Dr. Carmencita Padilla, GeneSoc honorary member, conferred National Scientist rank

 

GeneSoc Honorary Member and National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Academician Carmencita D. Padilla, MD, MAHPS, was granted the Order of National Scientist on August 31, 2023, at the Malacañang Palace for her pioneering work on human clinical genetics and genomics in the Philippines.

National Scientist (NS) Padilla joins the ranks of 42 other National Scientists in the order, while also claiming the first NS recognition in the field of Medical Genetics. 

As a world-renowned and multi-awarded pediatrician and geneticist, NS Padilla’s outstanding and significant contributions to the field of clinical genetics in the Philippines were seen through her research, which became the basis for the enactment of vital Philippine healthcare laws. She is the proponent of two laws: Republic Act 9288 or the Newborn Screening Act of 2004 and the Republic Act 10747 or the Rare Disease Act of 2016. Her national screening program saved countless Filipino newborns from mental retardation and death from certain congenital disorders, while the law for orphan diseases continuously promotes the right to medical care for individuals with rare diseases. 

NS Padilla is also credited for the establishment of the Philippine Genome Center, a multidisciplinary research unit that was at the forefront of the COVID-19 research efforts. She was appointed as the Executive Director from 2011 to 2016.

NS Padilla assumed leadership positions and notable titles in various organizations and institutions– including prominent roles, such as being an academician under the Health Sciences Division of the NAST, serving three terms from 2014 to 2023 as the chancellor of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila, became the founding director for both the Newborn Screening Reference Center and the Institute of Human Genetics of the National Institutes of Health at UP Manila, and acted as the founding chairman of the Philippine Society for Orphan Disorders, Inc.

NS Padilla is also the Founding and National Program Adviser of the Volunteer Youth Leaders for Health-Philippines (VYLH-Philippines), where GeneSoc is the only student organization among the four founding organizations.