1st Call for Thesis/Research Proposals for Funding by the NIH Student Research Grant 2024

We are pleased to announce that the Office of the Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is now accepting first (1st) batch of applications for the NIH Student Research Grant for CY 2024. This grant provides funding support for thesis/research projects of UP Manila undergraduate, masteral, PhD, and medical students.

Newborn Hearing Screening Reference Center

The NHSRC is the main partner of the Department of Health (DOH) in implementing Republic Act No. 9709 or the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act which was signed into law on 12 August 2009. The NHSRC aims to develop standards for certification for newborn hearing screening centers; define hearing screening protocols; maintain external laboratory proficiency program; oversee the national testing database and cases registries; assist in training activities in all aspects of the program; oversee the development of all promotional and educational materials; report the Department of Health any non-compliance committed by newborn hearing screening centers of health facility in the country.

The UP Board of Regents formally approved the creation of the NHSRC on 24 February 2012. Since then, the vision of the Center is for every newborn to be given access to physiologic hearing screening examination prior to hospital discharge for the detection of hearing loss and to receive intervention in the earliest feasible time.

Institute of Herbal Medicine

The Institute of Herbal Medicine, created upon approval of the UP Board of Regents on 29 March 2007, is the recognized leading authority on herbal medicine research and development in the Philippines. The IHM undertakes scientific, ethical, and culturally-sensitive researches and development on Philippine medicinal plants in an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach enhancing their rational use in the community and promoting the growth of the national pharmaceutical industry. The Institute documents the healing knowledge and practices of the Philippine ethno-linguistic groups, conducts studies to determine the efficacy and safety of selected medicinal plants for use in the community, and advocates the rational use of safe and effective medicinal plants by the public and health care providers.

The Institute of Herbal Medicine conducts the Philippine Herbal Medicine Summits with the objective of bringing together all stakeholders of herbal medicines including those involved in research, funding, manufacturing, distribution, regulation, and consumption in order to share best practices as well as to work together in improving the state of herbal medicine drug development in the country. The members of the academe, pharmaceutical industry, government funders, regulators and consumers came together and found ways to cooperate and collaborate. As of 2021, the Institute has successfully conducted 3 Summits.

National Clinical Trials and Translation Center

The National Clinical Trials and Translation Center will be the major resource hub for health research and capacity building, creating new knowledge that will elevate the standards of health care for Filipinos.

The NCTTC will address the increase in the number of health professionals conducting clinical trials research of international standards, encourage collaboration with other fields needed for translation of findings in health research such as social sciences, economics, and public health, and place UP in a leading role, nationally and internationally, as a Center of Excellence in Clinical Trials and Translational Research.

National Training Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity

Created in February 2018, the NTCBB is the newest Center formally established under the NIH and approved by the UP Board of Regents. The NTCBB is the pioneer training center in the field of biosafety and biosecurity in the Philippines. It is mandated to promote and develop biorisk management principles in various institutions to maintain safety in all the laboratories and other institutions that handle biological hazards across the country.

The Center envisions itself to be the source of relevant information and expertise related to the practice of biosafety and biosecurity in the Philippines, to provide the capacity for training for biosafety and biosecurity practitioners in the Philippines, and to be the focal training center in the country that will link with counterpart organization globally. In order to uphold its mandate, the NTCBB has flagship programs aimed to promote and educate stakeholders with the principles of biosafety and biosecurity; among these programs are the Advanced Biorisk Officers Training and Online Biosafety Training.

Institute on Aging

The creation of the National Institutes of Health was approved by the Board of Regents at its 1094th meeting on 26 January 1996, and with it, the Gerontology and Disabilities Programs Cluster, through the Committee on Aging and Degenerative Diseases (COMADD). Various physicians, academicians, and allied medical professionals within the University of the Philippines system pioneered the COMADD. Its first Chairman was Dr. Clemente Amante, Vice-Chair Dr. Shelley de la Vega, members Dr. Ramon Abarquez, Dr. Jaime Montoya, Dr. May Gose, Dr. Ester Bitnga, Dr. Letty Kuan, Dr. Lourdes Ledesma, Dr. and Alvin Mojica. Within a few years its membership expanded to include Dr. Doris Camagay (Dept. Family Medicine), Ms. Elizabeth Limos (PGH Nutrition), Dr. JD Agapito (UPM CAS), Dr. Araceli Balabagno and Dr. Lydia Manahan (UPCN), Ms. Gayline Manalang (CPH), Mr. Edward James Gorgon (CAMP)Dr. Alvin Mojica and Dr. Dorothy DyChing-Bing Agsoaoay (PGH Dept. Rehabilitation Medicine).

The Board of Regents of the University approved the establishment of the Institute on Aging (IA) on 04 December 2012, through a Resolution during its 1284th meeting. Its first members were Shelley de la Vega, MD, MSc (ClinEpi), FPCGM (Director); Maria Stella Giron, MD, PhD (Faculty) and Ms. Angely Garcia, RN, MPH (University Research Associate II).

Newborn Screening Reference Center

Republic Act 9288 or the Newborn Screening Act of 2004 mandated the NIH to serve as the technical partner of the Department of Health (DOH) in ensuring the quality of service and sustainability of the National Comprehensive Newborn Screening System (NCNBSS). NIH performs this function through the NSRC. The establishment of NSRC, under the BOR’s approval in its 1188th meeting on October 28, 2004, marked a major initiative in addressing the needs of NCNBSS.

In its 16 years of operations, NSRC has provided technical assistance to the DOH in reaching its goal of screening Filipino newborns for common life-threatening heritable disorders. It has collaborated with the DOH in the setting-up of the necessary NBS system infrastructures – from the selection and accreditation of Newborn Screening Centers (NSCs), recruitment of health facilities to become participating Newborn Screening (NBS) facilities, selection of G6PD confirmatory centers, confirmatory reference laboratories for hemoglobinopathies and for metabolic disorders; to the establishment of NBS Continuity Clinics that would handle the long-term follow-up management of confirmed patients.

Philippine National Ear Institute

The PNEI, previously known as the Ear Institute, was created as approved by the UP Board of Regents in 2001 to be at the forefront in undertaking epidemiological investigation related to disorders of hearing, balance, and their related functions. The Institute pursues researches dealing with the preventive, curative, and rehabilitative aspects of diseases and/or disabilities that may result from malfunctions of the ear and its related organs. It shall provide an environment for comprehensive and integrated studies on hearing, balance, and communicative disorders relevant to Philippine conditions in support of the research and development mission of UP through the NIH.

The passage and signing into law of Republic Act No. 9245 in 2004 formally established the Philippine National Ear Institute within the UP system. It also serves as a teaching laboratory for the students of the UP College of Medicine, residents of the PGH Department of Otorhinolaryngology and students of the Master of Clinical Audiology program of UP Manila. To fulfill its mission, the PNEI has formed partnerships with government and non-government institutions to diagnose, prevent, improve, and treat hearing disorders. PNEI also cooperates with the hearing loss evaluation and management component of the PhilHealth Z package for Children with Disabilities with its hub located in the PGH.

Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies

IHPDS, created upon BOR approval in 27 May 1999, espouses a multi-disciplinary, evidence-based, and multi-organizational approach to health policy research, formulation, and development. As the foremost academe-based health policy research center, it shall serve as the authority for applied health systems research, health economic research, and policy analysis and advocacy; a platform for implementing broad-based, multi-disciplinary approach to real world problems affecting health and development; and a source of learnings and solutions that are actionable, robust, empirically illuminated and validated for the benefit and use of policymakers and other stakeholders.