Professional Regulation Commission recognized an Ilongga scientist and Agustinian pharmacist as 2019 Outstanding Professional of the Year in the Field of Pharmacy.
Dr. Doralyn S. Dalisay, a cum laude graduate of BS Pharmacy in University of San Agustin, hurdled the stages of PRC screening and evaluation of qualified examinees to get the prestigious award. She brought honor and pride to the University as she is the first Augustinian Pharmacist to receive the accolade.
The “Outstanding Professional of the Year Award” is the highest award bestowed by PRC upon a professional for having sufficiently demonstrated competence of the highest degree, professional integrity, significant contribution to the advancement of the profession and with a meaningful contribution in society and country.
Dr. Dalisay earned her Master of Science in Biology at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas. She obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology at the University of New South Wales, Australia.
She received a postdoctoral fellowship to specialize on marine natural products chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, USA.
Research Programs
Dr. Dalisay has been engaged in several drug discovery scientific research undertakings at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA. Her research leads to the discovery of 25 novel antifungal and anticancer compounds from rare marine invertebrates and marine sediment-derived microorganisms.
These compounds have attracted the interest of the scientific community because of their novelty and potential as drug leads. She also holds two US patents on the use of a marine natural product for fungal infections and cancer.
Dr. Dalisay returned to the Philippines as the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Balik Scientist in June 2015 to establish a research program on natural products drug discovery at the Center for Chemical Biology and Biotechnology (C2B2) in University of San Agustin.
She is a pioneering pharmacist and scientist to work on the biodiversity, biological activities, and chemistry of marine sediment-derived actinobacteria from Philippine archipelago that could one day help to find new antibiotics and potentially address the problem of drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria.
Dr. Dalisay has worked extensively on the development of culture dependent strategies to access the vast biodiverse actinobacteria from different environmental samples in the Philippines. Her research group explored the Philippine archipelago for the presence of promising actinobacteria found in the marine sediment samples collected in different islands in the country.
Her laboratory at C2B2 now houses a library of more than 3,000 highly diverse marine sediment-derived actinobacteria isolates that serves as “BioBank for Drug Discovery Research” in the country.
Dr. Dalisay has published research on drug discovery in high impact journals. Her publication received more than 2000 citations. She has won a number of awards in recognition for her research, publications, and patents. She was awarded as The Outstanding Pharmacist, TOP Award in Research by Philippine Pharmacists Association in 2016. She was recently conferred as Diplomate of the Philippine Academy for Microbiology.
Her research program on drug discovery at the University of San Agustin is supported by the National Research Council of the Philippines-Department of Science and Technology (NRCP-DOST), Philippine Council for Health Research and Development-Department of Science and Technology (PCHRD-DOST), United States Agency for International Development, Science, Technology, Research, and Innovation for Development (USAID-STRIDE) Program and the University of San Agustin.
Dr. Dalisay got the nod of Screening Committee in the Final Selection and Deliberation last May 9, and will receive the Outstanding Professional of the Year Award on June 20 at Fiesta Pavilion, Manila Hotel during the PRC Anniversary Celebration. (via usa.edu.ph)
I have met dr. dalisay twice and indeed I am quite impressed. I just need to know the priority program of research which she plans to do at her lab in University of San Agustin.