Sunday, July 24, 2016

See ranks 1st, Silvestre ranks 8th, lead 145 new Thomasian architects

145 new architects Thomasians June 2016 passed the licensure examination for Architects, administered by the Professional Regulation Commission. The 145 new architectures scored a 75.13% passing rate for UST. The UST passing rate was 55.89% higher than the national passing rate.
 
Furthermore, Jeff McDaniel Y. See ranked first with a grade of 84%, while Cedrick William Y. Silvestre ranked 8th, with a grade of 80.90%.
 
#ThomasianExcellence #ThomasianArchitects

Santiago of BioChem visits Philippine embassy in Greece, promotes internationalization


PHAR 20160529 Santiago Embassy in Greece
Ms. Myla R. James, MSc, faculty member of the Department of Biochemistry of the Faculty of Pharmacy faculty and researcher of the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, visited the Philippine embassy in Greece last May 29, 2016, on the sidelines of a conference she was attending.
 
During the visit, James pitched for internationalization of the University's programs, in a bid to engage into partnerships with universities Greece UST.
 
She was received by Philippine Ambassador to Athens, Greece Nestor Z Ochoa.
 
#ThomasiansForgingLinks

Campus Ministry, RCAM graduate CYMPLE Batch 5

On the evening of July 2, 2016, the Most Rev. Broderick Pabillo, DD, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, presided over a Solemn Eucharistic Celebration during which 24 young people who have successfully completed the CYMPLE (Certificate on Youth Ministry, Pastoral Leadership and Empowerment) program were commissioned as Youth Ministers for their respective parishes / communities .
CYMPLE is a joint project of the University of Santo Tomas and the RCAM Archdiocesan Commission on Youth. For seven saturdays, the youth participants of workshop sessions held at the Multipurpose Hall UST CCM.
The following were the course topics:
Catholic Youth Ministry (Mr. Stephen G. Borja)
Effective Youth Leadership (Ms. Gelay Constantino)
Engaged Citizenship (Fr. Jerome Secillano)
Management of Organization (Mr. Albert Loteyro)
Public Speaking (Mr. Phillip Louise Latonio)
Youth Catechesis and Youth Culture (Mr. Tsard Pazcoguin)
Critical Thinking (Mr. Jeff Garcia)
Peer Facilitating and Conflict Management (Chatt Ms. Quesada)
The participants had to undergo a required mission experience, and had to pass the final oral examination in order to earn the certificate.
During the commissioning rite, bishop said imposed on each of the 24 graduates their mission cross, and in his homily, the Bishop reminded them that Christ calls them to be missionary disciples.
The graduation rites were held after the mass at the UST TYK Auditorium. During his inspirational talk, Fr. Jade Licuanan ACY Commissioner, reminded the graduates that the ministry is first and foremost for holiness, that we may have the fullness of life in Chirst. He exhorted young people to use their gifts and their passion in serving the Church and proclaiming the Gospel, especially in these times when the Church seems persecuted anew.
Michael Maglaque, CYMPLE 5 Class Valedictorian, in his address of thanks, encouraged his fellow graduates to be catalysts of change while at the same time balancing change with things that are permanent.
A simple agape capped the celebration.

Acclaimed linguist Jack Richards finishes teaching run in UST, lectures to UST, AdMU, DLSU, UP, PNU teachers

Acclaimed linguist and language educator Professor Jack C. Richards, PhD was a visiting professor of the University of Santo Tomas this June 2016, having taught the course "Curriculum Development" to Master of Arts in English Language Studies students from June 20-29, 2016 and the Graduate School.
 
Last June 30, 2016, Richards likewise delivered a lecture entitled "Language Learning beyond the Classroom" to English faculty members from the University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippine Normal University.
 
In his lecture, Richards emphasized that authentic language learning is premised on several indicators, such as a student's motivation, opportunities to learn language, and supportive of such communities.
 
Graduate School Dean R. Marilu Madrunio, PhD, underscored the fact that not only was this a special privilege for the University of Santo Tomas, but everything was free-from airfare to accommodations, and honoraria. "No honorarium, please, was his request. This was made possible through the help of Professor A. Melchor Tatlonghari, PhD (English professor at the Graduate School) and De La Salle University's Emeritus Professor Ma. Lourdes Bautista, who are both good friends of Prof. Richards, "Dean said Madrunio.
 
"I had a good time. I had seven students in my class MA, and it was a very good interaction. It's good to be back in the Philippines, "Richards said of his recent tenure at the Graduate School.
 
From the Philippines, Richards will go to South Korea and South Africa likewise to train teachers on language teaching.
 
#USTVisitingProfessors #ThomasiansUpdatingKnowledge #ThomasiansForgingLinks

Sison represents Philippines, presents UST’s internationalization experiences in QS Xchange forum in Taiwan

Prof. Lilian J. Sison, PhD, Director of the Office of International Relations and Programs, presented UST's approach to internationalization during the June 18, 2016 (Saturday) Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) XChange forum, held in Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan.
 
The forum, which had the theme "Creative ways to build a brand: Successful case studies from universities," featured speeches from educational institution officials from Taiwan, India, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
 
#InternationalizationAtUST
 

Pharmacy inks MOA with De Los Santos Medical Center for Clinical Pharmacy clerkship


PHAR 20160503 De Los Santos Med MOA
Last May 3, 2016, the Faculty of Pharmacy forged a partnership with De Los Santos Medical Center in order to provide fifth-year BS Pharmacy Clinical Clerkship students with their training in the hospital. The agreement will commence in the 2016-2017 Academic Year.
 
According to a post on the website of De Los Santos Medical Center, the partnership is "providential," given that it is forged between a pontifical university and the hospital, which "steadfastly kinilala Christian moral values ​​by constantly delivering quality but affordable healthcare. "
 
First reported in: De Los Santos Med's website

Bance, de Leon, Bonifacio of CCC attend NACE conference through USAID grant

Prof. Lucila M. Bance, PhD, Ms. Monica De Leon, and Ms. Agnes Bonifacio headed to Chicago to attend the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Conference on June 7-10, 2016. Participation of representatives from the UST Counseling and Career Center in the conference is part of the grant to UST-STRIDE intensify the Career Services at the University of Santo Tomas, making it a model counseling and career center in the Philippines.
The NACE conference is an annual event that serves as the leading source of information on innovations in enhancing employability, trends in the job market, recruiting and hiring practices, and student attitudes and outcomes. With the theme "Limitless Possibilities", the NACE 2016 was attended by over 2,300 employers and career services professionals from various colleges and universities. One of the highlights was a session on the Career Services from the Philippines, where the significant development in the career services at the University of Santo Tomas was presented, discussed, and made the audience eagerly engaged.
Furthermore, the UST-CCC delegates had a field visit and benchmarking at the University of Rochester in NewYork, USA. Mr. Joseph Testani, the Career Services Director of the University of Rochester and UST's career consultant, together with his team, discussed the best practices counseling and career services in their university.
These exposures in the international arena of counseling and career services is beneficial as the UST-CCC aims at bolstering the services that will aid in every Thomasian's career success.

Santiago of BioChem, RCNAS receives FEBS/IUBMB fellowship grant to present paper in FEBS/IUBMB Advanced Lecture Course in Greece

Ms. Myla R. Santiago, MSc., UST faculty researcher from the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences, presented her paper entitled "Validation of pyrosequencing and high resolution melting analysis in detecting mutations in genes related to EGFR exon 20 and 21 in non-small cell lung carcinomas "in the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) Advanced Lecture Course with theme" Molecular basis of human diseases: 50 years anniversary of Spetses summer schools "and Spetses Island, Greece on 27th of May 2016 to the 1st of June 2016. She was given the FEBS / IUBMB fellowship grant to present her paper in the said convention. Her paper was part of her research training under the Erasmus Mundus Action II MAHEVA scholarship program and is funded by the UniversitƩ Catholique de Louvain (UCL) - Bruxelles, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc ASBL Centre de GENETIQUE Humaine, Centre de Technologies Moleculaires appliquƩes headed by Prof. Jean Luc Gala.
The Spetses Summer Schools on Molecular and Cell Biology are looking forward to their 50th anniversary in 2016. It was started by the late Marianne Grunberg-Manago and Athanasios EVANGELOPOULOS in 1966 and through their untiring initiatives have been kept as a series of well-known annual lecture courses until to date. Over the years, more than 500 different lecturers (including more than 15 Nobel laureates) had been dedicated to teach more than 5,000 young pre- and post-doctoral researchers. The course discussed on fundamental biological functions and their link to diseases as well as lectures focused on various diseases.

BS, MS Biological Science students win awards in first Philippine freshwater biodiversity symposium

Students from the Biological Sciences programs of the University of Santo Tomas won awards in the  first Philippine freshwater biodiversity symposium , held at the University of Santo Tomas from June 7-10, 2016.
 
Winning the Best Poster Award were Mark Carascal, Mario Jose G. del Rosario, Kin Notarte Israel, Fahrul Zaman blow, Takashi Yasuda, advised by Prof. Thomas Edison dela Cruz, Dr. rer. Nat. In Third Place was Jan Kerwin Codiniera, Juan Miguel Lopez Franco, Van Gambalan, JC Maranan, advised by Asst. Prof. Sonia Javier.
 
Winning the award for Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation was Mr. Mark Louie Lopez.
 
#ThomasianExcellence #ThomasianResearchers

UST hosts pioneering symposium on Philippine freshwater biodiversity and Lake Taal’s first Biomuseum

From June 7 to 10, 2016, the University of Santo Tomas, through its College of Science and Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, hosted the 1st Philippine Symposium on Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystems (PSFBE), which took place at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes OP Building. The four-day event gathered international and national experts from various fields of limnology and freshwater biodiversity. There were a total of 143 participants and 20 invited speakers coming from Philippine government research institutions and departments and higher educational institutions as well as delegates from neighboring countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore. The pioneering symposium was held in cooperation with the California Academy of Science, Pusod, Inc., the Institute of Biology – UP Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines, with support and endorsement from the International Society of Limnology. The event was mainly funded by the U.S. National Academy of Science & USAID PEER Project with additional support from the UST College of Science and the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences.
Among the highlights of the first day included the opening remarks by Dr. J. Nereus Acosta, Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection and General Manager of the Laguna Lake Development Authority and a message from Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, Director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the DENR. This was followed by the conferment of awards to pioneers of Philippine freshwater research, namely: Prof. Augustus C. Mamaril (UPD), Prof. Emeritus Dr. Macrina Zafaralla (UPLB), Prof. Dr. Roberto C. Pagulayan (AUF), Ms. Adelina Santos-Borja (LLDA), Acad. Prof. Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III (PCAMRD), Dr. Maria Lourdes C. Aralar (SEAFDEC), and Prof. Dr. Ruben C. Umaly (UPD). The awards were followed by the Keynote Scientific Lecture entitled “Apocalypse in Anthropocene Asia: Can we conserve freshwater biodiversity in this rapidly changing world?” which was delivered by Prof. Dr. David Dudgeon of the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Dudgeon is the current editor-in-chief of the ISI journal Freshwater Biology.
The first day also witnessed the opening the exhibit entitled “Taalaman: The Lake’s first Biomuseum” which was the culminating project of the Biodiversity and Conservation Biology class of the UST Graduate School for the 2nd term, A.Y. 2015-2016 handled by Dr. Rey Donne Papa and Dr. Cecilia Banag. This event was held in cooperation with the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the UST Museum, the UST College of Science, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, and Manila Ocean Park. All 21 students enrolled in the course set up the 2-part exhibit in the lobby of the Main Building as well as the Exhibition Gallery of the UST Museum with the help of exhibit curators – Dr. Richard Thomas Pavia (College of Science) and Asst. Prof. Mary Ann Bulanadi (College of Fine Arts and Design). The exhibit’s objectives were to showcase the rich biodiversity of Lake Taal, as documented by the research project entitled “Lake Taal: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in the face of aquaculture, climate change and non-native species” which was funded by the U.S. NAS and USAID by researchers and students from the College of Science (Department of Biological Sciences), RCNAS and the Graduate School. Among the highlights was the live exhibit in the lobby of the Main Building, which showcased different animals collected from Lake Taal that were maintained in several aquaria, which included several endemic, native, and introduced species in the lake. This is the first time that such an exhibit has been staged in the country, and aims to provide an alternative means of educating the public about freshwater biodiversity and conservation. The opening ceremonies were graced by Dr. Antonio Manila (BMB-DENR) and Prof. Dr. Gisela Padilla-Concepcion (Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of the Philippines), who also helped cut the ceremonial ribbon together with Fr. Isidro AbaƱo OP of the UST Museum, Prof. Dr. Marilu Madrunio and Prof. Dr. John Donnie Ramos, deans of the Graduate School and College of Science, respectively.      
Days 2 and 3 of the PSFBE included plenary lectures, themed parallel sessions, and a poster session. During the PSFBE closing ceremonies on the 3rd day, winners for the Best Poster and Best Graduate Student Oral Presentations were awarded. The Best Poster Award was given to Mark Carascal, Mario Jose G. Del Rosario, Kin Israel Notarte, Fahrul Zaman Huyop, Takashi Yaguchi, and Prof. Thomas Edison Dela Cruz (UST). Other winners were Jhoana Garces, Princess Spica Cagande, and Assoc. Prof. Hendrik Freitag (2nd place; ADMU) and Jan Kerwin Codiniera, Juan Miguel Lopez Franco, Van Gambalan, JC Maranan, and Asst. Prof. Sonia Javier (3rd place; UST). The two winners for the Best Graduate Student Oral Presentations were Mr. Bi Wei of the National University of Singapore and Mr. Mark Louie Lopez of the University of Santo Tomas.
To ensure the sustainability and the continued growth of freshwater biology in the country, local scientists met during the second day of the symposium to establish the Philippine Society of Freshwater Sciences (PSFS), which was envisioned to take charge in the organization of all succeeding PSFBE meetings. This was announced during the closing ceremonies and was capped off by an announcement that the University of the Philippines – Diliman will be the venue of the next PSFBE which will be held in 2018.
The last day of the symposium was spent on a trip to the Taal Lake Conservation Center and the volcano island of Lake Taal organized by Pusod Inc. – a non-governmental organization which promotes the conservation of Lake Taal and its environs.   

Biochemistry faculty visit Kyoto University – Institute of Chemical Research

Faculty members of the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy conducted an academic visit in the Institute of Chemical Research (ICR), Division of Biochemistry, Kyoto University last June 8, 2016. They were welcomed by faculty members from Kyoto University, namely Prof. Motonari Uesugi, Head, Laboratory  of Chemical Biology (leftmost); Prof. Hiroshi Watanabe, previous head, ICR-JURC Collaborative Station (3rd from left, 2nd row);  Prof. Toshiharu Teranishi, head, ICR-JURC Collaborative Station (5th from left, 2nd row); Prof. Nobuhiro Tokitoh (center), Director of ICR; Prof. Shiroh Futaki(6th from left, 2nd row), Head, Lab. of Biofunctional Design-Chemistry and  Prof. Takashi Aoyama (2nd from right, 2nd row), Deputy Director of ICR; Head, Lab. of Molecular Biology.

PHAR 20160608 Kyoto Visit 01
PHAR 20160608 Kyoto Visit 02


The visit was co-organized by Mr. Jan Vincent Arafiles (leftmost, 2nd image), UST Biochemistry alumnus now and graduate student in Kyoto University under Dr. Futaki’s supervision. The academic visit is to promote and enhance international academic linkages for the advancement of biochemistry, pharmacy, and medical technology between Kyoto University and UST Faculty of Pharmacy by 2017.

8 Thomasians attend June-July summer program of University of British Columbia

Eight incoming junior and senior students from the four different colleges in the University are in Vancouver, Canada, to participate in the June – July 2016 Summer Program of the University of British Columbia (UBC). This is the first student exchange activity borne out of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between UST and UBC.

Representing the University are:
Accountancy
Angelu Kassandra Aguas (BS Accountancy)

Arts and Letters
Frances Thea Torres (AB Asian Studies)

Education
Isabel Maria Margarita Asuncion (BS Nutrition and Dietetics)

Pharmacy
Claudine Joyce Alay-ay (BS Clinical Pharmacy)
Aimee Dianne Hermoso (BS Clinical Pharmacy)

Rehabilitation Sciences
Mark Andre Blanco (BS Occupational Therapy)
Renelle Louise Villareal (BS Occupational Therapy)

Science
Rose Celine Aguinaldo (BS Biology)

Accompanying the students is Prof. Carlos Garcia, PhD, of the Department of Chemistry of the College of Science.

#ThomasianStudentsAbroad

Sevilla, Aguinaldo, Nonato of Chemistry lead roster of top Philippine scientists from UST in latest Google Scholar ranking

Professor Emeritus Fortunato B. Sevilla III, PhD and Professors Alicia M. Aguinaldo, PhD and Maribel G. Nonato, PhD led Thomasian scientists in the June 2016 ranking of Philippine scientists based on their citations recorded in Google Scholar. The latest ranking was released by Webometrics.
 
Fourteen (14) Thomasian scientists, all (with the exception of Dr. Barcelon) affiliated with the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, made the 453-member list:
 
#310   – Eufemio G. Barcelon, PhD
#353   – Mario A. Tan, PhD
 
The full list may be viewed via: http://www.webometrics.info/en/node/148
 
#ThomasianResearchers #ThomasianScientists