9th, 10th, 11th Chancellor of UP Manila
3rd Term of Office: 1 November 2021 – 31 October 2021
2nd Term of Office: 1 November 2017 – 31 October 2020
1st Term of Office: 1 November 2014 – 31 October 2017
"UP Manila: Excellence, Scholarship, Collegiality, Service"
My vision for UP Manila is anchored on UP’s mandate to perform its unique and distinctive leadership role in higher education and development as stated in the UP Charter of 2008 or Republic Act 9500. I envision UP Manila as the National Center of Health Research and Development for the Filipino people, building on the outstanding accomplishments of its dedicated academic community.
Under my leadership, UP Manila will continue its quest for leadership and academic excellence in the fields of health, natural sciences, social sciences, arts and the humanities.
With a nurturing environment for accelerated CHANGE and INNOVATION, UP Manila will continue to grow academically and keep its competitive advantage.
About the Chancellor:
Dr. Padilla is an Academician of the National Academy for Science and Technology (NAST); a Professor 12 at the UP College of Medicine; and, a University Scientist 3 of the University of the Philippines System.
As a multi-awarded pediatrician and geneticist, some of her major contributions to the country are:
1) Setting up the genetic services at UP Manila in 1990 (clinical services at the PGH Dept. of Pediatrics and laboratories at the NIH’s Institute of Human Genetics). These currently services patients from different parts of the country (www.ihg.upm.edu.ph)
2) Setting up of newborn screening services in the Philippines in 1996. NBS services are currently available in 5000+ hospitals and birthing centers in the country. The Department of Health is the lead agency, while the Newborn Screening Reference Center-National Institutes of Health serves as the technical partner (www.newbornscreening.ph)
3) Setting up of the Fellowship program in Clinical Genetics (2000) and MS Genetic Counseling (2011) at the UP College of Medicine
4) Setting up of the Philippine Genome Center in 2009--a research unit of the UP System with five programs (health; agriculture, livestock & fisheries; biodiversity; forensics & ethnicity; ethics, legal and social issues) and two core facilities (DNA sequencing core facility and core facility for bioinformatics) (www.pgc.up.edu.ph)
5) Crafting and lobbying for the Newborn Screening Act of 2004, the legal basis of the implementation of the comprehensive newborn screening program in the country
6) Crafting and lobbying for the passage of the Rare Disease Act of the Philippines (SBN 2098, SBN 2279, HBN 03343, HBN 03634, HBN 03896, HBN 04002)