Posted on November 06, 2021
In February 4, 2019, the University of the Philippines Board of Regents during its 1341st meeting, approved the proposal of PhD in Health Sciences (by publication) by the UP Manila. While this is the first time it will be introduced in the Philippines, this model is well established in the world, such as in several universities in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. It is a program that recognizes previous scholarly works that are then used as foundation for further knowledge generation in a specialized area of the health sciences. It is designed to be more flexible and enabling, in contrast to the traditional PhD courses.
Last October 26, 2021, our very 1st student in the PhD in Health Sciences by Publication program of the University of the Philippines Manila successfully defended his dissertation. Dr. Roland Dominic G. Jamora presented his dissertation entitled Opportunities and Challenges in the Care of X-linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism Patients in the Philippines. The Doctoral Defense Committee was headed by Dean Charlotte M. Chiong, MD, PhD. The Supervisors were H.P.H Berry Kremer, PhD and Nina T. Castillo-Carandang, PhD. The committee members were Cor W R J Cremers, MD, PhD, Eva Marie C. Cutiongco-dela Paz, MD, Christine Klein, MD, Andre (J.A.) Knottnerus, MD, PhD, M.A.J. (Marina) de Koning-Tijssen, MD, PhD and Arlene R. Ng, MD, PhD.
The 2-hour event took place at the Buenafe Hall, UP College of Medicine while the rest of the committee members joined in via the Zoom platform.
Dr. Jamora has been a practicing neurologist for the past 15 years since 2006. In between teaching and his clinical practice, he has managed to publish at least 100 papers on a variety of general neurology topics, most notably on movement disorders, specifically X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism or XDP. And while doing his PhD, he has managed to publish 3 or 4 more papers, relevant to his field of study, that we had to include in his dissertation. These new publications have further enriched his dissertation.
Dr. Jamora is a native of the southern Luzon city of Legazpi. His foray into the health sciences began with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in the University of the Philippines College of Nursing in Manila. He never practiced nursing as he directly went on to pursue a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center. He returned to the University of the Philippines Philippine General Hospital for his residency in Adult Neurology after which he further pursued a research and clinical fellowship at the National Neuroscience Institute in Singapore.
Since coming back to Manila, he has been an integral part of the Department of Neurosciences of the University of the Philippines Manila, as well as the other private hospitals. He is a member of the Philippine Movement Disorder Surgery Center in Cardinal Santos Medical Center, the first center to offer deep brain stimulation in the country.
He is a very prolific researcher and has given invited lectures in conferences here and abroad. He is also an editorial board member of 2 international journals.
Dr. Jamora is currently a Clinical Associate Professor and continues to serve the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and the Philippine General Hospital even without compensation. We are fortunate that he has not left the University despite not having a salaried position in the last 14years.
Dominic’s focus of study, X-linked dystonia Parkinsonism (XDP) is timely and relevant. Because who else should know more about a distinctly Filipino disease (commonly referred to as lubag) than Filipinos themselves? As Filipinos, we should study, diagnose, and manage this disease. We should be able to provide support for XDP patients and their family members and caregivers so that they can cope with the challenges of XDP. Over the years, Dr. Dominic has had great collaborations for XDP with international researchers, which has resulted in more publications.
Congratulations, Dr. Roland Dominic G. Jamora, with this splendid success!
