IMELDA B. DEINLA
Expertise and research interests: rule of law, hybrid justice, violence against women and peacebuilding in Mindanao, judicial politics, misinformation, public opinion
Dr. Deinla is an Associate Professor at the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG) where she teaches Critical Criminology and Graduate Innovation Report for the graduate program. She is also the convenor of BOSES Pilipinas, the first university-based opinion and survey research in the Philippines. Her areas of research are on the relationship between politics and law, and on rule of law and democracy in Southeast Asia and ASEAN. She has published extensively on judicial politics, legal pluralism, hybrid justice and peacebuilding, as well as on civil society and military relations in Mindanao, Philippines. She is currently working on several projects with ASOG such as on misinformation, public opinion and democracy and electoral violence. Dr. Deinla is a developmental lawyer and currently working on a justice and human rights program to operationalize and strengthen the multi-level justice system in the Bangsamoro.
Dr. Deinla’s most recent publication is titled, ‘Filipino Women Judges and their Role in Advancing Judicial Independence in the Philippines’, a chapter in a special volume on Women and the Judiciary in the Asia Pacific (Crouch: CUP, 2021). Dr. Deinla was previously connected with the Australian National University for over eight years as a Fellow.
EDILBERTO DE JESUS, PhD
Expertise: education research, development management
Edilberto de Jesus, Professor Emeritus, served as the president of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) from 2009 to 2012. Prior to this appointment, he was president of the University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City (2008–2009). He accepted a concurrent appointment as Presidential Adviser on Rural Development in the Aquino Cabinet in 1988 while serving as Deputy Commissioner in the Peace Commission. He returned to AIM in 1992 as Associate Dean for Research (1992–1995), leading the team that established the AIM Policy Forum, and serving as its first Chair. He then served as president of Far Eastern University (FEU) in Manila in 1995. From 1995 to 2002, he served on the boards of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) and the Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations.
In 2002, he was appointed Secretary of Education before serving as Secretariat Director (2005–2007) of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) in Bangkok. Dr. de Jesús completed his Master of Philosophy and PhD in History at Yale University. He graduated cum laude from the BA Honors Course in the Humanities of Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU). AdMU, FEU, and Xavier University Cagayan de Oro have conferred on him a PhD in the Humanities, Honoris Causa.
KENNETH HARTIGAN-GO, MD, MD (UK)
Expertise: Medicine, Health Systems and Governance, Pharmacovigilance
Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go is an Adjunct Faculty at the Asian Institute of Management. He was Philippine Department of Health Undersecretary (2015-2016); Director General of Food and Drugs Administration (October 2012- October 2014); Deputy Director Bureau of Food and Drugs (1999-2001). He was the founding Executive Director of the Zuellig Foundation from 2001 to 2009. He was faculty of the UP College of Medicine (1990-2006), Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health (until 2010) and AIM (2010-2015; 2017-2020, as School Head Zuellig School of Development Management).
He holds Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (1985), and from Newcastle University UK (1998, Clinical Pharmacology). He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore and Honorary Fellow of the Singapore College of Physician since 2017 and the President Philippine College of Physicians (2017-2018).
From 2013-2016, he advised the Chair of the APEC's Life Science Innovation Forum (LSIF) executive board. He served as a member of the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety and WHO Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medicinal Products. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the NUS Initiative for Health in Asia (NIHA), and Expert Panel member of the Center for Regulatory Excellence based in Singapore. In the mid-2000's he was also President of the Corporate Network for Disaster Response (CNDR) and a founding member of the Laban Konsyumer Inc, an NGO Consumer advocacy organization since 2016. He sits as Board Member of Culion Foundation Inc., Equicom Savings Bank, Maxicare Health Corporation, Generika, OML Center for Climate Change Adaptation, CARD MRI BotiCARD Inc, MedGrocer (2020), and a member of the National Council of Biosafety Philippines. He is currently the president of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research Philippine Chapter. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
RONALD U. MENDOZA, PhD
Expertise and research interests: Political economy
Dr. Ronald U. Mendoza was the dean of the Ateneo School of Government at Ateneo de Manila University from 2016 until 2022. He is currently a Committee Member of the United Nations Committee of United Nations Committee of the Experts on Public Administration (CEPA).
Dr. Mendoza has an extensive background in international development policy and international cooperation, with a resumé that includes work with the United Nations, the Asian Institute of Management and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Dr. Mendoza has collaborated with government officials, academics and representatives of the private and nonprofit sectors to advance reforms that could improve human development, reduce poverty, and elicit more inclusive economic and political development.
He has carried out research, technical assistance engagements and missions to developing countries including Ethiopia, Mongolia, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, Kyrgyz Republic and Ukraine. Before joining the Ateneo School of Government, Dr. Mendoza was also an associate professor of economics at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), where he also served as executive director of the AIM Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness. Working with a team of young researchers at AIM, he crafted and managed policy research on development issues relevant to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Together with Ateneo researchers, he co-authored a study on the impact of political dynasties on poverty and underdevelopment in the Philippine countryside. Dr. Mendoza also worked with Ateneo, La Salle, the University of the Philippines and an international group of researchers on Building Inclusive Democracies in ASEAN (Anvil Press, 2015), which won the Outstanding Book Award for 2016 from the Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology.
JOSEF TEOFISTO T. YAP, PhD
Expertise and research interests: Energy, economics
Josef T. Yap is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Ateneo School of Government. He was President of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, where he worked for 26 years until his retirement on June 30, 2013. While at PIDS, he specialized in macroeconomic policy and applied econometrics.
Dr. Yap finished his undergraduate and doctoral studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman and went to the University of Pennsylvania on a post-graduate program. In 2010, Dr. Yap was honored as one of the 100 outstanding alumni of the UP Diliman College of Engineering as part of its Centennial celebration.
His current research interest centers on regional economic integration in East Asia and promoting energy security in the Philippines. Dr. Yap was the regional coordinator of the East Asian Development Network and was actively involved in the establishment of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). From 2019 – 2022, Dr. Yap was Senior Technical Advisor to the ASEP-CELLs Project (Access to Sustainable Energy Program, Clean Energy Living Laboratories) which was implemented under the auspices of the European Union and the Ateneo School of Government. He is co-author of the books The Philippine Economy: East Asia’s Stray Cat? Structure, Finance and Adjustment and Lessons from Nationalist Struggle: The Life of Emmanuel Quiason Yap.
MICHAEL HENRY YUSINGCO, LLM
Expertise: State-building, decentralization, and constitutionalism
Atty. Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco is a non-resident research fellow at the Ateneo School of Government. He is also a Lecturer at the Institute of Law, School of Law and Governance of the University of Asia and the Pacific. Atty. Yusingco previously worked as a Consultant to the Office of Senator Koko Pimentel. Atty. Yusingco is also a contributor in various Philippine newspapers, such as on the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rappler, MindaNews, The Daily Guardian, Philippine Times, Sun Star Cebu, Asian Currents, Asia Times, Channel News Asia, and East Asia Forum.
Atty. Yusingco finished his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Ateneo de Manila University, and his Bachelor of Laws from Arellano University School of Law. He also obtained a Master’s degree in Law and Development from the University of Melbourne Law School.
MARIA EUFEMIA C. YAP, MD, MSc
Expertise: Health financing, community health, health management, organizational development, health systems strengthening
Dr. Maria Eufemia “Marife” Chan Yap is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center. Dr. Marife is a seasoned healthcare professional with over 30 years of experience in community and public health and health systems strengthening in the Philippines and internationally.
Dr. Yap previously served as the Senior Technical Advisor at ThinkWell Institute, where she established its Philippine office and led key initiatives in strategic health purchasing. From 1999 to 2016, she held leadership roles at Ateneo de Manila University, including Director of the Health Unit at the Graduate School of Business and the Founding Associate Dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health, where she co-founded the Leaders for Health Program and helped develop a dual degree Doctor of Medicine and MBA program and MBA-H program.
Dr. Marife holds a Doctor of Medicine from Far Eastern University – Nicanor Reyes Memorial Medical Foundation (1987) and a Master of Science in Community Health and Health Management for Developing Countries from the University of Heidelberg (1997). She also holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Ateneo de Manila University (1983).
NADIA DOYTCH, PhD
Expertise: Foreign direct investments, environmental economics, sustainability
Nadia Doytch is an Associate Professor of Economics at CUNY Brooklyn College, Koppelman School of Business, where she teaches International Trade, Microeconomics, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and Sustainability Theory and serves as the Economics Department Graduate Deputy Chair. Nadia also holds an Associate Professor appointment at the Ph.D. Program in Economics at CUNY Graduate Center and a Non-Resident Research Fellowship at Ateneo de Manila University School of Government (ASoG) in Manila, The Philippines.
Nadia’s fields of research are: International Economics, Development Economics, Energy and Environmental Economics. Her work has appeared/ is forthcoming in Energy Economics, Social Science & Medicine, Journal of International Money and Finance, International Review of Economics and Finance, Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, Children and Youth Services Review, Economic Systems, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Journal of Asian Economics, Borsa Istanbul Review, Post-Communist Economies, Comparative Economic Studies, Eastern Economic Journal, Applied Economics Letters, the Springer Rethinking International Development Series and others. Nadia currently advises graduate student research in International Economics, and Environmental and Development Economics.
JUREL K. YAP
Expertise and Research Interests: Surveys, Statistical and other quantitative methods, applications of quantitative methods to social sciences (political economy, criminology, public opinion)
Jurel K. Yap is currently pursuing his doctoral degree at the esteemed School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. With a profound dedication to the field, he specializes in the conceptualization, construction, and analysis of distinctive datasets derived from surveys, administrative records, censuses, news sources, and other relevant data repositories. Prior to his doctoral studies, Jurel served as a Program Manager and Statistician at the Ateneo Policy Center. He earned his Master of Science in Statistics from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Moreover, he holds a dual Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Development Studies from Ateneo de Manila University.
ARIANNA MAEVER L. AMIT
Expertise and Research Interests: Epidemiology, Health Systems & Policy
Arianna Maever L. Amit holds research faculty positions at the National Clinical Trials and Translation Center, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of the Philippines Manila. She is also an adjunct research faculty at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health’s Center for Research and Innovation and consults for the Asian Development Bank. With over 50 published papers, she holds an MAS in Spatial Analysis from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an MS in Epidemiology from UP Manila.
JEREMIE DE GUZMAN, MD, MBA, MSc
Expertise: Health Technology, Design and Development, Medical Engineering Design
Dr. Jeremie De Guzman is a physician, public health practitioner, researcher, entrepreneur, and medical device engineer. He is the Assistant Vice President for Research Evaluation and Monitoring at St. Luke’s Medical Center – Health Equity and Research Foundation, which focuses on addressing health inequities. He earned his MD-MBA from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, an MSc in Medical Engineering Design with Distinction from Keele University, and a postgraduate certificate in Health Technology Assessment from the University of Glasgow.
KATHLEEN GRACE M. LENTIJA, RN, USRN, MPM-HG
Expertise and Research Interests: Regulation of Health Facilities and Services, Nurses’ Work Schedules and Welfare, Ethics/Bioethics of Emerging Technologies
Kathleen Grace Lentija is a nurse regulatory officer at the Department of Health - Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau, with expertise in licensing, monitoring, and policy implementation for hospitals and health facilities. She also serves as Head Secretariat of the Bioethics Advisory Board and is a Secretariat Member of the Health Facility Oversight Board. A dedicated advocate for nurses' welfare, she led a capstone study on 12-hour nurse shifts, recognized by both her agency and academia. She holds an MPM in Health Governance from the Ateneo School of Government and is a Teaching Associate for DOH scholars and students.
DAISY L. ILAGAN-TAGARDA, MD, FPCP, FPSMID, EMDRCM
Expertise: Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Disaster Risk and Crisis Management
Dr. Daisy L. Ilagan-Tagarda is an infectious disease specialist, educator, and researcher, serving as an Assistant Professor at UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. She leads tuberculosis, antimicrobial stewardship, and infection prevention programs at UST Hospital and Diliman Doctors Hospital. A top performer in national board exams, she has contributed to international research, including the WHO Solidarity Trial on COVID-19. A sought-after speaker, she actively engages in professional societies and chairs the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases’ Calamities, Outbreak, Disaster, and Emergency (CODE) Committee.
MARIA CARISSA “RIZZY” A. ALEJANDRO, MD-MBA, MPH
Expertise: Healthcare Management & Strategy
Dr. Rizzy Alejandro is the Chief Transformation & Strategy Officer of the Healthway Medical Network, overseeing integration and strategy execution within its portfolio of clinics and hospitals, and with the broader Ayala Healthcare (AC Health) Group. Formerly the Chief Operating Officer of Healthway QualiMed Manila and the Chief Public Health Officer of AC Health, she led key COVID-19 response initiatives and collaborated with the DOH, FDA, and other stakeholders. A founding member of AC Health, she has contributed to strategy, business development, and the launch of major healthcare facilities. She earned her MD-MBA from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health and an MPH with a certificate in Global Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she was inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society.
WILFREDO M. TORRES, PhD
Expertise: Sea Tenure, Household Adaptive Strategies, Gender, Ethnicity, Leadership, & Conflict Resolution
Dr. Wilfredo M. Torres, is an anthropologist and educator with over 15 years of experience in the fields of research, peace, and development. He has been a Chevening Fellow, a Nippon Foundation Asian Public Intellectual, and a Ford Foundation–DSA–IPC Fellow. Dr. Torres has also undertaken advisory, consultancy, and evaluation work for international organization–led development projects, as well as work related to ASEAN issues.