APAN PH Member Highlight

APAN-PH

Dr. Franz de Leon of the DOST Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) represents the organization in APAN meetings and conferences since he took oath as Director of the Institute in 2021. In the time he has been with DOST-ASTI, he has pushed for projects and initiatives that support the organization’s mission of driving research and innovation through the development of relevant technology-driven solutions with far-reaching benefits to society.

As co-chair of APAN’s Disaster Mitigation Working Group (DMWG), Dr. de Leon has participated as a panelist in APAN 54 and as a speaker in the recently concluded APAN 55. In his talks, he shared how DOST-ASTI’s projects and services have helped partners and stakeholders in their disaster risk reduction and management efforts related to hazards such as typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and landslides.

Looking back to the inception of the DMWG in 2014, DOST-ASTI has been and continues to be an integral part of the working group. In one of the first DMWG case studies, the Institute collaborated with the Academia Sinica Grid Computing Center and Prof. Tso-Ren Wu of the National Central University on an in-house storm surge model, COMCOT-SS. To demonstrate the accuracy of the model, the DMWG used Typhoon Haiyan data gathered from DOST-ASTI’s automated weather stations along with bathymetry data from the Philippines' National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

At its core, Dr. de Leon believes that activities, efforts, and initiatives through DRRM science, technology, and innovation prove that it is only through multi-stakeholder and multi-lateral cooperation that the Asia-Pacific region can truly accelerate progress and reduce inequalities.

Apart from disaster-related initiatives, DOST-ASTI also collaborates with the Telemedicine Network of the Philippines (TNP), led by Dr. Jeffrey Jeronimo Domino who serves as the Program Director of APAN’s Medical Working Group. Through the help of DOST-ASTI’s Philippine Research, Education, and Government Information Network (PREGINET), TNP was able to easily transition to teleconsultation with patients as well as participate in webinars amongst international medical practitioners to share experiences and solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This demonstrated that telemedicine is a viable medical communications tool that can be adopted and explored for sustainability by the medical community.

Moving forward, Dr. de Leon, through DOST-ASTI and APAN, hopes to strengthen its partnerships with other members of the APAN consortium through continued participation and collaboration on discussions supporting initiatives in public health, e-governance, education, and disaster risk reduction and management.