Ask Theory

Engr. Michael Manguerra is an assistant professor from the Manufacturing Engineering Dept of De La Salle University. His research interest is in Biomedical Engineering, particularly assistive devices for PWD. He is currently a consultant in several Biomedical Engineering research projects and also doing his PhD in ECE, focusing on Assistive Devices. We talked about becoming a biomedical engineer,...

Timothy James M. Dimacali is a science journalist, communicator, and fictionist. He is the founding editor of GMA News Online's Science and Technology Section, and currently heads the University of the Philippines Diliman Science Communication Team. He received his Master’s degree in Science Writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a Fulbright scholarship and his BA English degree...

Christian Paul Angeles is a licensed nurse based in the United Kingdom, with over a decade’s worth of professional experience in the healthcare industry. He serves as the Unit Manager of the Neonatal Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In 2019, he was awarded the Most Inspirational Nurse at a private hospital. We talked about life in the U.K. as a nurse, the challenges of being a nurse in the Philip...

Frederick Delfin leads one of two human population-based genomics projects under the Filipino Genomes Research Program (FGRP) at the DNA Analysis Laboratory of the UP Natural Sciences Research Institute (UP-NSRI). His research focuses on human population genetics, evolutionary genetics and molecular anthropology. He has a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of the Philippines Baguio,...

Beam Maquilan is a chemistry senior aspiring to work on both Materials Science to develop sustainable materials for green energy and environmental preservation, and Science Communication to contribute to bridging the gap between science and society. She aims to inspire a community of scientific thinkers through her self-written and self-animated science videos. We talked about communicating scienc...

Dr. Ibarra Ariel Poliquit is a licensed veterinarian with extensive experience in feline-specific veterinary care. He served as the Medical Director of the Cat Clinic, the first feline-specific veterinary practice in the Philippines. He is also a lecturer at De La Salle Araneta University. We talked about the importance of specialization in veterinary medicine, the challenges of being a veterinari...

Dr. Pia Bagamasbad is an Associate Professor and the Director of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB) in UP Diliman. Her research work aims to understand the molecular basis of hormone action in the context of neuronal development and hormone-related cancer such as breast and prostate cancer. In 2019, Dr. Bagamasbad was given the distinction of Outstanding Young Sc...

Dr. Lemnuel Aragones is a professor at UP Diliman’s Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM). He has been studying marine mammals since 1988. He is recognized for his significant contributions in marine zoology research, particularly on the biology, ecology, and conservation of the dugong (sea cow) and the green turtle. We talked about the different marine mammals in the Philippin...

Dr. Ruby Roan-Cristobal is a seasoned science communication professional, a research practitioner, an IT manager, and a science broadcaster. She hosts a weekly radio program that promotes science and technology to the general public, and worked for the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology as Chief Science Research Specialist. In the ‘90s, she served a key role in...

Dr. Philip Cruz is the Country Medical Director at Moderna UK. He has over 15 years of experience in medical affairs in the field of vaccines and pediatrics within the pharmaceutical industry, and has also worked for companies like GSK and AstraZeneca. A pediatrician by training, he is actively involved in clinical research, research and development and pharmaceutical medicine. We talked about bei...

Dr. John Frederick Tapia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering of De La Salle University Manila. His research interests include process systems engineering applied to different low-carbon energy systems. He is one of the recipients of the 2022 Outstanding Young Scientists Award given by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). We talked about the ongoing...

Ingrid Espinosa is a science communicator and researcher. She recently completed her masters program in science communication at the Imperial College London. We talked about pursuing graduate studies abroad, the roots of science journalism in the Philippines, important lessons about Philippine science journalism history, lessons learned as an MsC student, advice for aspiring science communicators,...

Mikael Angelo Francisco is the co-founder/EIC of FlipScience.ph and the host of the Ask Theory podcast. He has written books about media literacy, Filipino scientists, and science trivia. In this episode, Mikael shares the 8 most important lessons he learned from all the Filipino scientists and science communicators he interviewed for the podcast. How to contact Mikael: Email: flipscienceph@gmail....

Dr. Justin Parreno is an Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware,  and is the Principal Investigator of the university’s Perreno Laboratory. He also serves as the Faculty Advisor of the university’s Filipino Students Association. Kam Inguito is a medical student in Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Delaware, and was the President of the university’s Filipino Student...

Dr. Paola Gracielle Cabrera is an anesthesiologist and a TikTok content creator who tackles anesthesia-related topics. We talked about working in the field of anesthesiology, what makes the job of an anesthesiologist so unique and important, what it’s like to be an anesthesiologist, the kind of person who would be the perfect anesthesiologist, the process of becoming an anesthesiologist, and more....

Jelaine Gan is the co-founder of The UP Wild and Raptorwatch Network Philippines, and is currently doing her PhD in Biology at Newcastle University in the UK. She is an instructor at the Institute of Biology, UP Diliman teaching ecology, vertebrate biology, and conservation biology. She is involved in various projects and organizations working towards environmental conservation. We talked about wh...

Angelo Joshua Victoria is a Synthetic Biology PhD student at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. He works with cyanobacteria, engineering their DNA using a wide array of molecular genetic tools to make them produce useful compounds for various industries. He is passionate about the importance and proper use of molecular biology to provide solutions to help mitigate the effects of th...

Iris Abrigo and Portia Crisostomo are food scientists and the founders of The BK Podcast PH. They talk about the science behind the food that Filipinos love to eat, as well as the people behind these innovative products. We talked about the unique paths they took as food technologists and scientists, what makes Filipino cuisine so special, what the BK Podcast is all about, their favorite stories a...

Dr. Irene Buenavista Molina is a registered nurse with 28 years of nursing practice and a public health professional with 8 years of public health practice. She is a nursing supervisor at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore City and an adjunct nursing faculty at Anne Arundel Community College. We talked about being a frontline worker in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic; the biggest misconceptions...

Joshua Veluz is a microbiologist and a licensed professional teacher. He is keen on discovering more applications of microorganisms that have the potential to propel the progress of human health, the environment, and society. We talked about studying the antifungal activity of Lactobacillus metabolites, medically relevant fungi and antifungal resistance, the roles marine microorganisms play in med...

Dr. Renzo Guinto is the Chief Planetary Health Scientist and Co-Founder of the newly established Sunway Centre for Planetary Health in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Concurrently, he is the Associate Professor of the Practice of Global Public Health and Inaugural Director of the Planetary and Global Health Program of the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine in the Philippines. He is also a membe...

Denise Salvador Janer is a marine geologist who works as a researcher in the UP Marine Science Institute. She has been involved in research expeditions in the West Philippine Sea and Philippine Rise to discover paleo-sea level rise events that happened thousands of years ago and their role in the evolution of marine ecosystems. We talked about visiting and studying the West Philippine Sea and Benh...

Dr. William Buhian is a plant biologist with a particular interest in plant-microbe interactions. He completed his PhD at the University of Toulouse (FR) in 2021, focusing on rhizobia-legume symbiosis. We talked about the phenomenon called rhizobia-legume symbiosis, how plants experience stress, the meaning of plant blindness, conducting research that serves the people, tips for science students w...

Dr. Criselle Peñamante is a physician-scientist interested in the field of behavioral epidemiology. She is a faculty member of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, and Department of Medical Biology at the University of Sto. Tomas. An active global clinical researcher conducting studies and collaborating with fellow clinical researchers across the globe, she is also a...

Archie Veloria is a Supervising Science Research Specialist under the PhilSA's Earth Sciences Space Mission Studies Division. His research revolves around satellite remote sensing of the environment, extreme weather monitoring and forecasting, and rainfall climatology. We talked about space science and technology applications within the Philippine context, how satellites contribute to understandin...