Philippines

Rufus Adducul obtained his B.S. degree in biology specializing in genetics from the University of the Philippines in Los Banos in 2013. His interest in human genetics started when he became an active member of the Volunteer Youth Leaders for Health – Philippines (VYLH-Philippines) and attended several activities that involved interactions with patients diagnosed with genetic disorders.

He is the National President of VYLH-Philippines, a network of youth leaders at the forefront of the campaign directed to increase the public's awareness on the significance of folic acid supplementation in the prevention of birth defects, and on the importance of newborn screening in saving babies from death and mental retardation. The network also advocated for the passage of the Rare Disease Act (RA 10747), an act addressing the needs of patients with rare and orphan disorders. He

is in his senior year of his master's program in genetic counseling at the University of the Philippines Manila.

Rufus is an alumnus of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange Study (YES) Scholar and lived with a host family in Phillipsburg, Missouri.

Geminn Louis Apostol is a physician, professor, and researcher specializing in environmental public health, climate-resilient health systems and socio-ecological determinants of health. Currently, he serves as the lead scientific expert for the Philippine Inter-Agency Committee on Environmental Health (IACEH) where he helps convene government, academia, civil society, and the private sector to generate evidence, develop policies, and create operational programs for environmental protection and public health promotion.

Over the past decade, Geminn has been engaged in various public health initiatives

that range from establishing sustainable supply chains for essential medicines, modernizing pollution control strategies, utilizing space-based technology for mosquito and vector control, raising awareness on environmental toxicants, and leading efforts to mainstream environmental health research, service delivery, and advocacy in the Philippines.

As the chief environmental health specialist for the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Center for Research and Innovation (ACRI), Geminn has generated and synthesized local evidence on the impact of climate change, the epidemiology of infectious diseases, the burden of disease from air and water pollution, and the effectiveness of COVID-19 waste management policies and practices in the country.

Geminn obtained his medical degree and M.B.A. from the Ateneo de Manila University and is currently pursuing further studies in One Health from Murdoch University, Australia. He is an alumnus of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellows Program where he focused on the environment and sustainable development.

Marie Alexis Baldia is an alumna of the 2017 YSEALI Academic Fellowship program at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, and the 2019 Future Bridging Leadership Program of the Asia Institute of Management. Since 2012, her work has revolved around crisis response in the Philippines. In the last ten years, she has been engaged in the humanitarian field and development sector responding to various crises such as Typhoon Sendong, Typhoon Yolanda, Zamboanga and Marawi Siege, and now the COVID-19 response.

Currently, she is the technical manager for COVID-19 response in the Mindanao region of USAID’s Reach Health project with Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International. Prior to this position, in 2018, she pursued further studies in Geneva, Switzerland where she took courses in designing projects on human action and health in emergencies. She then worked briefly as the area officer for Mindanao for the Office of Vice President Leni Robredo in 2019. She was a consultant with ReStart ME Inc., working on projects in response to the Marawi Siege and COVID-19 pandemic while also completing the health policy and systems research fellowship of DOST- DOH, assigned DOH region X, in 2020.

In 2021, she had the opportunity to be one of the Women Leadership Academy (WLA) fellows of YSEALI and WEDU which focused on women leadership in public health. Through the fellowship and the support of U.S. Embassy in the Philippines, her team of WLA alumni fellows in the Philippines she launched the Young Leaders for Health in Cagayan de Oro City, a program that aims to create a network of young leaders who are invested in addressing issues affecting the youth in public health.