Dr. Vicente Belizario, Jr. is Adjunct Research Professor, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila. A former Dean of the College of Public Health in the same university, he also currently serves the World Health Organization (WHO) as Member, Scientific Working Group, Research Capacity Strengthening, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR) and Member, Technical Advisory Group, Reaching the Unreached, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office.
A physician with specialized training in Tropical Medicine and Public Health, he was former Vice Chancellor for Research and Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health in UP Manila. He served in the WHO/TDR Temporary Adviser for more than a decade (Research Capacity Strengthening and Scientific and Technical Advisory Committees) in the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases. Prior to his appointment as Dean, he served as Undersecretary of the Department of Health of the Republic of the Philippines (secondment from the university), where he headed the Office of Technical Services.
His academic work includes research on diagnosis, treatment, and control of selected Neglected Tropical Diseases (soil-transmitted helminthiasis, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, food-borne helminthiasis), the overlap of tuberculosis and paragonimiasis, as well as vaccine preventable diseases. His study group’s research outputs have helped demonstrate the links between good field and laboratory work, results of which have provided basis for enhancing disease control policy. Overall, his team’s collaborative and multidisciplinary research work continues to provide evidence for formulation and enhancement of disease control policy and planning at national and global levels.
