M. Olveda, and my mentor from UPMSI, Dr. Gisela P. Concepcion, arranged my "adoption" in the RITM. Through this arrangement, I was able to work in the institute on a project involving the development of an immunoassay for detecting a tumor antigen in the serum of cancer patients. In this project, we came up with a design for a local alternative to imported cancer monitoring kits that was cheaper and less hazardous than its imported, radioactive counterpart. There are still a lot of things to be done in the project, but as it was, I felt so blessed to have completed my masteral thesis and discovered my interest in the field of immunology.
After my thesis, UPMSI and RITM forged another collaboration on a project involving the production of a monoclonal antibody against a tumor marker or antigen as part of an ongoing multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research program known as AMOR (Antibody and Molecular Oncology Researchers), the acronym coined by Dr. Concepcion). The AMOR program aims to develop therapies for breast cancer and is supported by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of DOST. Aside from UPMSI and RITM, AMOR involves researchers from the UP Diliman National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB), Institute of Chemistry, Institute of Biology, Far Eastern University and the Ateneo de Manila University.
In the six years that I have been working as a researcher, I have witnessed the collaboration between UPMSI and RITM grow stronger. Now, we have more research projects involving immunology and have extended our partnership with the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI). The tripartite collaboration of UPMSI, RITM and NKTI aims to develop locally an immunosuppressant for kidney transplant patients that has a targeting antibody component and an immunosuppressive compound derived from a marine organism.
From all these projects I got involved in, I came to realize that right now, there are a lot of things that have to be done and can be done in our country as far as science research is concerned. I also realized from my experiences that we do have institutions and mentors here who are dedicated to making our country a healthy place for the growth of inquisitive minds. However, it is still not financially rewarding to work as a scientist in our country as it is in other developed nations. And so, I hope that our government will exert more effort in providing a better local scientific environment to encourage Filipino scientists abroad to come home. I do not think it is too much to ask for more incentives for science researchers. At present, we are earning a lot less than our peers who opted to work in industry or even in call centers. This I find a bit discouraging.
I am leaving the country now because there is a lot in science that I think I need to know and will learn from more advanced nations. Certainly, I still find the prospect of making a significant contribution in improving the health condition of our fellow Filipinos particularly motivating and worthwhile. At least for now, and from where I stand, I still think and feel I have found my niche in science in the country I would like to come home to.