TEN (10) FILIPINO SCIENTISTS

ANGEL ALCALA, a scientist from the Philippines, Angel Alcala found a passion and love for
marine life especially those in the tropical waters of his country. With more than thirty years
of experience as a marine biologist, he contributed to his country’s marine development and
ecology concerns. Angel Alcala is also involved in other biological science fields such as
herpetology, marine biogeography, and marine conservation biology. He is also known for his
fieldwork to build sanctuaries or artificial coral reefs and to promote biodiversity in the
aquatic ecosystems of the Philippines.

MARIA CORAZON DE UNGRIA does research in Biological Anthropology and DNA

forensics. She has worked tirelessly to use science in the service of justice, helping to draft
legislation regarding the use of DNA evidence to improve the criminal justice system.

FE DEL MUNDO was a Filipino pediatrician who was the first woman to be admitted to
Harvard Medical School in 1936 — over ten years before the school officially began admitting
women. She was also the first woman to be named National Scientist of the Philippines in
1980, and founded the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. She revolutionized Philippine
medicine, making major breakthroughs in immunization and in the treatment of jaundice, and
providing healthcare to thousands of poor families. She is credited with studies that led to
the invention of the incubator made of bamboo and a jaundice relieving device.

PAULO C. CAMPOS was a Filipino physician and educator noted for his promotion of wider
community health care and his achievements in the field of nuclear medicine for which he
was dubbed as "The Father of Nuclear Medicine in the Philippines". Through the thyroid clinic,
Campos likewise pursued research on whether there was a genetic factor that contributed to
endemic goiter. His findings, as contained in a paper that he published in 1961,proposed that
the iodine intake deficiency thought to be the main cause of goiter was just one of the
triggering factors of the disease, and that physiology and anatomy proved to be more
important considerations as some people were born without the enzyme necessary to take
in trace elements such as iodine even if it were present in food and water
IRENE CRISOLOGO is a radar meteorologist based in Potsdam, Germany working on open
source methods for processing weather radar data.

JULIAN BANZON was a Filipino biochemist and a National Scientist of the Philippines. Banzon
was credited for his research in alternative fuel. He researched on the production of ethyl
ester fuels from sugarcane and coconuts and devised a method of extracting residual coconut
oil through chemical means

LOURDES J. CRUZ is a Filipino biochemist whose research has contributed to the

understanding of the biochemistry of toxic peptides from the venom of fish-hunting Conus
marine snails. The characterization of over 50 biologically active peptides from the snail's
venom had been made possible, in part, by her studies. She developed pain relievers from
snail’s conotoxins.

LUCILLE ABAD is a scientist with a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering and Management from the
University of Tokyo and an innovator famous in the chemistry industry. With her passion and
devotion towards her profession, she and her research team were able to produce Radiation-
Modified Carrageenan (a substance extracted from red and purple seaweeds) as Plant Food
Supplement and they have also proven its effectiveness.

GREGORIO ZARA was a Filipino scientist best known as the inventor of the videophone, the
first two-way electronic video communicator, in 1955. All told, he patented 30 devices. His
other inventions ranged from an alcohol-powered airplane engine to a solar-powered water
heater and stove.

ABELARDO AGUILAR, co-discoverer of Erythromycin, an effective antibiotic against various

respiratory tract and intestinal infections, and certain sexually-transmitted diseases. His
discovery saved millions, yet he was never paid a single cent.