UP RI – RCW discussed possible project collaborations with the UP Open University Faculty of Management and Development Studies (UPOU FMDS) in an exploratory meeting on April 5, 2024 via Zoom. Discussion points include ethics review, dengue prediction modeling, and creative industries development, among others.
Asst. Prof. Ria Valerie Cabanes, Chairman of the UPOU Institutional Research Ethics Committee (UPOU IREC) has guided RCW in navigating the IREC ethics review process. She is with Assoc. Prof. Myra Oruga, Ph.D., Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (Research and Publications) to discuss the details.
UPOU encouraged RCW to secure an ethical research clearance from the UPOU IREC since the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB) has recently granted them a Level 2 Accreditation. This would allow the UPOU IREC to review studies involving vulnerable groups such as children and Indigenous Peoples. With this, the UP RI – RCW’s study on dengue will be their pioneering applicant for a Level 2 review within the UP System. Assoc. Prof. Oruga has emphasized that this would be a great learning opportunity for their reviewers in the UPOU IREC.
Regarding the study on dengue, RCW plans to further assess the climate change and public health nexus by observing the dengue trends in the Philippines. Coincidentally, Assoc. Prof. Oruga has an extensive background in dengue and its prediction modeling. With this, RCW’s Chief Science Research Specialist Dennis de la Torre has invited Assoc. Prof. Oruga to talk about the emerging trends in dengue modeling on April 17 during the knowledge exchange session of the National Institutes of Health – Center for Climate and Health glObal Research on Disasters (NIH – CORD) consortium.
In addition to having rich knowledge and experience, Assoc. Prof. Oruga has a robust connection with dengue modeling professionals. She suggested several colleagues who could give valuable insights to improve the methodology and framework of RCW’s study on dengue. Meanwhile, Asst. Prof. Depante would be engaged in the policy aspect of the said study.
During their closing conversation, Mr. de la Torre has just learned about the involvement of Assoc. Prof. Oruga in a working committee for the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act. They would schedule another meeting to further discuss, especially on different scales of enterprise development and job generation in the Philippines.
The discussions have been fruitful in realizing the comparative advantage of each party in scientific studies and creative industries development projects. Their involvement in International consortiums, the institutionalization of their endeavors, and the clarification of their collaboration responsibilities are expected to be discussed in succeeding meetings.