How long are you going to be at LSHTM? And who are you working with?
I will only be around until Dec 6th. I'm a Nagasaki-based PhD student in my final year under the LSHTM-Nagasaki University Joint PhD programme, and with the Department of Infection Biology, ITD. With the JD scheme I am grateful to have 4 amazing supervisors -- with my lead supervisors being Julius Hafalla from LSHTM and Prof Katsuyuki Yui from NU. I'm also guided by Prof Chris Drakeley (LSHTM) and Prof Kenji Hirayama (NU).   

Tell us a bit about a project that you are currently working on?
My PhD project looks into immunological memory to malaria, and most of my work is focused on characterizing malaria-specific CD4+ T cells in mice, and trying to address gaps on how they affect or are affected by other immunological factors. In particular, I have been looking at the effect of the cytokine IL-27 during chronic malaria infection, and found it to be modulating malaria-specific memory responses. In the human side, I also analyzed multiplex antibody response data from a field study in the Philippines for predicting recent and historical malaria exposure. Currently we are doing cohort studies in the Philippines, which will continue after my PhD, where we are to study malaria-specific memory T and B cells from differentially exposed individuals based on antibody data-predicted exposure.  

When and how did you start working on malaria?
I started working on malaria back in 2013 for my MSc thesis on drug resistance genotyping of falciparum malaria samples from the Philippines. This project was with the Department of Parasitology, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), where I worked ever since. Aside from these therapeutic efficacy surveillance studies, I've been involved in other research projects on malaria and other parasitic diseases in the department.

Where are you from?
I grew up in Olongapo City, Zambales in the Philippines, where we have the sweetest mangoes (according to Guinness World Records)! Now I am living in Nagasaki, Japan for my PhD, which is known as one of the cities that got bombed during WWII, but has a lot more to offer than that. 

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I think I wanted to be a librarian, just because I love reading. I also wanted to be Hermione Granger. I liked science a bit too and that's why I'm where I am now.

What’s your favourite place?
I love any place where I'm able to see starry night skies, or beautiful sunsets.

‘When I’m not working, I am…’
Watching shows or ear-reading books that interest me, or walking around exploring new places

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
When going through difficult times, always try to find the good in the situation, never lose hope that with your best efforts to make it through, you'll be fine.