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The Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the DOST-PCHRD Undergraduate Thesis Grant in Natural Products.The program aims to sustain a research culture in natural products to increase the number of research and later on build a pool of researchers/experts specializing in the field. It supports the Drug Discovery and Development Program of the DOST-PCHRD which aims to develop safe, effective and affordable alternative drugs from the country's natural resources.

The search is open to all undergraduate students of Colleges of Pharmacy, Chemistry, Nursing and Health and Allied Sciences who have thesis proposals on natural products in the current school year. All nominees in Region 1 must submit the following documents to the Region 1 Health Research and Development Consortium (R1HRDC) Secretariat:

(a) duly accomplished prescribed research proposal form with college seal,

(b) endorsement letter from the institution signed by the head of the university/college dean,

(c) soft copy of the proposal (MS Word Format),

(d) hard copy of the proposal using A4 paper,

(e) certificate of plant authentication,

(f)  appropriate clearances,

(g) curriculum vitae of the students and adviser using the prescribed form.

Nominations with incomplete requirements will automatically be excluded from the list of official entries.

A thesis grant amounting to Fifty Thousand Pesos (Php 50,000.00) will be given to two (2) thesis proposals per region. And after completion of the study, six (6) finalist will be chosen to present their research during the Philippine Health Research System Week (PNHRS) Week celebration wherein three (3) winners will be selected. The cash prizes include P30,000.00 for the first prize winner, P22,000.00 for the second prize winner and P15,000.00 for the third prize winner.

Deadline for submission of nominations to R1HRDC is on May 25, 2018. For other queries, you can contact Ms. Ana Gay D. Ranga, R1HRDC Secretariat with mobile number 09308817266/09778031747 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Resource Speakers and Participants in Region 1

According to a study, the Philippines is among countries with most at risk of disasters. Yet only few researches regarding disaster is being done. In order to fulfill the year’s goals, the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) with the assistance of Region 1 Health Research and Development Consortium (R1HRDC), started its Capacity building on health research in disaster Phase 1: Orientation to Concepts and Principles on January 23-24, 2018 at the Northview Hotel, Laoag City. This activity aims to equip the young researchers in Region 1 with the basic foundation in the field of disaster research.

To make them knowledgeable on the principles to disaster risk reduction (DRR) it is essential that the participants understand what a “disaster” actually means, define the concepts of disaster risk, hazard, vulnerability and capacity.  It is important also to differentiate hazard from disaster because it often causes confusion and has been the subject of debates. It is also essential to researchers to understand of disaster in both social and natural science perspectives.

This initial stage of training was imparted by the strongly able speakers: Dr. Miguel Manuel Dorotan, Dr. Ofelia Saniel, and Dr. Ophelia Mendoza. The Phase II and Phase III of the training is scheduled on March 6-8 and April 3-4, 2018, respectively, by the same participants who attended the Phase I. At the end of the three trainings, the participants will be able to communicate knowledge and understanding on mitigation techniques and procedures, disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

The Region 1 Health Research and Development Consortium (R1HRDC) thru the Research Utilization Committee (RUC) will be holding the 2018 R1HRDC Regional Research Conference to be held at Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation, San Carlos City, Pangasinan on March 23, 2018, 8:30 AM- 5:00 PM.  The theme of the conference is “R1HRDC Moving Forward In Improving People’s Quality of Life Through Health Research” which aims to:

(1) provide platform for professional and student researches for health research utilization and dissemination

(2) strengthen collaboration between researchers and institutions

(3) support, encourage and nurture scholarly work of student and professional researchers.

This research conference is open to all interested participants either student or professional health researcher (Oral and Poster Presentation)

Category I.  Interdisciplinary Medical & Health Researches

Category II. Herbal Medicine Researches

Registration Fee:

Professional    -           Php 100.00

Student           -           Php 50.00  

Kindly send your full paper on or before February 23, 2018 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Hurry and submit your papers now! Cash prizes awaits the winners!

The R1HRDC continuously equips its veterans and amateur researchers with skills and knowledge that would strengthen their capabilities as researchers. Thus, the R1HRDC through its Capacity Building Committee (CBC) and Ethics Review Committee (ERC) conducted a simultaneous training workshops entitled “Training Course on Basic Research Methods” held on November 21-23, 2017 at Hotel Veniz, Baguio City and “Good Research Practice Training” held on November 22-23, 2017 at Dagupan Village Hotel, Dagupan City Pangasinan.

The CBC, headed by Dr Unity H. Cortez, Chairperson and Engr. Ismael Gurtiza, Vice Chair, conducted the 3-day Training Course on Basic Research Methods. This was led by the competent resource speaker Dr. Ophelia M. Mendoza with dexterity on proposal writing and qualitative research. Dr. Mendoza is an adjunct professor at the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics in University of the Philippines. She is also a consultant on different projects related to public health and a retired professor from the same university where she is presently affiliated. She taught the participants who are mostly new on the field of research on the development of capsule research proposal, hence, giving them critical insight into their own decision making process.

Another training conducted by ERC headed by Dr Hilarion H. Maramba, Chairperson, in cooperation with the Philippine Health research Ethics Board (PHREB) is the Good Research Practice Training with an initial aim that researches funded by the consortium should be conducted to the highest achievable standards of research practice to ensure the integrity of research outputs, and to prevent research misconduct. The first resource speaker was Dr Ricardo Manalastas Jr, a member of the National Ethics Committee Ad Hoc Committee for the revision of the National Ethical Guidelines and the Chairperson on PHREB Committee on information dissemination, training, and advocacy. He is also an obstetrician gynecologist at Philippine General Hospital and a professor at the UP Manila College of Medicine. The second speaker was Professor Fatima A. Castillo, a professional lecturer in Political Science in UP Manila, UP Centennial professor, a visiting researcher in the institute of social and health sciences, and a social researcher with a numerous published researches. The 2-day seminar includes topics on Ethical Research; Scientific Soundness; Principles on Non-maleficence, Beneficence, Autonomy and Informed Consent and Principle of Justice; Social and Behavioral Research; Conflict of Interest; National, International and REC Controls; Procedures on the Research Ethics Committee Review of Protocols; the Principles, Standards and Guidelines on Good Clinical Practice. In addition, there were also role playing activities conducted by the participants portraying real scenarios on the conduct of researches involving human participants. Aside from the entertainment factor of the activity is the recognition of participants about the DOs and DONTs, how to avoid and how to correct common ethical issues experienced by the researcher and their human subject.

With these two activities, the whole R1HRDC is looking forward to cater more researchers with good quality research projects in the near future.

In coordination with Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines. R1HRDC Conducted a Seminar/Workshop on Patent Drafting for Inventors, Academe and Researchers

To protect the ideas, invention, discoveries of our local  researchers, such idea stemmed from the request of the researchers, heads and member institutions who are conducting research proposals, the R1HRDC through its Capability Building Committee conducted a seminar workshop on intellectual property rights held last October 2-4, 2017 at El Cielito Hotel Baguio City.

This 3-day event was led by the able resource speaker Engr. Emmanuel Mendoza, the Area Manager for IP Field Operations from Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines. He imparted his knowledge about the rules and procedures on how to protect patents, copyrights, trademarks and other forms of IPRs, as well as the RA 10055 or the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009. The lecture gave emphasis on the exclusive IP rights to produce, the opportunities that includes sales, licensing, various types of strategic business partnerships or alliances and the possible establishment of joint ventures locally and internationally.

It was participated in by 30 capable and aspiring researchers from the different stakeholders of the consortium such as the academe and health institutions throughout the region, thereby protecting their rights and properties.

This kind of training is a good avenue in encouraging our health researchers to create valuable ideas in developing a study that they can call their own.