By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

THE DEPARTMENT of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) is planning to expand the local herbal products industry to reduce dependence on imported drugs.

In a press conference Wednesday, DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Jaime Montoya said building the local herbal industry was aimed at reducing the cost of more expensive drugs and dependence on foreign imports

The use of herbal products for functional foods and personal care are major markets for the agency, Montoya said.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

TO HONOR the services and achievements of the late scientist and educator Paulo Campos Members of the esteemed Governing Board of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) have named the NRCP executive boardroom the Paulo C. Campos Conference Room on August 31.

Campos, who died last June 2 at the age of 86, was a medical doctor who was the Philippine pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine, a relatively unknown branch of medicine that delves into diagnosis and therapy using nuclear properties.

He took his medical degree at the University of the Philippines under full scholarship and practiced at the nearby Philippine General Hospital. Back then, he already conducted various researches in medicine and often offered his services to the poor for free.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

BALDOMERO OLIVERA’S name may not ring a bell for many Filipinos. He is not an actor or a politician — and he certainly is not a criminal whose name lands in the headlines of local newspapers. Yet he has given Filipinos all over the world a reason to be proud by being named Harvard Foundation’s 2007 Scientist of the Year.

Dr. Olivera is a distinguished professor of biology in the University of Utah. The man is so popular and respected in that institution that a research laboratory is named after him. Olivera’s scientific research into the medicinal aspects of the ubiquitous but deadly cone snails landed him the distinction of being named Scientist of the Year. In keeping with his modesty, Olivera did not expect to win the award but merely worked hard to come up with comprehensive studies on the cone snails.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

DR. Baldomero Olivera, a Filipino award-winning scientist who has discovered new drugs for pain, Alzheimer’s and epilepsy in the Philippine wildlife, is set to visit the country next month.

Technology Business Incubator and the Brain Gain Network have invited Dr. Olivera to an innovation forum in Filipinas Heritage Library on July 6 to speak on his discoveries of new sources of painkillers, including deadly sea snails, among others.

Olivera was recently awarded by the Harvard Foundation as Scientist of the Year following his three decades of work in developing drugs from the animal wildlife, according to a copy of his brief profile.

[Read the rest of this entry »]