Dean Empleo previously chaired the PICPA Research Committee for two fiscal years, 2016 to 2017 and 2017 to 2018, before she chaired the Research Committee of PICPA Foundation, Inc., which funded the research projects of PICPA, from 2018 to 2019.

In the same fiscal year, UST-AMV COA Secretary Francisco M. Caliwan, Jr. will serve as Secretary of the National Committee for Faculty Development and the National Committee for Research & Development.

For the PICPA-Western Metro Manila Chapter, College Secretary Caliwan was elected Director for Education and fellow UST-AMV COA faculty member Mr. Alfonso G. Garcera was elected Director for Commerce and Industry and will serve until 2021.

The post Dean Empleo of UST-AMV COA appointed PICPA nat鈥檒 committee chair for faculty development; Caliwan, Garcera elected to key positions appeared first on 探花精选.

Before delving on his topic, Sanicas, a physician and a scientist, first gave an update on the COVID-19 situation. This was followed by his discussion on the difference between vaccines and drugs, the types of vaccines available, the clinical development of vaccines, and the state of potential vaccines for COVID-19 in the clinical trial stage.

Since COVID-19 began its dreadful spread, finding vaccines that can neutralize its threat has been strongly anticipated, more so 鈥渘ow that the pandemic is accelerating,鈥� said Sanicas, pointing out that globally, the curve has not yet flattened, with over 11 million people still infected as of the webinar鈥檚 airdate.

However, an initial challenge to be overcome, according to Sanicas, is that there are fewer vaccine manufacturers in comparison to the large number of intended vaccine recipients, the maintenance of temperature-controlled supply cold chain to keep the vaccine viable can pose difficulty in its distribution, and only a few countries manufacture their own vaccines.

On the state of a potential vaccine, Sanicas explained that around 150 vaccine candidates against COVID-19 are in various stages of preparation. The clinical development stage alone may typically take 10 to 15 years, as it is only part of a longer process including regulatory review and approval. More studies about efficacy and effects normally continue even after the vaccine is approved and licensed.

The lecture summarized the vaccine development process as, 鈥淚n phase I, small groups of people receive the vaccine to evaluate the safety and reactogenicity and to collect immune response data. In phase II, the potential vaccine is given to people who have characteristics (such as age and physical health) similar to those for whom the new vaccine is intended. In phase III, the study is expanded and the potential vaccine is given to thousands of people and tested for efficacy and safety.鈥�

Sanicas acknowledged that the vaccine may not be ready soon, however, 鈥淲e鈥檝e saved several years [within the process of development] because we no longer need to spend much time in the discovery and pre-clinical stage. Of the 150 candidates in pre-clinical stage now, we expect them as well to move into clinical development stage this year, granting that they show that the vaccine has potential and that they have funds,鈥� he shared.

As commonly seen with previously developed vaccines, from around 150 candidates, one will be approved and licensed. But even when a vaccine is finally approved and licensed, there are still questions that will remain, said Sanicas, such as: On efficacy 鈥� What are the effect/s of the vaccine, how does it provoke immunity, and how long will its protection last? On operational issues 鈥� What is the temperature sensitivity of vaccine which can potentially adversely affect the ease of its distribution? Finally, on accessibility 鈥� How will the Philippines get access to the vaccine?

A physician-scientist with over 10 years of international experience in clinical research and development, regulatory and medical affairs, and program management of vaccines, Dr. Melvin J. Sanicas was a Global Health Fellow and Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he launched the Collaboration for Tuberculosis Vaccine Discovery. He has written about infectious diseases and global health topics for the World Economic Forum, Project Syndicate, HuffPost, TED-Ed, and a variety of other publications. Currently, he is a partner at the Brighton Collaboration, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health.

UST College of Science Dean Prof. Rey Donne Papa, Ph.D., explained that the annual Science Week activities 鈥� now called Modified Enhanced Online Week of Science (MEOWS) 鈥� had been moved to a web-based medium, because 鈥淲e wanted to ensure that we can continue to deliver quality education to our students in spite of the difficulties poised by this pandemic.鈥�

College of Science faculty member Prof. Pia Marie Albano, Ph.D., and Communications Bureau Assistant Director for Online Mr. Philippe Hernandez served as moderators of the webinar.

The webinar is publicly available through this link: 

The post Science webinar presents potential COVID-19 vaccine with internationally known vaccinologist appeared first on 探花精选.

The webinar, which tackled the changes, challenges and concerns on taking education from the classroom to the internet, also included as resource speakers the Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan, De La Salle Lipa College of Information Technology and Engineering Dean Jorge Bocobo, Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership Lead Convenor Harvey Keh, and Sanggunian ng mga Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila President JB Bejarin. The session was moderated by Inquirer Super Editor Pam Pastor and Inquirer Lifestyle Desk Editor Ruel de Veyra.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a wide variation in terms of student and teacher readiness for remote instruction, and digital equity gaps that must be addressed,鈥� Asst. Prof. Ramos acknowledged, saying that 鈥淭he decision of one school [regarding continuity of classes online] will be different from that of another school. In the case of UST, to be proactive in post-COVID times, our University is in close coordination with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) which guides all institutions on how to best deliver instruction based on the context of the learners.鈥�

Asst. Prof. Ramos noted that even prior to the pandemic, UST has been revising the standard training curriculum for online instruction. She added that 鈥淥ur general education courses are already in blended instruction while many of our technical courses are into web enhanced courses. Right now, we are moving into the enriched virtual model, mixing more flexibility in terms of online and offline activities that can still be delivered while fully in distanced mode, and so that our faculty can rapidly teach in this manner.鈥�

To assist the faculty members in the transition, a 鈥渞apid e-learning standard training program鈥� began in the last week of June for over 1,000 tenured faculty members. With a month of self-paced instruction and virtual training classes, Asst. Prof. Ramos explained that 鈥淭hese training activities that we provide our teachers are content rich, pedagogically driven, and technologically assisted by our educational technology experts in the University. It is also contextually enriched by the program outcomes needed by the industry. This will eventually allow each of our faculty to prepare the courses and be ready for the fully online environment before August.鈥�

After the training, weeks will be dedicated to quality assurance of the courses within the academic colleges to ensure that 鈥渢he courses are grounded in sound instructional design principles for online delivery,鈥� said Asst. Prof. Ramos.

In her closing message, Asst. Prof. Ramos reiterated that day-to-day survival is still the topmost priority amid the pandemic. Though as teachers, 鈥淚t is still expected that we would still perform our primary function, that is the continuity of teaching and learning, and to ensure that our new reality does not affect the quality of education. We should continue to uphold the values of equity, diversity and inclusion, in our own context, and we must stay relevant, not just because of the crisis, but also because we are preparing our students to succeed in a technology pervasive world.鈥�

Asst. Prof. Ramos serves as president of the Philippine e-Learning Society, and has been in the field of educational technology for 2 decades. She is a certified e-learning specialist through a scholarship granted by the federal government of Germany and is a digital literacy alumna of the distinguished Australian Fellowship Awards 2015 from Queensland University of Technology.

The webinar is publicly available through this link: 

The post Ramos of EdTech discusses online instruction at UST in PDI webinar appeared first on 探花精选.

The team鈥檚 aim was to find potential drug candidates to combat SARS-CoV2. The study focused on the exploitation of fungal secondary metabolites with profound antiviral activity on a range of known pathogenic viruses such as the human immunodeficiency virus, influenza virus, herpes simplex virus, and hepatitis C virus 鈥� as potential drug prototypes against the SARS-CoV2 virus.

Prof. Allan Patrick G. Macabeo, Dr. rer. nat., led the UST contingent, composed of Mark Andrew O. Mendoza, Justin Allen K. Lim, Jehiel Karsten H. Ong, and Luis Agustin E. Pilapil (Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences); Kin Israel R. Notarte, Adriel M. Pastrana, and Rey Arturo Fernandez (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery); Mark Tristan J. Quimque and Rhenz Alfred D. Liman (Graduate School). Joining them from Shanghai were Abbas Khan and Dong-Qing Wei.

Citing the fact that nearly half a million have died of COVID-19 鈥渂ecause of complications and lack of therapeutic regimens,鈥� Macabeo said the team was inspired to perform a 鈥渃omputational-driven research that enabled the screening of compounds previously obtained from fungi against enzymes/protein playing important role on viral infectivity and virulence of SARS-CoV2.鈥�

Through bioinformatics and computational modelling, the researchers were able to identify compounds that can potentially hamper the attachment, replication, protein maturation and even host immunity evasion potential of SARS-CoV2. These viral mechanisms, according to Macabeo, are important virulent factors that ascertain the successful invasion and infectivity of the said virus. Furthermore, if researchers 鈥渃an inhibit the enzymes and proteins essential for these mechanisms to happen, then [they] might be able to shut down the infectivity and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV2.鈥�

Macabeo and his fellow researchers 鈥渨ere able to fish out compounds from the antifungal library pool with promising anti-COVID properties under virtual conditions.鈥� Through molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and pharmacokinetic analysis, they point to the 鈥渋n vitro and in vivo promise of these compounds for the discovery and development of anti-COVID drugs.鈥�

Specifically, they found 鈥渇ive compounds with promising anti-COVID properties in silico. Of note, quinadoline B, a fungal-derived natural product, was found to inhibit all five target proteins and enzymes in SARS-CoV2. Given the promising activity of quinadoline B, this prompted us to do a further study, particularly doing structural iterations of this compound to improve its antiviral and pharmacokinetic properties.鈥�

The project was a collaboration between Thomasian scientists and experts from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. For this particular project, Chinese collaborators helped in performing molecular dynamics simulations for the lead compounds that the Thomasians identified through molecular docking and in silico ADMET profiling. The computer-assisted technologies provided by the Shanghai researchers helped validate the in silico results.

At present, the study remains to be 鈥渙ne of the few computational studies that primarily tested secondary metabolites from fungi against SARS-CoV2.鈥�

The post UST researchers use computational models to screen compounds found in SARS-CoV2 appeared first on 探花精选.

Lapitan鈥檚 winning research, titled 鈥淢agnetic Nanoparticle 鈥� Poly-Enzyme Nanobead Sandwich Assay for Direct and Ultrasensitive DNA Detection and Quantification鈥� was a component of his dissertation for his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemistry. Through a Leeds International Research Scholarship (LIRS), he graduated in 2018 from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

The DNA sensing strategy outlined within the paper is noted to be highly selective and may have good potential for rapid detection and diagnosis of many human diseases such as cancer, vascular, and neurodegenerative diseases. A commonality among these illnesses is that they are closely associated with single-nucleotide polymorphism or SNP, which the DNA sensor 鈥渙ffers excellent discrimination between the perfect-match and single-base mismatch targets (i.e. SNP).鈥�

Also highlighted in the paper is that 鈥渢his poly-enzyme nanobead is compatible with other biosensing and bioassay formats, including the clinical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to greatly improve the signal amplification and assay sensitivity, and hence it can impact a wide range of biosensing, bioanalytical, and diagnostic research areas.鈥�

Dr. Lyn Marie Corpuz, a fellow Engineering faculty member and RCNAS researcher, finished as one of the five finalists and received a special citation.

Along with their fellow finalists, namely, Darlon V. Lantican from the University of the Philippines (UP) 鈥� Los Banos, Wilfred John E. Santia帽ez, Ph.D. from UP 鈥� Diliman, and Zomesh Artus N. Maini, Ateneo De Manila University, Lapitan and Corpuz presented their research remotely to the public, enabled by Zoom, on June 26, 2020 at the Philippine Science Heritage Center (PSHC) in Taguig City. The session was moderated by UST researcher Prof. Dr. Allan Patrick G. Macabeo.

Lapitan is currently the Chemistry Laboratory supervisor of the UST Faculty of Engineering and is a research fellow of the UST Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences. Lapitan obtained his Master and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degrees from the 探花精选.

The NAST Talent Search for Young Scientists is an annual project that encourages young people to pursue a career in science. The grand prize includes a P500,000 research grant from the Department of Science and Technology.

The post Engineering mentor鈥檚 cancer detection research wins him NAST Young Scientists plum appeared first on 探花精选.

Egwolf explained that one aspect of mitigating the risk of the disease is trying to predict how fast the virus will spread, which necessitated the UST CoV-2 Model.

The UST CoV-2 Model

The research paper, initially released on May 24, 2020 at the UST official website, originally focused on the impact of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and the spread of COVID-19 in the National Capital Region (NCR) of the Philippines. Called the 鈥淯ST CoV-2 Model,鈥� the researchers used real-time mobility data to modify the DELPHI Epidemiological Model, a machine-learning capable model developed by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Fr. Austriaco obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology. Using this model, it was initially found that the implementation of the ECQ was able to save thousands of lives in the NCR.

Fr. Austriaco and Dr. Egwolf updated the study on June 17, this time focusing on impact of the more relaxed General Community Quarantine (GCQ) that has been implemented for the month of June. At the time of this study鈥檚 publication, the researchers calculated the positivity rate and found that from a high of 30% positivity rate in the beginning of April, the rate dropped to now around 5% in early June, bolstering their finding of low community spread within NCR.

The study was updated more recently on June 25 by the University of the Philippines OCTA Research team, to which Fr. Austriaco also belongs, to include forecasts in other COVID-19 hotspots such as Cebu.

Among the team鈥檚 updated findings is that 鈥淏ased on the current number of cases in the Philippines (including uncategorized cases) and assuming the trends continue, this projects to more than 60,000 COVID-19 cases by July 31, with 1,500 deaths. In NCR, the projection is 27,000 cases by July 31, while in the province of Cebu, the projection is 15,000 cases by July 31, assuming a continued implementation of ECQ. We emphasize that the projected increase in cases and deaths can be prevented by rapidly identifying and breaking chains of viral transmission.鈥�

As Fr. Austriaco explained during the webcast, 鈥淭he model can be used to forecast any pandemic鈥檚 spread, bacterial or viral. It鈥檚 not dependent on the actual pathogen, but simply the mathematical data on the rate of spread. We are modelling the behavior of the pathogen as it spreads within the population.鈥�

Improving Disease Response and Control

鈥淣ow that more people are out since the strict quarantine [has been lifted in favor of modified GCQ], it鈥檚 more important to do contact tracing more quickly. If there鈥檚 more mobility, then there鈥檚 also a chance that the virus can spread even faster. Tracking is one of the most important things to do now,鈥� Dr. Egwolf urged upon being asked what he would advise the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID)

Fr. Austriaco echoed Dr. Egwolf, saying that 鈥淭he NCR is undergoing a surge now, so if you look at the last week, it鈥檚 clear that the number of cases is rising rapidly and it looks like the positivity rate and the hospitalization rate in the NCR is dramatically increasing over the last few days.鈥�

Due to this rapid increase, the team is prepared to run the UST CoV 2 model again to update the necessary figures. However, Fr. Austriaco expressed some concerns with the incomplete data from the Department of Health. He explained that 鈥溾�� a problem is that the DOH predicts that the data for the last week is not complete. And we know that, in this time of pandemic, there鈥檚 going to be logjams of data and its validation. We understand that. However, [with incomplete data] it鈥檚 difficult for the model to make forecasts that are as accurate as they could be if we had all the data. So when I run the model today, I will stop the data from about five days ago. But when you鈥檙e in the middle of the surge, the last 5 days is crucial, since you need to know how steep the curve is, how fast the number of cases are increasing. With a five day lag, the model can only tell us what would鈥檝e happened based on data five days ago and not from today鈥檚 situation.鈥�

Aside from forecasting the spread of the disease, the researchers pointed out that there are also things that can be learned from the response of neighboring countries to the pandemic.

鈥淥ne of the things we are learning from around the world, is that the challenge of controlling the pandemic is inherently dependent upon how many cases you had when you shut down the country the first time,鈥� said Fr. Austriaco. He gave the example of countries such as Thailand and Taiwan which were quick to ban flights from affected areas, particularly Wuhan. Their swift response meant a comparatively easier time in containing the infection.

鈥淭here are estimates that every day that lockdown was delayed is at least a week longer that we have to worry about getting the numbers down. Second, we have highly concentrated cities in NCR. We have areas where social distancing is not practical because of urban poverty. That presents a struggle when you use quarantine to regulate a pandemic because distancing and proper isolation simply isn鈥檛 feasible. Targeted lockdown is a solution, but more contact tracing really has to be done within the areas in lockdown. One of the weak points [resulting in the current surge] is that tracing isn鈥檛 being done properly. Lockdown the affected barangay, identify the afflicted persons, do contact tracing, and isolate those people,鈥� Fr. Austriaco emphasized.

The provincial return program being done without proper testing and the transportation issues that lead to people not being able to physically distance themselves were cited as other factors which may have contributed to the rapid rise of the disease鈥檚 spread.

Joining the webcast were Ms. Amalea Dulcene Nicolasora from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and Director Benedict Maralit, Ph.D., from the Philippine Genome Center. It was hosted by the College of Science faculty members Asst. Prof. Michael Bahrami-Hessari and Mr. Reuel M. Bennett. The session is available on the UST College of Science鈥檚 Facebook page through this link: https://www.facebook.com/193178557513642/videos/2711702989049035/?v=2711702989049035

Call for better reporting amid surge

On July 14, 2020, Fr. Austriaco and Dr. Egwolf once again echoed their earlier calls for testing and tracing in their updated report that covered the latter half of June 2020 until July 12. They disclosed that the aforementioned surge in NCR cases is happening in an 鈥渦nknown city.鈥�

鈥淭he number of COVID-19 positive persons is disproportionately increasing in this category relative to the other geographical regions in the NCR. Statistically, this cannot be explained by random clerical or encoding errors. Instead, it may suggest that LGUs may be withholding geographical information when they suspect that individuals in their barangays are positive for COVID-19. However, without proper geographical identification of positive cases, it will be difficult for public health authorities to properly understand the extent of the surge and to control the pandemic through contact tracing, tracking, and isolation,鈥� the report underscores.

The data showed that in the earlier half of June, the positivity rate ranged between 6 to 8% of tests. In the period covered by the updated report, the positivity rate is now around 10 to 12 percent, more than double of the World Health Organization鈥檚 (WHO) threshold of 5%. To be below this threshold indicates that, by WHO standards, the pandemic is under control.

To determine the hot spots daily cases in June were separated to two-week intervals and were each assigned to one of the component cities of the NCR. It was revealed that the DOH category of 鈥淯nknown City鈥� was the main source of the dramatic rise in positive cases.

With this concerning increase in cases, the hospitalization occupancy has also notably spiked. Eleven cities and municipalities of NCR, namely, Makati, Las Pi帽as, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Pateros, Manila, Mandaluyong, Malabon, Navotas, Taguig, and Muntinlupa have exceeded the 70% 鈥淒anger鈥� hospitalization occupancy limit that the DOH set. However, the number of ventilators in use has not had the same increase, which may point to milder cases being experienced by a younger patient population, as reported in the news media.

The researchers strongly recommend: maintaining the General Community Quarantine of NCR until positivity rates are ideally below five percent and hospitalization occupancy rates are below 50%; 鈥渆nforcing public health reporting policies that will lower the number of 鈥榰nknown鈥� positive cases that lack a geographical identifier; applying timely and closely supervised targeted lockdowns ; and restricting the movement of people who wish to leave the NCR until the surge has been brought under control.

It was also pointed out that 鈥淚f localized lockdowns are unable to slow the spread in the NCR, the government must be ready to return the component cities of the NCR to an MECQ or even an ECQ to protect our health care system and to minimize cases and deaths.鈥�

Fr. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D., S.Th.D., a Research Fellow at the Center for Religious Studies and Ethics and a Visiting Professor of the College of Science in UST, also holds the posts of Professor of Biology and Theology at the Providence College in the United States, and Principal Investigator of Austriaco Lab. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in biology, philosophy, and theology, and two books, including 鈥淏iomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics,鈥� which was recognized as a 2012 Choice Outstanding Academic Title by the Association of College and Research Libraries. He is a bioethics consultant for the Catholic Bishops Conferences of the United States and of the Philippines.

Assoc. Prof. Bernhard Egwolf, Dr. rer. nat, from the UST Department of Mathematics and Physics, holds a Doctor of Natural Sciences in Physics degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany. His studies have been published in reputable journals, like the Journal of Computational Chemistry, Journal of Biological Chemistry, and the Journal of Molecular Biology, among others. He took part in a two-year post-doctoral research fellowship in the University of Chicago in 2007 upon receiving a grant from the German Research Foundation. Currently, he is a researcher at the UST Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences.

(From left, top row): Dr. Egwolf, Fr. Austriaco, Asst. Prof. Bahrami-Hessari, and (bottom row:) Mr. Bennett during the webcast.

Photo captions:

1 鈥� Fr. Austriaco and Dr. Egwolf鈥檚 data on the COVID-19 related ICU bed occupancy in NCR鈥檚 component cities show that seven cities have exceeded the 70% occupancy limit set by the DOH. [Figure obtained from http://www.ust.edu.ph/ust-cov2-model/]

2 鈥� In contrast to the hospitalization occupancy data, the number of ventilators in use as of the publication date seem to be lower. [Figure obtained from http://www.ust.edu.ph/ust-cov2-model/]

3 鈥� The surge in NCR cases are attributed to an 鈥渦nknown city鈥� by the DOH [Figure obtained from http://www.ust.edu.ph/ust-cov2-model/]

The post UST researchers Austriaco, Egwolf discuss pandemic perspectives, UST-CoV 2 Model at Science Week webcast appeared first on 探花精选.

The post Dean Dacanay elected to PPhA board of trustees appeared first on 探花精选.

For the Academic Year 2020-2021, the Library is presently engaged in full-time preparation for its services in the new normal complementing the remote delivery of instruction with these guidelines to different services.

Remote Access to e-Resources

Over 1,000 e-books, around 35 databases with some e-resources on trials and open and free access links are available to library patrons of the University. A digital library consisting of rare and historical resources of the University, current UST journals, Filipiniana Theses and Dissertations (with limited pages only), and archival materials are also available. These online resources are accessible anytime and anywhere for free.

Online Library User-Education

This service includes library orientation, online database tutorials, and specialized instruction. The online library orientation is much needed at this time to acquaint the faculty members and students on the Library鈥檚 guide to new normal most especially on the access and use of electronic resources. This service is open to all the departments in preparation for the upcoming academic year in which the 鈥渆nhanced virtual teaching鈥� will be implemented in the University. The academic units through their respective library coordinators can request for an orientation schedule.

Currently, faculty members are attending online Library Orientation being conducted by members of the Library staff. Moreover, by the start of the academic year, the Library will conduct an orientation for all freshman students to acquaint them with the new normal Library services.

Ask a Librarian

Those who have questions may ask a Librarian for assistance via email, phone, or live-chat.

Current Awareness

The Library informs its patrons of the new acquisitions through its website and social media accounts.

Document Delivery

Readers may get full-text electronic journal articles and book chapters from various subscribed databases and open and free access resources. With this service, students will be able to read the library resources they need anytime.

TURNITIN Service

Research papers of the faculty members and graduate school students may be run through the Turnitin software to help avoid plagiarism.

Grammarly

Grammarly account may be requested by faculty members and Graduate School students who are currently enrolled.

Suggest a Purchase

Enhance the library鈥檚 collection by sending suggested library materials for purchase. The acquisition of e-resources will be prioritized. However, print and non-print materials may still be recommended.

Borrowing of Library Materials

Administrators, academic officials, faculty members and support staff may check-out library materials following the Circulation guidelines of the library. (until the students are allowed to enter the campus)

Returning of Library Materials

Library materials may be returned without having to get inside the campus. A borrower may return the books by using the book drops located at the Espa帽a Gate 1, or Dapitan Gate 10. The Library has started the dissemination of the above information through its website and social media accounts.

Library coordinators of the different academic units have been informed that they could request for an orientation or e-resources tutorial schedule for their faculty members and students to be acquainted with the new guidelines.

The Library is also harnessing the knowledge and skills of its librarians and staff to ensure that they will be placed in the flow of online teaching and learning in the University by providing them with additional technology-related training and identifying their essential technological skills in this new normal. The 鈥渞epurposing鈥� of the library staff is essential nowadays to be even more capable of serving its patrons in this challenging situation.

Since the impact of COVID-19 will be felt for years, libraries need to be more dynamic, creative, and responsive in giving its best service than ever before. The UST Library ensures that it will adopt the new trends in these challenging times for education and will continuously support the University in implementing the demands of the new academic environment.

The Library will always remain engaged, connected, and committed to supporting the information needs of Thomasians.

For updated announcements, please check its website at聽library.ust.edu.ph聽and social media accounts:聽Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @ustmdblib

The post UST Miguel de Benavides Library is 鈥榥ew normal鈥� ready with online services appeared first on 探花精选.

Before delving on his topic, Sanicas, a physician and a scientist, first gave an update on the COVID-19 situation. This was followed by his discussion on the difference between vaccines and drugs, the types of vaccines available, the clinical development of vaccines, and the state of potential vaccines for COVID-19 in the clinical trial stage.

Since COVID-19 began its dreadful spread, finding vaccines that can neutralize its threat has been strongly anticipated, more so 鈥渘ow that the pandemic is accelerating,鈥� said Sanicas, pointing out that globally, the curve has not yet flattened, with over 11 million people still infected as of the webinar鈥檚 airdate.

However, an initial challenge to be overcome, according to Sanicas, is that there are fewer vaccine manufacturers in comparison to the large number of intended vaccine recipients, the maintenance of temperature-controlled supply cold chain to keep the vaccine viable can pose difficulty in its distribution, and only a few countries manufacture their own vaccines.

On the state of a potential vaccine, Sanicas explained that around 150 vaccine candidates against COVID-19 are in various stages of preparation. The clinical development stage alone may typically take 10 to 15 years, as it is only part of a longer process including regulatory review and approval. More studies about efficacy and effects normally continue even after the vaccine is approved and licensed.

The lecture summarized the vaccine development process as, 鈥淚n phase I, small groups of people receive the vaccine to evaluate the safety and reactogenicity and to collect immune response data. In phase II, the potential vaccine is given to people who have characteristics (such as age and physical health) similar to those for whom the new vaccine is intended. In phase III, the study is expanded and the potential vaccine is given to thousands of people and tested for efficacy and safety.鈥�

Sanicas acknowledged that the vaccine may not be ready soon, however, 鈥淲e鈥檝e saved several years [within the process of development] because we no longer need to spend much time in the discovery and pre-clinical stage. Of the 150 candidates in pre-clinical stage now, we expect them as well to move into clinical development stage this year, granting that they show that the vaccine has potential and that they have funds,鈥� he shared.

As commonly seen with previously developed vaccines, from around 150 candidates, one will be approved and licensed. But even when a vaccine is finally approved and licensed, there are still questions that will remain, said Sanicas, such as: On efficacy 鈥� What are the effect/s of the vaccine, how does it provoke immunity, and how long will its protection last? On operational issues 鈥� What is the temperature sensitivity of vaccine which can potentially adversely affect the ease of its distribution? Finally, on accessibility 鈥� How will the Philippines get access to the vaccine?

A physician-scientist with over 10 years of international experience in clinical research and development, regulatory and medical affairs, and program management of vaccines, Dr. Melvin J. Sanicas was a Global Health Fellow and Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he launched the Collaboration for Tuberculosis Vaccine Discovery. He has written about infectious diseases and global health topics for the World Economic Forum, Project Syndicate, HuffPost, TED-Ed, and a variety of other publications. Currently, he is a partner at the Brighton Collaboration, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health.

UST College of Science Dean Prof. Rey Donne Papa, Ph.D., explained that the annual Science Week activities 鈥� now called Modified Enhanced Online Week of Science (MEOWS) 鈥� had been moved to a web-based medium, because 鈥淲e wanted to ensure that we can continue to deliver quality education to our students in spite of the difficulties poised by this pandemic.鈥�

College of Science faculty member Prof. Pia Marie Albano, Ph.D., and Communications Bureau Assistant Director for Online Mr. Philippe Hernandez served as moderators of the webinar.

The webinar is publicly available through this link: 

The post Science webinar presents potential COVID-19 vaccine with internationally known vaccinologist appeared first on 探花精选.

She concurrently serves as President of the Philippine Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and is a member of the Continuing Professional Development Council for Pharmacy of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), which recognized her as Most Outstanding Professional in Pharmacy in 2018.

The post Dean Dacanay elected to PPhA board of trustees appeared first on 探花精选.