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Institute for Health and Innovation and Translational Medicine

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Institute for Information Infrastructure Development

• Cycle 1
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• Cycle 3
• Cycle 4

Institute for Health Innovation and Translational Medicine (IHITM)

Health innovation and translational medicine refers to the bench-to-bedside translation of basic scientific research to practicable diagnostic procedures and therapies with meaningful improvements to physical, mental or social health outcomes (adapted from Zerhouni, 2005).

The Institute for Health Innovation and Translational Medicine directs projects in health care through strategic technology, delivery, and training, to improve diagnosis, treatment and health services delivery in the ten major causes of morbidity and mortality in the Philippines, such as asthma, diabetes, tuberculosis, dengue and diarrhea.

Cycle 1 Projects:

IHITM 2013-63: High Throughput Screening of Philippine Terrestrial and Marine Organisms for Antimalarial Properties and Identification of Novel Drug Targets


PH Project Leader: Dr. Christine Hernandez (UP Diliman) 
US Project Investigator: Dr. Joseph DeRisi (UC San Francisco)

The goals of this project are two-fold. First, within two years, the project is expected to deliver a prioritized list of preclinical samples from Philippine land and aquatic organisms for drug development that are matched with target identification and their chemical identity. Second, the establishment of a centralized facility for high throughput drug screening will open up a unique opportunity for Filipino researchers to explore the untapped potential of novel bioactive agents in the rich collection of plant and marine species of the Philippines. This joint effort holds the promise not just for anti-malarials, but also for dengue fever, tuberculosis, influenza, and cancer. These goals is being achieved through cross-training of personnel, knowledge transfer, and infrastructure building. IHITM 2013-109: Philippine-UC Collaboratory for Device Innovation (Education/Training Award) PH Project Leader: Dr. Alberto Roxas (UP Manila) US Project Investigator: Dr. Michael Harrison (UC San Francisco) This Education and Training Award significantly contributes to the creation of a critical mass of appropriately trained researchers for the proposed Collaboratory or partnership in UP Manila. This partnership is an opportunity to establish collaboration for medical/surgical device innovation in the Philippines, a pioneering reusable and scalable framework to increase innovation capacity and support for subsequent device development projects in the country. This effort addresses improving patient health outcomes, and at the same time, contribute to the economic well-being of the nation by being able to produce such devices at lower cost. Two (2) surgical Innovation Fellows and two (2) candidates for the Master of Translational Medicine (MTM) is being supported by this Award in order to gain the knowledge, skills & experience necessary not only to perform world-class medical research and device development but also to help create the infrastructure & environment conducive to such objectives. IHITM 131: Accessible Detection of Dengue using BioMems and MIP Materials PH Project Leader: Dr. Florian del Mundo (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Luke Lee (UC Berkeley) A portable detection system for dengue is being developed using molecular imprinting, an emerging technology for the creation of specific recognition sites in synthetic polymers using a suitable template. The overall objective of the project is to build a point-of-care system for dengue detection, an integrated system implementing the whole laboratory procedure “from sample to result.” The integrated system will include: (1) an optimized portable detection system based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and (2) a microfluidic/microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device for in situ sample preparation prior to detection. The fabrication of nanomaterials and devices mutually builds scientific capabilities and expertise among researchers and results in portable devices that will benefit Philippine public health monitoring in clinics and hospitals. The project using MIP technology and microfluidics serves as platform for detection of other diseases. Expansion of the Shared Genomics Core Facility in the Philippines  PH Project Leader: Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco- dela Paz (Philippine Genome Center, UP Diliman) This shared core facility is a purpose-built resource which seeks to expand significantly collaborations, networking, and information exchanges within the Philippine scientific community from various institutions. It complements CHED-PCARI-funded projects with genomics component as part of the study research methodologies as well as give additional support to the Philippine Genome Center Network which includes CHED Higher Education Institutions: Government and Private Universities and Colleges Research Institutions in the country including health facilities. This project seeks to strengthen national laboratory capacity for high throughput genomics research. The Shared Genomics Core Facility will provide DNA and RNA analysis services from experimental design and sample preparation to data analysis. It will increase available dedicated research space, specialized instrumentation, biobanking and bioinformatics expertise. Additionally, the Shared Genomics Core Facility will enhance instruction and training in cutting-edge methods particularly in next-generation sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics and analysis, managing and sorting of biological data (bioinformatics). It will also complement the existing resources supporting innovations in teaching genomics. Cycle 2 Projects: IHITM 2015-001: Increasing the Rates of Newborn Hearing Screening with Novel Technologies and Telehealth  PH Project Leader: Dr. Charlotte Chiong (UP Manila) US Project Investigator: Dr. David Lindeman (UC Berkeley) A newborn hearing screening device with telehealth capabilities will enable the local health units of all municipalities, especially the geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA), to comply with the requirement of the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act, that all newborns must be screened of hearing loss within 3 months after birth, without the need to travel long distances to accredited screening centers in the cities. The telehealth capability of the device will allow screening to be done locally, with automated data collection for local (CHITS/EMR) and cloud storage (NHS Registry), and facilitate prompt referral for confirmatory testing and intervention via the tele-audiology protocol. The device will be packaged with tele-learning (or e-learning) modules for device training and screener training and certification (Category A). The project intends to build capacities of primary care health facilities for newborn hearing screening and primary care health professionals to screen and appropriately refer patients identified to have potential congenital hearing problems. The University of California (UC) is well-known for their expertise on the field of biomedical device development. The collaboration with the University of California will fast-track the device development to facilitate the full integration of the tele-AABR and local telehealth protocols (tele-audiology and tele-learning). IHITM 2015-003: Metagenomic Contributions to Type 2 Diabetes Among Filipino Populations PH Project Leader: Dr. Eva Cutiongco- de la Paz (UP Manila) US Project Investigaor: Dr. Mark Seielstad (UC San Francisco) This project performs an epigenetic study of CpG methylation in 100 Type 2 diabetes cases and 100 healthy controls each from Manila and San Francisco (N=400 total). Also, this project performs a microbiome-wide association study in 50 T2D cases and 50 healthy controls enrolled in Manila and 50 in San Francisco (N=400 total for both stages). The possibility that therapeutic manipulation of the gut microbiome by changes in diet or probiotic supplementation might be effective in reducing the risk of obesity and T2D is an exciting possible outcome of this highly novel line of research. Cycle 3 Projects: IHITM 2016-009: Wearable Cardiac Arrhythmia Monitor based on Low-Power Radar Principles PH Project Leader:  Dr. Romeric F. Pobre (DLSU) US Project Investigator: Dr. Xiaoguang Liu (UC Davis) This  project aims to address the critical need in understanding and managing cardiovascular diseases which have been identified by the Department of Health (DOH) as the top diseases in terms of mortality rate. Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of deaths worldwide. According to the American Heart Association, approximately 4.3 million Americans have some sort of arrhythmia with the most common, atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), representing close to 50% at 2.2 million. In the Philippines, cardiac diseases represent the highest mortality rate and A-Fib is among the most common heart conditions. If not well controlled, A-Fib can lead to stroke, heart failure, fainting, and generally a poor quality of life.  This project’s research will result in low-cost low-power compact radar sensors suitable for long duration and wearable monitoring of cardiopulmonary functions. The low-cost nature of such devices means that it can benefit patients with vast difference financial and social backgrounds. IHITM 2016-017: One Health: Innovations in Early Detection and Interventions in Human, Animal, and Plant Health PH Project Leader: Dr. Michael Tee (UP Manila), Dr. Loinda Baldrias (UP Los Baños) UC Project Investigaor: Dr. Michael Wilkes (UC Davis) The goal of this project is to improve human, animal, and plant health by developing and testing a transdisciplinary mobile health (mhealth) diagnostic, health management, and epidemiologic surveillance tool for use by community health workers and livestock and agricultural extension agents in the Philippines. Ultimately, the project will seek innovative solutions to improve the health of humans in the areas of implementation. For the downstream problem, the project plans to use mHealth to solve the problem of siloed professionals by creating a digital collaboration space – each professional group (medicine, veterinary medicine, and agriculture) will contribute specialized knowledge for use on a mobile app. App data will be available on smartphones to community-based one health works. For the upstream problem, mHealth plans to solve the problems created by the lack of surveillance data. Policy makers will be able to monitor communities and effectively allocate resources and provide rapid evidence-based interventions – thus being proactive instead of reactionary. IHITM 2016-013: Establishment of a Philippine Cancer Phenome-Biobanking System and Biomonitoring Program PH Project Leader: Dr. Michael C. Velarde (UP DIliman) UC Project Investigator: Dr. Linda C. Giudice (UC San Francisco) This project aims to establish a human phenome-biobanking system on cancer. Once this biobanking system proves to be successful, St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) can maintain the project and expand to collect other types of cancers, as well as other pathologies. Part of the project is to create a system that will facilitate long term storage of patient information, as well as easy access of medical professionals and researchers to relevant patient information without compromising patient confidentiality. As part of the extensive cancer phenome-biobanking system, the project will setup two new extensions: (a) the human cell repository system and (b) the biomonitoring program. The phenome-biobanking system will complement Philippine government-funded projects on health by providing access to relevant patient information, human tissue samples, human cell culture materials, and data on threatening levels of endocrine disruptors in Filipinos. The biobanking system aims to build an infrastructure that will serve as a model for collecting patient information and human specimens in the Philippines. Cycle 4 Projects: IHITM 2017-018: Glycoproteomics of Filipino lung cancer cell lines for biomarker discovery and anti-cancer screening of natural products PH Project Leader: Dr. Ruel Nacario (UP Los Baños) US Principal Investigator: Dr.Carlito Lebrilla (UC Davis) This multidisciplinary research will use glycans and glycoproteins as potential biomarkers for early-stage lung cancers. Extracts from select Philippine plants will be screened for potential anti-lung cancer therapeutic agents. The long term project goals are the creation of a lung cancer biobank of Filipino tissues and cell lines to be used for pre-clinical investigations of potential cancer drugs, the development of a comprehensive national drug discovery program from natural products using validated extract screening methods for standardization (GMP and GLP standards), the adoption of  glycomics profiling technology from the Lebrilla Laboratory at UC Davis for discovering biomarkers in early-stage lung cancer, and the development of an in silico platform for studying lung cancer network pathways. This project will complement existing Philippine-based drug discovery programs through: (1) the extensive use of validated analytical methods in the quantification of principal bioactive components of plant extracts, (2) the creation of a set of cell lines that are established from lung tumor tissues collected from Filipino patients, and, (3) the utilization of glycomics-based in silico prediction followed by in vitro assay platforms for iterative lung cancer efficacy assessment of plant extracts and their principal components.    IHITM 2017-020: Integrating non-communicable disease (NCD) management in primary health care: a population health survey and action initiative PH Project Leader : Dr. Ronald Del Castillo (UP Manila) US Principal Investigator:  Dr. Ninez Ponce (UC Los Angeles) The project aims to build an empirical base of population health data, to be instituted and maintained in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, College of Public health at the University of the Philippines Manila. This effort will create new indicators on primary care readiness and performance to tackle NCDs, and triangulate this new knowledge with our findings on NCD pathways vis a vis the current challenges and functioning of the Philippine health system. Informed by our collective studies in the Philippines and globally, our key assumption is that effective NCD prevention and control relies on strong primary care health systems as a chief provider of NCD. IHITM 2017-024: Technology Transfer of Clinical and Molecular Advances in Autism PH Project Leader: Dr. Lourdes Tanchanco, ADMU US Principal Investigator: Dr. Randi Hagerman, UC Davis Medical treatment for known genetic causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), have demonstrated efficacy when started early and combined with behavioral interventions (Hess, et al., 2016) (Leigh, et al., 2013) (Hagerman, et al., 2009). Following diagnosis of a genetic cause for ASD, genetic counseling facilitates further family planning, prenatal diagnosis for subsequent pregnancies, and cascade testing to identify additional family members who could benefit from treatment. This is not currently available in the Philippines for the vast majority of families in need. The key milestones of this project include an educational conference each year, developed in collaboration between the MIND Institute team and the Philippine team, and include discussion of updates in the molecular and clinical management of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. This will be an interdisciplinary forum for all types of professionals in the various fields of child development to increase their knowledge on autism. Each year the team will also conduct training for genetic and developmental testing techniques, which will translate into developmental testing of children suspected to have ASD and actual screening of children with ASD for the Fragile X mutation. Another major component of this project will include delegating Filipino professionals to take part in the International Training Program for Nuerodevelopmental Disorders (ITPND) at the MIND Institute to develop their knowledge and technical skills for neurodevelopmental disorders. In doing so, the project will target trained professionals in the different regions of the Philippines. Lastly, there will be training and implementation of a community-based behavioral intervention program to provide evidence-based intervention options for children diagnosed with ASD. IHITM 2017-131 (Phase 2): Accessible Detection of Dengue Using BioMEMS and MIP Materials PH Project Leader: Dr. Florian del Mundo (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Luke Lee (UC Berkeley) The early detection of infectious diseases, such as dengue, is important for disease mitigation and control in the Philippines for it can greatly reduce the cost of patient care associated with the advanced stages of many diseases. The significant results obtained in Phase 1 showed that detection of DENV NS1 has been successfully achieved with MIPs created using the epitope approach and tested using different transduction techniques that are translatable to point of care. Phase 2 will continue the development of the best sensing system that can be integrated to the microfluidic device. The collaboration with Dr. Lee’s laboratory for Phase 2 will be continued for the design, fabrication, characterization and testing of multiplexed MIP devices for DENV epitopes detection which can have possible application to DENV serotyping using pre-collected patient samples. IHITM 2017-063 (Phase 2): High throughput screening of Philippine terrestrial and marine organisms for antimalarial properties and identification of novel drug targets PH Project Leader: Dr. Christine Hernandez (UP Diliman)  US Project Investigator: Dr. Joseph DeRisi (UC San Francisco) In Phase 1, the project started to establish a facility capable of isolating novel compounds from marine organisms, plants and microbes together with high throughput screening and target validation. The project discovered 11 new preclinical lead compounds with potent antimalarial properties. In Phase 2, the project will conduct further purification, drug targeting, and clinical trials. Specifically, Phase 2 will: 1. Evaluate the anti-malarial properties of ~5,000 marine and plant extracts (from Drug Discovery Program) using the high-throughput screening facility at the Institute of Chemistry, UP Diliman 2. Establish the synthesis of short peptides previously reported to possess antimalarial activity, by classical solution and/or solid-phase methods 3. Synthesize structural analogues of lead compounds by a systematic modification of the parent structure for Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) studies 4. Determine targets, mechanism of action and resistance profiles of analog compounds. 5.Evaluate the anti-malarial properties of lead/analog compounds using the mouse/Plasmodium berghei model.

Institute for Information Infrastructure Development

Information infrastructure development refers to the technological and human components, networks, systems, and processes that contribute to the creation, flow or exchange, processing and management of electronic information (adapted from Braa et al., 2007).

The Institute for Information Infrastructure Development directs projects in information technology, energy, e-government and e-education

Cycle 1 Projects: IIID 2013-013: Resilient Sensory Swarms for Smart Energy and Environment Monitoring (RESE2NSE) PH Project Leader: Dr. Louis Alarcon (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Jan Rabaey (UC Berkeley) The project explores the concept of an open swarm hardware and software platform as a means to address energy and environmental monitoring – a challenge that is foremost in every country in the world, but even more outspokenly so in the developing countries. With a focus on smart energy usage and delivery, and dynamic environmental monitoring, the Swarm vision created an entirely new perspective that allows for increased scalability, reliability and extensibility of monitoring and operational sustainability of public energy utility systems. This project is also aimed at developing new technologies that will use micro-fabrication technologies to enable low-cost, resilient, and scalable instrumentation of the power distribution infrastructure. (Read more here...) IIID 2013-031: The Village Base Station  PH Project Leader: Dr. Cedric Angelo M. Festin (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley) This project addresses both the areas of Resilient Infrastructures and Online Education, E-Government and IT for National Security research areas. The goal of the research in the Philippines is to develop and deploy novel, low-cost mobile base stations that will address the lack of fundamental mobile communications service in rural areas in the country. The Village Base Station (VBTS) is an attempt to realize the vision of universal access to basic communications –a vital human need. This project will reduce the cost of infrastructure to make mobile phones viable for new areas and users where, currently, little to none exists. With lower costs, it is expected that operators will extend their reach into more rural areas, and new rural entrants will become economically viable.  IIID 2013-054: Resilient Cyber Physical Societal Scale Systems  PH Project Leader: Dr. Susan Festin (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Larry Rohrbough (UC Berkeley) Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) refers to physical systems (such as electric power, transportation, building management systems, water, gas, and other flow networks, etc.) with a cyber infrastructure consisting primarily of networked embedded wireless embedded devices. Resilient operation of CPS requires the following “high confidence attributes”: functional correctness (by design) for real-time operations, fault tolerance and operation through attacks. This project addresses the areas of Resilient Infrastructures and IT for National Security in the Philippines by developing and deployment of localized testbeds for security and scalability testing of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). In particular, the research targets the resilient operation of vital cyber-physical infrastructure in the country, such as electric power, transportation, building management systems, water, etc, by helping ensure tolerance to reliability failures and survivability even during successful cyber-attacks.  IIID 2013-058: Cost-Effective Manufacturing Using Printing Fabrication Technologies for Energy Generation, Conditioning, and Monitoring Devices  PH Project Leader: Dr. Erwin P. Enriquez (ADMU) US Project Investigator: Dr. Vivek Subramanian (UC Berkeley) This project is focused on improving photovoltaic (PV) technologies and using printed electronic technologies to achieve such. Although there is worldwide deployment of photovoltaic systems, technologies to further reduce their costs are needed to make them truly affordable. Two ways to improve costs is to optimize the performance of existing solar cell modules –and this can be done through conditioning and monitoring electronics that can isolate bad or shaded cells in series-connected PV modules. Another way is to further develop third-generation solar cells and at the same time incorporating these conditioning and monitoring devices. Both of these approaches can be realized through cost-effective fabrication techniques using printing technologies – to produce printed electronics devices. Printing-based manufacturing is an emerging technology that is inherently more cost-effective than current manufacturing of electronic devices which use more sophisticated facilities and requiring higher capital and operating expenditures. Further, the project will exploit Philippines-specific resources to enable low-cost materials for the same, particularly to exploit indigenous material sources (e.g., carbon produced from biomass).  Cycle 2 Projects: IIID 2015-007: E-Participation 2.0: Connecting Diverse Philippine Populations for Disaster Risk Management with a Toolkit Integrating Text and Speech Analytics    PH Project Leader: Dr. Rachel Edita Roxas (National University) US Project Investigator: Dr. Kenneth Goldberg (UC Berkeley)  This project designs, implements and evaluates a next generation e-participation digital toolkit and methodology, with two specific detailed field tests addressing Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM). The project advances research in computer science and engineering, and in social sciences, specifically on quantitative research methods, collaborative filtering of qualitative data, communication theory, public opinion, and political communication. The project aims to develop new strategies to systematically expand opinion-gathering and feedback across linguistically and socioeconomically diverse populations by designing a textual-, visual,- and voice-based user interface, with careful consideration of culturally sensitive symbols and icons in the development of the Graphic User Interface. IIID 2015-009: GREEN POWER: Generating Renewable Energy via Electrolysis of Water using New Power Hybrid Systems Project 1: Hydrogen Generation Using Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC) PH Project Leader: Dr. Rinlee Butch M. Cervera (UP Diliman) US Project Investigators: Dr. Po-Ya Abel Chuang (UC) and Dr. Costas J. Spanos (UC Berkeley) In the Philippines, reliability and increasing the energy from renewable sources are some of the advocacies in our continuous effort for energy sustainability and support for environmentally-friendly energy technology. GREEN POWER is a program consisting of two major projects which could generate and produce the green power or environmentally-friendly and sustainable energy.  Project 1 involves hydrogen generation using solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) while Project 2 for the energy production using polymer exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). For Project 1, stabilized ZrO2 solid electrolyte of Yttrium and other dopant system will be investigated, both micrograined and nanograined size using solid state reactions and wet chemistry approaches. The main aim of Project 1 is to fabricate an SOEC that could generate hydrogen gas and later be used and incorporated in Project 2 to produce energy or green power. Project 2: Energy Production Using Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) PH Project Leaders: Dr. Joey D. Ocon  US Project Investigators: Dr. Po-Ya Abel Chuang (UC) and Dr. Costas J. Spanos (UC Berkeley) The need for a reliable power source for keeping information and communications leads to promising solutions such as electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies such as fuel cells. Fuel cells have the advantage of being able to produce its own fuel from renewable energy source.Project 2 aims to enable local design and development of alternative energy production technologies to power the information and communication networks. A 1kW polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack is to be designed and fabricated. In addition, the project will focus in finding novel non-noble metal catalysts for the rate-limiting reduction of oxygen in the cathode, which lowers the rate of energy production in fuel cells IIID 2015-010: Resilient Electricity Grids PH Project Leader: Dr. Michael Angelo Pedrasa (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Carl Blumstein (UC Berkeley) This research program proposes a pathway towards a resilient Philippine electricity grid, or a smart grid. It includes three research projects that can deliver immediate and significant positive impact to the operation of the Philippine electric power networks. The 3 projects are: Project 1: Resilient Demand Side Management Using Interruptible Loads. This project develops contracting and control frameworks to coordinate interruptible loads in the context of maintaining power system reliability during supply shortages. Project 2: Micro-synchrophasors for Resilient Distribution Network Operation and Control. This project will deploy a networked μPMU System to the distribution network of a Philippine cooperative and to demonstrate that the μPMU system is a cost-effective approach to distribution network real-time monitoring. Project 3: Resilient Electricity Grids Through Data Analytics for Diagnostics and Intervention. This project is designing new scalable, machine learning algorithms that operate in real time to create energy analytics for diagnostics as well as mechanisms that utilize energy analytics for intervention such as economic incentives and physical control. IIID 2015-011: CITAS: Cloud-based Intelligent Total Analysis System using Geospatial Wireless Sensors and Mobile Microscopy PH Project Leaders: Dr. Maria Regina Justina Estuar (ADMU) US Project Investigator: Dr. Daniel A. Fletcher (UC Berkeley) This project addresses the problem of late detection of diseases in plant by developing an intelligent and mobile cloud-based Total Analysis System (TAS) consisting of: a mobile PlantScope (mobile phone based microscope) partnered with a mobile loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay kit. The PlantScope will be composed mobile microscope embedded with software for geospatial tagging, WR coding for automated and easy identification and labeling of plants, including time of capture and location of capture. The mobile phone will also include an intelligent software that can capture and process multiple images and indicate health status of a plant using samples from a mobile LAMP assay kit. IIID 2015-013: 3rd Generation VCSEL for Resilient Communication Networks (3V-ReCoN) PH Project Leaders: Dr. Elmer S. Estacio US Project Investigator: Dr. Constance J. Chang-Hasnain (UC Berkeley) The project aims to improve local capability building in helping increase the capacity of data and telecommunication networks in the Philippines by developing cutting-edge, 3rd Generation VCSELs as light sources in dense-wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) fiber-optic networks. The use of 3rd Generation VCSELs in DWDM networks allows for the parallel transmission of multiple optical data lines through existing fiberoptic cables. This offers a cost-effective solution in dramatically improving optical data transfer rates. Finally, the program will have a strong educational component, with the goal to train a new generation of engineering students who can master the latest drone, machine learning, and immersive computing technologies. Cycle 3 Projects: IIID 2016-005: AIRSCAN: Collaborative Aerial Robotics in Large-Scale Urban Infrastructure Management PH Project Leader:  Dr. Rowel O. Atienza (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Allen Y. Yang (UC Berkeley) The project proposes to study new methods and systems that will enable intuitive and intelligent interaction between drones and inexperienced humans for controlling drones, such as field service engineers, delivery truck drivers, or firefighters. The project believes a new theory in collaborative aerial robotics is needed to bridge the technology gaps, which will be the main subject of this project called AIRSCAN. In particular, the project will develop new theory and effective algorithms to address the following three intimately related topics: 1. Control:      Fault-resilient safety assurance; 2. Sensing:     Collaborative aerial SLAM; 3. Analysis: Information aggregation and representation for large-scale urban infrastructure. Finally, the program will have a strong educational component, with the goal to train a new generation of engineering students who can master the latest drone, machine learning, and immersive computing technologies. IIID 2016-007: nanoQuench: Synthesis and Modelling of Porous Activated Graphene Nanofilters for Precise Water Purification and Desalination PH Project Leader:  Dr. Magdaleno R. Vasquez Jr. (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Matthew P. Sherburne (UC Berkeley) This project seeks to couple computational materials design of 2D graphene-based materials with experimental efforts to rapidly arrive at an optimized material system and device for water purification. Computational materials modeling can be used to predict properties before materials have been synthesized in the laboratory. This approach should accelerate the discovery and subsequent application of new materials and allow experimental efforts to focus on promising material systems determined from the simulations. The project objectives highlight the development of a PECVD system with high vacuum capability for the bottom-­‐up synthesis of graphene-­‐based materials, and then modifying the plasma system such that it could be able to create precise nanoholes in the graphene sheets. IIID 2016-008: Development of Wireless Sensor Network-Based Water Information System For Efficient Irrigation Water Management in the Philippines PH Project Leader: Dr. Victor B. Ella (UP Los Baños) UC Project Investigator: Dr. Steven D. Glaser (UC Berkeley) This project aims to design, develop and test a novel irrigation water management scheme and information system for lowland and upland crops based on wireless sensor network (WSN) technology. The proponents intend to design, build, and operate hardened agricultural observatories that will provide detailed and real-time information on surface and subsurface hydrologic conditions, local meteorological conditions, soil conditions, etc., and, if necessary, control an automatic irrigation scheduling and application system. The technology that will be developed in this project would lead to numerous benefits and positive impacts including good management policies in the agriculture and water sector, improved enforcement through an informed populace, and a direct economic improvement for the stakeholde.  The resulting system should be ready for marketing within the Philippines and to countries with climates similar to the Philippines. IIID 2016-010: Chemical and Environment - Portable Sensor Techologies (CE-PoST) PH Project Leader:  Dr. Arnel A. Salvador (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Liwei Lin  (UC Berkeley) The  project aims to develop novel portable and low-power graphene-based gas sensors using wafer-level packaging processes for applications on cell phones, wearable devices, and internet of things (IoT) – key information infrastructure with applications in the sectors of environmental monitoring, transportation, and monitoring and control. Part of the objectives of CE-PoST is the establishment of a facility to prototype sensors and possibly even other devices. Researchers from both the academe and industry who would want to fabricate a prototype of their device can utilize the facility. This will bolster the country’s research and development capabilities, putting the Philippines at the forefront of device fabrication research. Cycle 4 Projects: IIID-2016-006: Data Analytics for Research and Education (DARE) Project 1 Title: Technical design & system deployment, PH Project Leader: Dr. Francis Aldrine Uy (Mapua University Project 2 Title: Design and analysis of algorithms PH Project Leader: Dr. May T. Lim (UP Diliman) Project 3 Title: Information exchange platform for the public PH Project Leader: Dr. Noriel Christopher C. Tiglao (UP Diliman) US Principal Investigator: Dr. Alexandre Bayen (UC Berkeley) The project team proposes a capacity-building endeavor by creating a data analytics and allied platforms. At the end of the work, the project aims to have a working system that research teams can expand and train others on the processes. The Project aims to produce the following: Urban data inventory in the PH Specification of customized traffic inference algorithms for Manila Definition of systems requirement s for information exchange with public sector Design of travel demand forecasting algorithms for Manila Algorithms for computation of dynamic traffic assignment, user equilibrium Pilot training on Transportation Decision Support Systems Recommendations (policy) development based on algorithm performance Program report and recommendation report (for future work) IIID 2017-031: CoCoMoNets: Connecting Communities through Mobile Networks PH Project Leader: Dr. Cedric Angelo Festin (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley) CoCoMoNets is the phase 2 of Village Base Station from Cycle 1 projects, which aims to develop and deploy novel, low-cost mobile base stations that will address the lack of fundamental mobile communications service in rural areas in the country. This project shall continue support for existing test sites, perform additional base station deployments, and study its impact on the communities. The project will facilitate wider adoption of community cellular networks in the Philippine context. It also has the potential to dramatically impact rural telecommunications technology and policy not only in the Philippines but also around the world. On top of research on the technological aspects, CoCoMoNets shall support a study on the social impact in a community brought about by technological intervention in the form of cellular coverage. IIID 2017-012: Scalable Community Access Networks (SCAN)                 Project 1: Advance Spectrum Sensing and Signal Processing Platform for Policy Intervention and Intelligent Information Resource [A(SPI)3RE] PH Project Leader: Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano, Jr.(UP Diliman) Project 2: Standardized and Unified Probe-based Evaluation and Reporting of BrOadband- Wired Links (SUPERBOWL)  PH Project Leader: Dr. Wilson Tan (UP Diliman)                                                  Project 3: Software Driven Initiatives to Improve Network Functionality and Resource Access (SD-INFRA) PH Project Leader: Dr. Cedric Angelo Festin and Dr. Roel Ocampo (UP Diliman) US Principal Investigator: Dr. Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley) US Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Joshua Blumenstock, Dr. Anant Sahai and Dr. Kannan Ramchandran Studies have also shown that there is a correlation between broadband penetration (which is currently just at 26.9% of the households as of 2015) and economic growth. Unfortunately, Internet connectivity in the Philippines continues to be amongst the worst - 21st slowest of 22 Asian countries and 176th of 202 countries worldwide. With many Filipinos being reliant on wireless technology for connectivity, there is a need to ensure that the underlying infrastructure and policies, such as the management of RF spectrum, are highly responsive to this large and growing demand. The second component of the program aims to devise and implement quantitative distributed measurements of spectrum utilization and signal analysis that build up a new and rich information infrastructure. Such infrastructure is intended to support the promulgation of effective spectrum management policies and practices for enhancing digital wireless inclusion in the Philippines. Together, all three components of the program seek to collectively: (1) illuminate the state of the Internet infrastructure in the country; and (2) take a proactive approach to finding ways by which the current state may be improved. IIID 2017-013: (Phase 2): Resilient Sensor Networks for Energy and Environment Monitoring (RESE2NSE) PH Project Leader: Dr. Louis Alarcon (UP Diliman) US Project Investigator: Dr. Jan Rabaey (UC Berkeley) Building on the success and technologies developed by the first two years of the RESE2NSE project, years 3 and 4 of the project will explore the issues, solutions, and technologies for the large-scale deployment of GDP-based sensor networks for electricity-grid, energy and environment monitoring. In the third year of the project, the focus will be on the design and construction of the RESE2NSE test bed that can demonstrate a “proof of concept” sensor network with energy harvesting nodes capable of outdoor operation, sensor virtualization, and network resiliency using machine learning, all under the GDP framework. The fourth year of the project will then focus on extending the RESE2NSE test bed to include sensor data resiliency applications, also using machine learning, as well as applications that support both sensing and actuation. IIID 2017-018: Indoor Vertical Farming System (IVFS) for Whole Year Round Production of High Value Crops in the Lowland Tropics: A Precision Agriculture for Food Security PH Project Leader: Dr. Ireneo Agulto (CLSU) US Principal Investigator: Dr. Dave Auslander (UC Berkeley) The study shall be conducted to promote the use of Precision Agriculture   for whole year round production of lettuce in the lowland tropics through the use of indoor vertical farming system (IVFS), also otherwise known as a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) system. Specifically, it aims to: Establish benchmark data for designing the IVFS. Design, fabricate and install an IVFS (from prototype to pilot scale) in the Philippines for whole year round production of high value crops. Evaluate the performance of the IVFS in terms of crop yield Conduct training on the operation, maintenance and management of the IVFS. It was not specifically mentioned in the objectives of the study, but the ultimate goal (end result) of this project is a plant factory (like the ones in Japan and other countries) or plant factories. IIID 2017-021: Developing Information Infrastructure for Managing Antibiotics and Endocrine Disrupting Substances in Pampanga River Basin and its Coastal Environs: Maps, Transport Models and Bioindicators of Ecological and Public Health Risks PH Project Leader: Dr. Arturo Lluisma (UP Diliman) US Principal Investigator: Dr. Jonathan Eisen (UC Davis) There have been numerous emerging micropollutants in soil and water environment that can be traced to domestic sewage and agricultural activities. These include antibiotics, pesticides, hormones, steroids, among others.  Antimicrobial agents were found in Manila Bay (Ramaswamy et al., 2011), which indicates upstream sources. However, there is no comprehensive study yet on such micropollutants in Philippine water environment. The proposed research project collectively looks at mapping sources, modelling transport, determining bioindicators of micropollutant impacts, and developing an information platform for micropollutant levels and associated ecological and public health risks. Such study is of great scientific and societal significance. The outputs are important in formulating policy, implementing regulations and developing abatement process systems. The study will focus on the following micropollutants: Antibiotics, phenolics (BPA, NP), pesticides, hormones and steroids. IIID 2017-058 (Phase 2): Cost- Effective Manufacturing Using Printing Fabrication Technologies for Energy Generation, Conditioning, and Monitoring Devices Phase II PH Project Leader: Dr. Erwin P. Enriquez (ADMU) US Project Investigator: Dr. Vivek Subramanian (UC Berkeley) In Phase 1, the proponents explored the use of printing as a low-cost manufacturing tool for the fabrication of target electronic devices, in which printing of such devices is an emerging technology suitable for various application areas where traditional methods of Semi-conductor device fabrication may not be suitable or can be very cost-prohibitive. The novel contributions from Phase I so far include the design of a smart PV system with a swarm of switches and monitoring devices, an all-printed MEMs switch, and formulation of aqueous-based precursor inks with biomass constituents (aimed towards green chemistry formulation). For Phase 2, the project has two major goals: (1) address manufacturability concerns of a smart PV system using the printed electronic devices developed in Phase 1 and assess its technology readiness alongside continuing product R&D efforts, and (2) to extend printing as fabrication tool for a multi-sensor array for water quality monitoring for use in inland aquaculture in the Philippines. This Phase 2 project also follows rapid prototyping strategy wherein elements of market needs are already incorporated in the early stages of development of the tech product (as opposed to the traditional sequential approach of tech commercialization)