Two teams from region 10 have recently inked a Contract of Agreement for funding assistance through the DOST-PCHRD Undergraduate Thesis Grant in Natural Products. Each team will receive an amount of Php 50,000.00 cash for equipment and materials related to pursuing their study.
Aaron Degamon, a senior BS Chemistry student at Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), is among the PCHRD thesis grantee. He is a one-man team whose study could offer strategies to help prevent the onset of debilitating complications of diabetes and obesity. His thesis focuses on establishing a treatment strategy that can potentially ameliorate obesity-diabetes nexus and thereby provide more effective and affordable treatment or prevention of this health challenge.
The other team is composed of Mr. Prince Eroll V. Reyes and Mr. Emerson Paul D. Somontan, senior Radiologic Technology students of Iligan Medical Center College (IMCC). The result of their thesis will immensely contribute to the development of natural, locally abundant, widely available, inexpensive, non-toxic, and equally effective alternative radioprotectors to synthetic ones.
The Contract of Agreement signing was held at MSU-IIT and IMCC campus in Lanao Del Norte in the presence of DOST-PCHRD Senior Science Research Specialist Ms. Lucila E. Roja, IMCC President Dr. Royce S. Torres, MSU-IIT Associate Professor Dr. Charlie A. Lavilla Jr., and other DOST-PCHRD and DOST- 10 staff.
DOST-PCHRD Undergraduate Thesis Grant in Natural Products is a program that 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 Tuklas Lunas program (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. (Linreb Mondero/DOST 10)
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