In celebration of the Ateneo’s continued excellence in research and the academe, The GUIDON proudly spotlights some of the University’s most distinguished and prominent professors—leaders whose groundbreaking research, pioneering innovations, and trailblazing scientific achievements have redefined excellence within the University and beyond.
These visionary intellectuals are key drivers behind the Ateneo’s commitment to championing discovery and transforming the landscape of science and technology. Through their steadfast dedication to their respective fields, the University drives the academe forward to nurture the next generations of changemakers at the forefront of scientific progress and innovation for societal impact.
Q: What is your name and field of scientific study?
ALAMPAY: Liane Alampay and [my] field [is] broadly [into] developmental psychology—particularly parent-child relationships, family relationships, child protection, and intervention.
BUENAFE: Olivia Erin Buenafe, PhD in Biomedical Sciences on Pharmaceutical Sciences in Belgium. Current research group in zebrafish for drug discovery and toxicology.
DAYRIT: My nickname is Toby, I did my Masters and PhD in Princeton [from] 1976 to 1981… Did a post doctorate at Oxford for 2 years working on transition metal catalysts [then] I returned [to the Ateneo] in 1993.
GUERRERO: I am Raphael A. Guerrero, I am currently the Dean of the School of Science and Engineering but my home department is the Department of Physics. I’ve been in Ateneo since November of 2000, so I’ve been teaching for 24 years but for the past few years, I’ve been focused on admin work in terms of leadership of SOSE. For my research, I work with lasers and optical systems, specifically I began with holography and now, I’m working more on deformable optics based on polymer materials.
NEBRES: I am Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, people call me Fr. Ben, and I specialize in Mathematics.
Q: What sparked your interest in science? Can you recall any pivotal moments or experiences that solidified your general direction?
ALAMPAY: My path has been very linear—that makes me fortunate. My interest in child protection started in SHS [where I] remember doing a paper on children affected by war, [specifically] in rural areas and [in the] countryside… [This] affected me [and planted] the seeds of the path that I would someday have [which is] a career protecting children.
BUENAFE: Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated with science. I did well in my STEM subjects in [Grade School], it [was] fun to observe and play around with [the] natural world. Playing with sticks and stones, [watching] those TV shows, mixing things together, [and] color-changing [were] rather fascinating as a kid.
DAYRIT: It was [because of my] high school chemistry teacher. I thought it [would be] better to take something challenging in college. Studying something difficult and then working on something easier. Turns out, I had a good chemistry teacher. With chem, you can branch out to [Biology, Environmental Science, and Medicine.] Chem is difficult yet I got trapped [because] it can be applied to so many things.
GUERRERO: It might’ve started during elementary school when you start joining contests and you win these contests. When you join the quiz, let’s say in the general sciences or in the Physics Olympiad, you get support from your school to join that particular activity, and you succeed sometimes. That’s when you have this initial feeling of being oriented toward the sciences, and I just find it fun to set things on fire or conduct experiments with no real basis—just to see what happens.
NEBRES: There was one point where a decision had to be made of what field I would have to go into and, originally, my [seminary] superiors wanted me to specialize in the classics—so in Latin and in Greek—but I told them that that’s not really my interest. Then, I recalled that I enjoyed doing math in high school. So, I asked if I could pursue Math. It was not conventional because there was no mathematics in the seminary except what I had in high school so I had to do it on my own. I enjoyed doing it. Basically, I enjoy doing problems. I simply went through the calculus books. You could say that I enjoy a challenge because although Latin and Greek were good, they weren’t that challenging. I probably could’ve done physics except that we needed laboratories but we didn’t have any laboratories here.
Q: Were there any particular or memorable challenges you faced during your academic journey? Have you faced any major setbacks or failures in your career? How did you overcome them?
ALAMPAY: I recall being younger and early on in my career. I was not yet 30 but I had three children. [I had my PhD] at 28, got married and had three kids by 30, started in Ateneo as [an] Assistant Professor in [the] early 2000s and I think I put a lot of pressure on myself. A lot of people coming from [their PhD] have a lot of aspirations and a vision of ourselves churning out publications left and right. I think a major theme of my life [in my early 30s] was a sense of being an impostor, I felt I had to juggle so many things. So I always felt I could do more. I’ve [since] overcome that attitude—my perspective on what it means to be a successful scientist has changed from counting publications to keeping faithful to a certain mission… When I really reflect, why I am in the field, who and what it is for, it becomes more meaningful. […] My work has gone beyond publications, I’ve also used the science of human development and families.
BUENAFE: Obstacles in the career [involves] naturally doing the research. [Sometimes you don’t] get results, [so you] research and search again. In [my] position now, Assistant Professor, [I have become a] senior member of the academe [capable of] making proposals for [funded research]. Research [is a] highly competitive field, [involving] competition for limited amounts of money, [and it’s] a challenge to sell ideas that are worthwhile to invest and work on.
DAYRIT: Anytime I start something, the challenge is still there. Maybe the most memorable one [was] the nuclear/spectrometer [and] another major equipment, [the] Nuclear Magnetic Resonance—we installed the first high-end [one] in the country back in 1985.
GUERRERO: I was inspired by [Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time] and, of course, Einstein was always there, inspiring everyone to be a scientist because he made science look so cool. He really understood what he was talking about most of the time. [I read] “A Brief History of Time” and I thought that being a physicist sounded fun. That might’ve been one of my points of inspiration for pursuing a formal degree in science.
NEBRES: I did my PhD in Stanford, and since I didn’t have a strong undergraduate background, it was quite challenging. For example, once you entered there, you had to take the equivalent of a qualifying exam at the beginning of the second year, and one of my problems was that one of the fields for the exam was something I had not taken because I was behind. So, I really had to cram and concentrate for several months, but I made it…. [Then] when I came back there were only two of us with a PhD in Mathematics and I realized that it would not work if I simply concentrated on my research. The only way I could work on my research would be to work with friends abroad—there’s no one else to work with in the Philippines. I realized it was a dead-end; I would publish but the Philippines would remain the same because all the work would be done abroad. So I decided to get some colleagues from chemistry and physics in UP together to concentrate on preparing for a national emergence. So, we developed what we called the UP-Ateneo-De La Salle consortium—since none of us could do it on our own.
Q: What do you think is the most rewarding aspect of your work as a scientist?
ALAMPAY: The commitment to bring the science to scale [and] to work with [the] government to work with [as many Filipino] families as possible.
BUENAFE: To see my thesis students explain things on their own without [stopping and] looking [to say] “Tama ba?” [It’s] like seeing your own child working on their own. I’d say [I did my job well] if I’m able to train future generations to be scientific researchers [that] can stand. walk, and reason out based on what I taught them as a scientist myself.
DAYRIT: Doing the right science. In a way, it’s like [becoming] physically strong. You use your strength [for] the wrong things and it damages [you.] We want to be physically strong and do the right things.
GUERRERO: I find two things that I enjoy the most. The first is that magical moment when your idea, which starts out as maybe just a thought or a note on a piece of paper, suddenly becomes part of the body of knowledge in the sciences through publication. You start with notes on scratch paper, you have experiments that won’t always work, you go through analysis—with co-authors and students—eventually after the formal process of review, that idea contributes to science through a paper. So, that’s the closest I think that I get to creating a work of art—each time I get published. It’s my version of a sculpture, an artwork, or a song. I also enjoy seeing my students succeed. Seeing them grow as scientists, and helping them become authors in their own right.
NEBRES: Seeing my students do well and [flourishing], and that they’re doing well and training the next generation.
Q: Can you describe a significant research project or discovery that you’re particularly proud of?
ALAMPAY: For the last decade, starting 2016, we’ve been developing and testing community-based parent-support interventions to prevent violence against children. In this work, we collaborate with national 4Ps, and so the vision is to scale these evidence-based positive parenting practices to the billions of family beneficiaries. We developed Masayang Pamilya (MAPA), we’ve developed chat versions of MAPA, and integrated MAPA to electronic programs of Pantawid. We’ve developed programs of MAPA versions with teens. We keep continuously adapting the programs to suit different contexts. That’s continuing work—a highlight.
BUENAFE: Zebrafish. They [are] maybe the smallest possible vertebrate animal model that we can use in the lab. More than 75% genetic similarity with humans, including receptors in the cells. Other than that, we can model a lot of different specific aspects in different organs [such as] heart disease, liver disease, neurological diseases in fish. We don’t need to spend a lot for [their] production.
DAYRIT: [My research on] Virgin Coconut Oil. A lot of [ailments] have to do with [chemistry and] bioresources, and when you talk about plants, it’s basically on how you use them.
GUERRERO: The very first time I got published was, of course, very special since it helped me get a degree. I finally graduated with a PhD, because before you publish, you’re always uncertain. [Questions such as if] your research will fulfill the standards of the international community or if what you’re doing is enough. So, I’m very very happy that I got published for the first time. It was a very specific topic on holography and, even now, that paper doesn’t get cited much but I’m still most proud and happy when I look back on [it].
NEBRES: The beginning of the [emergence of science in Philippine education]. We had to look for money to pursue a PhD in mathematics, and the first one that [supported] was NEDA, which had lots of grants for PhDs in Statistics but they were lacking people who wanted to take them. So, they offered them to us. DOST also started supporting us. Of course, it was also that we were able to get friends from Japan, Australia, and other places, and then offer scholarships for Japan so that we could send our students for research there. Essentially, we were able to put the systems together, so that we could finally produce PhDs and researchers in place. Of course, the other thing is that we worked together. [All of us in the consortium were friends and,] in fact, we still work together—we did not compete.
Q: What advice would you give to young people who are interested in pursuing a career in science?
ALAMPAY: [Ask] questions that are meaningful today. Passion is overused—what’s meaningful to you? It may not be groundbreaking or [it may not] solve the world’s problems, but maybe [it’s] meaningful. [This] will also serve to help you keep faith and keep committed to the work. That will also help you have fun and enjoy the process of discovery… I genuinely love to learn, ask questions, and sit down doing data analysis. The process of writing, the language of it, these are things I intrinsically enjoy. That helps me stay committed, enjoy, [and] it helps me realize I’m on the right path. Find that sweet spot where there’s meaning to you, where you feel most yourself, and where you’re having fun.
BUENAFE: Never lose the sense of wonder. You will always find that the drive in STEM will never run out.
DAYRIT: [Chemistry is] a central science and [with it,] a central responsibility… Use [chemistry responsibly.]
GUERRERO: Find that magic in what they’re doing. You have to enjoy what you’re doing in order for you to really invest yourself in that initiative or in that endeavor. I hope that, in doing research, they also enjoy finding ways to solve problems, discovering new knowledge, and [that enjoyment] will continue to inspire them and help them deal with the hard times where experiments won’t go as planned… Being in science allowed me to have a larger view of the world, experience more of the world, and just be continuously amazed by the universe. I know there are still lots of secrets there to unlock, and hopefully that’s where the younger generation will come in.
NEBRES: Try to understand the system around you. If you’re going to be a doctor in a hospital, you’ll be using a lot of technology so please pay attention to the technicians that maintain them. Make sure that they are respected and paid well [because] one of our biggest weaknesses is that our culture tends to look down on people who work with their hands, but the people who work on the machines are the ones who work with their hands… We have to respect how the machine works and the people who operate them. If science and technology is going to work for us, we have to solve [our cultural outlook].
