Dr. Mohamed Jamal Deen, president of the Academy of Science, Royal Society of Canada, shared his work on “ubiquitous health” (U-health) as speaker and guest of honor of the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL) during his lecture on “Smarter Homes, Better Healthcare” on August 21, 2015 at The Manila Hotel.
The lecture was organized by the NAST PHL, in partnership with the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It focused on the role of ICT in creating “smart” homes for better healthcare services for the elderly.
Dr. Deen discussed ways to address the need for U-healthin the elderly age group. He explained the importance of cost-effective technologies for health care at home. According to him, healthcare is challenged by “three interlocking crises”—rising cost, older population, and quality of healthcare.
The National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL), through its Engineering Sciences and Technology Division (ESTD) and in partnership with USAID-STRIDE, conducted a Roundtable Discussion (RTD) on the Prospects of Microalgae in the Philippines at Hotel Jen Manila on September 22, 2015.
The RTD focused on the potential of microalgae to become an alternative source of energy or biofuel and for other industrial applications such as aquaculture feeds, algae-derived plastics, fertilizers, cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and pharmaceuticals, among others.
Dr. Joel L. Cuello, an expert on sustainable biological and agricultural systems engineering from the University of Arizona and a De La Salle University (DLSU) USAID-STRIDE visiting professor, explained the connection of the falling of oil price and the future of microalgae as biofuel feedstock. According to him, the price of biofuel from microalgae, which is $24 per gallon, cannot compete in the global market today. He suggested a path venture for future investors that is multi-product and multi-market business model for microalgae to become economically-feasible. Microalgae biochemical factory for various high-value chemicals remains largely untapped.
He further discussed that the main concern with microalgae’s mass production is the contamination of open raceways due to the uncontrolled environment. He enumerated different technological advancements on the use of bioreactors to help industries maximize revenue and cut cost in microalgae production.
Academician Alvin B. Culaba, member of NAST PHL and professor of mechanical engineering at DLSU, discussed the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based framework in microalgae studies. This helps researchers identify problems in using algae as a biofuel feedstock. As part of post-harvesting process, Acd. Culaba together with the DLSU Microalgae Research Team, identified dewatering or drying as a crucial part of converting algal biomass to biofuels since this constitutes about 20% to 30% of the total production. Several researches about drying technology and the molecular dynamics to extract water were carried out to address this problem.
The National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL) called the attention of various sectors to take action in addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or commonly known as lifestyle diseases. These diseases include heart and respiratory diseases, cancers, and diabetes.
Data from the World Health Organization Global Burden of Disease (WHO GBD) 2010 show that 309,000 Filipinos die annually from NCDs.
NAST PHL held the 37th Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) focusing on “The Challenges of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Responding through Multisectoral Action”. The ASM brought together the government (Senate and Congress), the science community, and all sectors, toinvolve them in the prevention and control of NCDs. The ASM steering committee came up with resolutions, which resulted from the recommendations of the pre-ASM roundtable discussion.