Today we say goodbye to our dearest Dr. Thelma Tupasi. She was the second director of RITM. She was our mentor, an infectious disease specialist doing research in public health. Truly, an inspiration to young researchers and students. She was a public servant before moving back to the private sector but with public health in her mind and all her subsequent work.
She came to PGH Department of Family Medicine in 1984 and asked Dr. Mario Gutierrez, then the Chairman, if some new graduates would be interested in research. RITM then was relatively new, established in 1981. Yes, I answered the call because I believed that I would be doing something relevant. I started as a research assistant in 1985 and with Cita Medalla in 1986, we were the clinicians in an ARI community based study component on etiology in Alabang. This was side by side with the hospital based etiology study component at RITM. Also on going then was the study in Bohol on the evaluation of the ARI case management, which eventually became the backbone of the National ARI Control Program. Luluth Lucero and Vickee Tallo were doing the Bohol study. In fact, they were at it much much earlier. Luluth said that in 1981, she went with Dr. Tupasi to Bohol as part of selection and evaluation of a study site . The ID consultants and fellows, Sally Gatchalian and Rose Capeding were doing the RITM hospital based component. Lydia Sombrero was in the Micro lab identifying the bacterial pathogens of ARI, while Fems Paladin was doing detection of respiratory viruses. Exciting work on a comic book with behavioural scientists ensued using risk factor research data. Very comprehensive work and very exciting for us newbies to research, from epidemiology, etiology, risk factors, evaluation of an intervention and development of health education materials. Who can beat that? We were Dr. Tupasi’s ARI angels. We were so proud of what we were doing.
When she left for the private sector, we still did ARI research in Bohol, Pasay City, Tacloban, Biliran, Palawan and of course at RITM. We have kept the fire burning for ARI because this is her legacy to us.
To our beloved Dr. Tupasi, Godspeed. We pray that you now have eternal rest in God’s loving embrace, at peace now, no more pains, no more heartaches, no more detractors, only heavenly peace. You live on in the hundreds of scientific and medical publications, but most of all, you live on in our hearts. Our work will remain a testimony to the inspiration you have given us.
We thank you for the vision, the inspiration, your motherly guidance, your strength of character, perseverance, dedication and your love for our country as you always had public health in mind.
We thank Dr. Claver and the children for letting Dr. Tupasi do what she loves most, i.e. research.