MD-PhD Molecular Medicine Program

The MD-PhD (Molecular Medicine) Program invites you to join us at the VIROH Collaborative Symposium — Viruses, Opportunistic Infections, and Host Response, a scientific forum exploring the latest advances in infectious diseases, immunology, and translational medicine.

The symposium will feature a keynote lecture by Prof. Cheng-Lung Ku, PhD (Chang Gung University, Taiwan) on “Anticytokine Autoantibodies as a Novel Etiology of Infectious Diseases,” as well as research presentations from UPCM MD-PhD alumni, faculty, and researchers.

📅 July 1, 2026
🕓 10:00 am - 12:00 nn
📍 6th Floor, UNILAB Conference Room, UP College of Medicine

If you would like to attend, please register through this link: https://bit.ly/49NgfKI

We hope you can join us!

We proudly celebrate the publication of “NOVAGene: A Nonlinear Approach to Improve Biological Resolution in Weighted Gene Co-expression Networks for Low-Variability Datasets” published last May 2026 in Frontiers in Bioinformatics, featuring Junelle Rey C. Bacong (MD-PhD Batch 12 student) under the mentorship of Dr. Jose Jr. B. Nevado, MD-PhD program committee member at the time of this study, together with the other co-authors, for their contribution to advancing gene co-expression analysis through a novel and innovative approach.

You can read the research paper here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fbinf.2026.1813626

The MD-PhD (Molecular Medicine) Program invites you to join us at the VIROH Collaborative Symposium — Viruses, Opportunistic Infections, and Host Response, a scientific forum exploring the latest advances in infectious diseases, immunology, and translational medicine.

The symposium will feature a keynote lecture by Prof. Cheng-Lung Ku, PhD (Chang Gung University, Taiwan) on “Anticytokine Autoantibodies as a Novel Etiology of Infectious Diseases,” as well as research presentations from UPCM MD-PhD alumni, faculty, and researchers.

📅 July 1, 2026
🕓 10:00 am - 12:00 nn
📍 6th Floor, UNILAB Conference Room, UP College of Medicine

If you would like to attend, please register through this link: https://bit.ly/49NgfKI

We hope you can join us!

We proudly present the paper entitled “Challenges in Community-Based Recruitment of Alzheimer's Disease Cases: Experience of the Monitoring Drug Efficacy Through Multi-Omics Research Initiative in Alzheimer's Disease (MEMORI-AD) Study,” co-authored by MD-PhD students and alumni of the University of the Philippines Manila, together with esteemed collaborators and researchers.

Recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports in March 2026, the study highlights the experiences and challenges encountered in recruiting Alzheimer's disease cases through community-based screening initiatives in Manila. The findings provide valuable insights into the economic, psychosocial, and health-related barriers affecting research participation among vulnerable populations and offer important considerations for future dementia research in the Philippines.

Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1177/25424823261431318





(The MD-PhD (Molecular Medicine) Program is a joint collaboration between the UP College of Medicine and DOST-PCHRD.)

Celebrating the achievements of our MD-PhD students! 🎉

Your hard work, dedication, and passion for excellence in both medicine and research continue to inspire the community. Congratulations on your well-deserved awards and recognitions. May you continue to lead, serve, and make meaningful contributions to science and healthcare.

We are proud of you! 💙

The MD-PhD Program would like to congratulate 𝑴𝒓. 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑹𝒐𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒏 for successfully defending his dissertation entitled, “𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒆𝒙-𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑯𝒚𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚-𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅" on May 18, 2026.

His dissertation advisers are 𝑫𝒓. 𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑴. 𝑫𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒐 from the UP College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and 𝑫𝒓. 𝑨𝒏𝒊𝒌𝒐 𝑲𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒊 from Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam.





(The MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine program is a joint collaboration between the UP College of Medicine and DOST-PCHRD).

The MD-PhD Program would like to congratulate 𝑴𝒓. 𝑫𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝑲𝒂𝒓𝒍 𝑴. 𝑩𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒔 for successfully defending his dissertation entitled, “𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐-𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒚𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒚𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒂-𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒍" on May 15, 2026.

His dissertation advisers are 𝑫𝒓. 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐 𝑴. 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒆, 𝑰𝑰𝑰 from the UP College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and 𝑫𝒓. 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝑷. 𝑴𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒏 from the Department of Interventional Radiology at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.





(The MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine program is a joint collaboration between the UP College of Medicine and DOST-PCHRD

The MD-PhD Program would like to congratulate 𝑴𝒓. 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝒅.𝑹. 𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒔 for successfully defending his dissertation last May 8, 2026.

His dissertation advisers are 𝑫𝒓. 𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑴. 𝑫𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒐 from the UP College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and 𝑫𝒓. 𝑨𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒛𝒂 𝑭. 𝑴𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒚 from the Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines Diliman.





(The MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine program is a joint collaboration between the UP College of Medicine and DOST-PCHRD

The MD-PhD Program would like to congratulate 𝑴𝒓. 𝑨𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝑪. 𝑺𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒚𝒂 for successfully defending his dissertation entitled, “𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝑰𝒏𝒉𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑲𝑹𝑨𝑺 (𝑮𝟏𝟐𝑿) 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑫𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒂" on April 24, 2026.

His dissertation adviser is 𝑫𝒓. 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑩. 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂 from the UP College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.





(The MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine program is a joint collaboration between the UP College of Medicine and DOST-PCHRD

The MD-PhD Program would like to congratulate 𝑴𝒓. 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑳. 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐 for successfully defending his dissertation entitled, “𝑰𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝑨𝑹𝑺-𝑪𝒐𝑽-𝟐-𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒆-𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒔𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒔 (𝑺𝑷𝑨𝑪𝒔)" on February 9, 2026.

His dissertation adviser is 𝑫𝒓. 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒖𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒐 𝑪. 𝑪𝒂𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒊 from the UP College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.





(The MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine program is a joint collaboration between the UP College of Medicine and DOST-PCHRD)