Since 1988, Filipino American History Month has been celebrated during October in the United States. Originally instituted by the Filipino American National Historical Society, the month was officially designated via a resolution through Congress in 2009.
In honor of Filipino American History Month, we would like to highlight several Filipinos that have made a major impact in the field of medicine.
Dr. Conrado Dayrit, a physician, researcher and instructor in the areas of pharmacology and cardiology, has authored and co-authored over 70 scientific articles. He chaired and edited the first two editions of Drug Index published in 1965 and 1967, and the first edition of the Philippine Formulate in 1978. Dr. Dayrit has received numerous awards over the course of his career, including:
As one of the earliest pioneers in virology and immunology, Veronica Chan has been recognized for her scientific accomplishments in these areas of medical research. Her research has been used to improve the health of many around the world in the form of:
Dr. Paulo C. Campos has been recognized for his contributions in the area of nuclear medicine. He received the Outstanding Scientist Award from the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science in 1969.
Dr. Campos founded the:
Dr. Campos has co-authored or authored 75 articles published in scientific journal, some of which were award winning. He won awards for his research in:
Dr. Benjamin Cabrera is known for his contributions to medicine on behalf of his research in public health and medical parasitology. He has published numerous scientific articles regarding his research in preventing the spread of disease from mosquitoes. Dr. Cabrera discovered methods to control diseases that are spread by contracting parasitic roundworms. In 1996, Dr. Cabrera was awarded the Presidential Award from the Philippine Legion of Honor for his work with tropical diseases.
Dr. Fe Villanueva del Mundo was the first woman student to be admitted to the Harvard Medical School in 1936. This came about because she accepted a scholarship from the Filipino government to go to any school in the United States. Because of her stellar record, the head of pediatric medicine chose to still accept her at a time when women were not accepted at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Del Mundo returned to the Philippines after graduation and founded the country’s first pediatric hospital. She practiced pediatric medicine for eight decades. For her pioneering work in pediatrics, Dr. Del Mundo:
Millions of people around the world today benefit from Dr. Abelardo Aguilar’s discovery of Erythromycin as an alternative antibiotic for those who are allergic to antibiotics or suffer gastrointestinal side effects from other types of antibiotics. He submitted his discovery to Eli Lilly and Company in 1952 but was never fully compensated by royalties or recognized for his discovery.