Ateneo FASSSTER wins 2024 Alberto G Romualdez Jr Outstanding Health Research Award (AROHRA) in Health Services Research Category

The School of Science and Engineering (SOSE) proudly congratulates the multi-awarded Ateneo FASSSTER team for being selected as Winner of the 2024 Alberto G Romualdez Jr Outstanding Health Research Award - Health Services Research Category from the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) for their work on the FASSSTER for LGU Epidemiology Surveillance Units: Enhancements for Monitoring and Predicting the Spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Led by overall Project Leader, Dr Maria Regina Justina E Estuar, Executive Director of the Ateneo Center for Computing Competency and Research (ACCCRe), FASSSTER was a project that began in 2016 as a feasibility study on the development of a web-based multi-stakeholder, multi-source multi-dimensional disease surveillance and modeling tool for the Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health (EB-DOH). In 2019, funded by PCHRD, ACCCRe together with the Ateneo Applied Mathematics Laboratory, Department of Mathematics, led by Dr Elvira de Lara-Tuprio, the FASSSTER for COVID-19 platform was developed and was used all throughout the pandemic by national and local government agencies as a monitoring and decision-making tool in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

The FASSSTER team was a member of the sub-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics (sTWG) - Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and has been recognized by the Department of Health as members of the Expert Group. Dr Estuar and Dr de Lara-Tuprio, both Full Professors of SOSE, have been honored with the Magalong Medal from the Office of the President, Malacañang, and recognized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as women leaders during the pandemic (Women, Data and the Pandemic). The FASSSTER project has received funding from UNDP, the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO) to sustain, enhance and expand the work with EB-DOH. 

The FASSSTER team has published over 15 Scopus-indexed articles and has recently released a book titled COVID-19 Experience in the Philippines: Response, Surveillance, and Monitoring using the FASSSTER Platform, published by Springer. The FASSSTER team continues to serve the EB-DOH, including the QC Local Government Unit, through the FASSSTER-REACH PCHRD project, led by Dr Timothy Robin Teng, Associate Professor, Ateneo Applied Mathematics Laboratory, Department of Mathematics.

The awarding ceremony took place on 16 August 2024, during the 17th Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Conference at Almont Inland Resort, Butuan City.

Recognizing members of the Ateneo FASSSTER multidisciplinary team:

Department of Economics:
Dr Joselito Sescon, Jerik Cruz, Genesis Kelly Lontoc, Cymon Kayle Lubangco, Marjorie Muyrong, Vanessa Van, Gerome Vejeda, Jury Blanco

Department of Information Systems and Computer Science:
Dr Maria Regina Justina Estuar – Project Lead, Atty. Kennedy Espina, Dr Marlene de Leon, Dr John Noel Victorino, Christian Pulmano, Rommel Santos, Alyssa Lara, Rjel Lara, Lenard Paulo Tamayo, Dennis Vilamor, Viktor dela Cruz, Zachary Pangan, Shawn Co, Gilian Madrid, Abraham Magpantay, Jay-Arr Buhain, Josh Daniel Ong, Railey Montalan, Stephen James Chan, Beatrice Sison, Jilian Chua

Department of Mathematics:
Dr Elvira de Lara-Tuprio – Lead, Math Modeling Team, Dr. Timothy Robin Teng – Lead, FASSSTER-REACH, Dr Mark Anthony Tolentino, Dr Jeric Briones, Dr Joshua Uyheng, Dr Lean Yao, Raven Ico, Carlo Estadilla, Daniel Joseph Benito, Lu Christian Ong, Jasper Segismundo, Dr Jay Macalalag (Caraga State University)

Project Management:
Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering (ARISE), Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO), SOSE, and ACCCRe

SOSE commends the Ateneo FASSSTER team members for their tireless work during the pandemic and sustained efforts post-pandemic as they continue to serve the nation through science and computer technology.