​The Center for Informatics (CFI) was established  in 2018 with the approval of the University of San Agustin Board of Trustees, and the support of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) Balik Scientist Program (BSP). 

The CFI's primary objective is to develop research informatics tools and provide mentorship to researchers engaged in a wide range of fields. Our current research portfolio includes projects in public health, marine biology and neuroscience.

Our Goals

​The CFI intends  to become the center of excellence for data research and applications in Western Visayas focusing on, but not limited to,  health,  climate,  the environment, and  governance.

​This is to be achieved by: 
  • collecting good quality data and performing responsive analyses
  • using  data to power equitable and just policies
 ​
The specific aims are:
  • To develop and implement informatics resources e.g. data collection and management tools, datasets, scientific expertise, and user support.
  • To promote efficiency in community activities through informatics, and
  • To provide multidisciplinary and ethical training to current and future informatics workers in the country.

Abiding Principles*

We abide by the highest principles of data stewardship, which reside in "ethical and responsible behaviors  for sourcing, sharing and implementing data in a manner that will cause no harm and maximize positive impact." These principles are:
  • Fairness - Understand, mitigate and communicate the presence of bias in both data practice and consumption.
  • Benefit - Set people before data and be responsible for maximizing social benefit and minimizing harm.
  • Openness - Practice humility and openness. Transparent practices, community engagement, and responsible communications are an integral part of data ethics.
  • Reliability - Ensure that every effort is made to glean a complete understanding of what is contained within data, where it came from, and how it was created. Extend this effort for future users of all data and derivative data.
 
We advocate for an  effective, ethical, and modern approach to data teamwork as embodied by these values:
  • Inclusion - Maximize diversity, connectivity, and accessibility among data projects, collaborators, and outputs.
  • Experimentation - Emphasize continuously iterative testing and data analysis.
  • Accountability -Behave ethically and transparently, fix mistakes quickly, and hold ourselves and others accountable.
  • Impact - Prioritize projects with well-defined goals, and design them to achieve measurable, substantive outcomes.

*https://datapractices.org/manifesto/

Our Team

Dr. Romulo de Castro

Director

​Jong believes that electronic medical records have the potential to transform healthcare worldwide for the better, but also that wide scale adoption and equitable access, especially for those not able to afford a system of their own, are prerequisites to the benefits.

Dr. Gerard Dumancas

Visiting Scientist

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Louisiana State University  of Alexandria
Gerard is passionate in the use of machine learning and chemometric techniques with applications in biomedical research and food analysis. He considers harnessing the use of clinical and -omics as beneficial avenues for precision medicine purposes.

Pia Regina Fatima Zamora, MD, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Pia believes that the utility of data in society depends on the amount of trust given to it by the people. 

Jonathan Adam Rico, MSc.

Research Fellow

Jonathan believes that science is established by evidence, not eminence such that it is important to preserve the integrity of data as evidence.

Raphael Nelo Aguila

Software Developer

Nelo believes that information technology coupled with   data of relevance and prime, can  either push a nation towards growth, or  bring   distress.   The power it has greatly necessitates the promotion of standards and  good data ethics.

Julius Darwin Villagracia

Assistant Software Developer

BS Computer Science, UPLB
Julius believes that interdisciplinary development of research and technology hinges on the availability and extent of information. It starts with collective efforts to systematically maintain and encourage high quality data.

Jose Marie Antonio Minoza

Contributor in AI/ML

Systems Modeling and Simulation Laboratory, UPD
Joma believes that data science, equipped with an in-depth view of data representation and of its application is the key towards the improvement of different industries including healthcare services.

Dominic Karl Bolinas

Contributor

College of Medicine, UPM
Dominic believes that maintaining data integrity in all fields of sciences is the penultimate goal to bring forth quality researches and public health impact.

Isa Isip

Contributor

Student, UP Integrated School
Isa believes that data science is the future and capable of effecting widespread change in global access to healthcare.

Benjamin Bumkeng

Contributor

Benjamin believes that informatics plays an indispensable role in the evolution & growth of  public health as regards to it's functionality and efficiency.

CFI Alumni

Jiye Kwon

Intern

Student, Masters in Public Health
Yale University