AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
DiWA Center Director bags National and Mindanao Cluster Mentor Awards for Health Research
Dr. May Anne E. Mata, Center Director of the Mindanao Center for Disease Watch and Analytics (DiWA), was recognized as the 2023 Best Mentor in Health Research National Winner - Graduate Students Category. She won over the other cluster winners from Luzon, Visayas, and NCR. She received her award during the 42nd Anniversary celebration of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST PCHRD) held on 25 March 2024 at the PICC, Pasay City, Philippines.
Dr. Mata was also the lone recipient of the 2023 Best Mentor in Health Research under the Graduate Students category for the Mindanao Cluster. She has mentored at least 15 graduate and undergraduate students. She is also the Director of the Office of Research, a Professor of Applied Mathematics, and a University Scientist under the Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao.
The Best Mentor in Health Research Award is a prestigious award given by the PCHRD biennially to recognize and reward mentors in health research who have built the capacities of research in the health sector and in the process, propels significant advances in the Philippine National Health Research System as identified in the National Unified Health Research Agenda. Awardees are selected per cluster in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and NCR and then further categorized according to their mentees – undergraduate students, graduate students, and junior or early career researchers. Among the cluster winners, national winners are chosen for each category.
Under Dr. Mata’s guidance, the researchers of DiWA are currently pursuing research related to improving the country’s health resiliency through the lenses of applied modeling, data analytics, and bioinformatics The Center also has an internship program for students interested in these types of research.
DiWA, as the first resiliency hub for health of the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute (UPRI), aims to address the NEED to achieve health resilient Philippines and envisions being a leading research center providing a transdisciplinary-based support system for health issues relevant to the Philippines by 2030 in the South East Asia. For more information, follow us on our social media channels, or email us at diwa.upmin@up.edu.ph.
