Dr. Mary Antonette Yason-Remonte has worked in PhilHealth for twelve years and counting, and is currently Millennium Development Goals Team Leader in charge of benefit packages for TB, HIV/AIDS, Maternal and Neonatal Health as well as Medical Specialist IV of the Health Finance Policy Sector. In addition to these she is still a practicing physician of internal medicine and pulmonology.
Dr. Ronald Del Castillo is the principal investigator for developing strategies to promote engagement in HIV care among high-risk populations in the Philippines (Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research) and is also a senior full-time associate professor at UP Manila College of Public Health. His insights into the Filipino psyche will surely be invaluable to our provision of care.
Dr. Katerina Leyritana, otherwise known as “Doc Kate,” is the medical director and one of the founding Board Directors of the Sustained Health Initiatives of the Philippines. She is an HIV physician who has dedicated her work to vastly improve HIV care, while also lending a hand to HIV research, programs, and policy development. She was awarded the International Investigator Award by the HIV Medical Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
An HIV primary care physician for SHIP and a consultant at the Nutrition Unit of the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific, as well as a wealth of experience in public health, epidemiology, and infectious diseases, Dr. James Salisi is well-equipped to educate us on the importance of nutrition in HIV care.
Brian Barretto is a consultant of the Ateneo Bulatao Center for Psychological Services, a resource speaker for LGBT psychology for students, social work practitioners, and medical service providers, as well as researcher for sexual health among youth and men having sex with men.
Rod Olete creates training curricula for SHIP’s capacity building programs as the organization’s programs manager, lectures in schools and academies as a national lecturer for the nursing competency appraisal, and will be mentoring us on harm reduction, having been trained by the International Society for Substance Use Professionals on the concept of Co-Occurring Medical and Mental Disorders associated with Drug Use.
As SHIP’s Case Manager, Ivy Hapitan brings her background as a certified yoga therapist, training in HIV counseling and sexual health, and expertise in mental health management and addiction therapy to help those dealing with HIV, substance addiction, and trauma to live better, healthier lives.
Mara Quesada has had a 15-year background working in the HIV advocacy, having been a lecturer and trainer on gender and sexuality and human rights, as well as a researcher on the sexual and reproductive rights of OFWs. Currently she is executive director of ACHIEVE, an NGO that works on HIV and many other health concerns of migrant workers, women, young people, and people living with HIV.
Dr. Winlove Mojica is a dermatologist, a Clinical Associate Professor at the Philippine General Hospital’s Section of Dermatology, and a Visiting Consultant at the East Avenue Medical Center’s Department of Dermatology. He uses his Facebook and Twitter accounts, “The Skin Sensei,” with over an 11,000 following between them, to advocate for STI and HIV prevention and sexual health.
Dr. Sonia Salamat has had nearly twenty years of experience in infectious diseases and has worked in the field of HIV for ten. She is the attending physician at the Section of Infectious Diseases in PGH and ID consultant at Manila Doctors Hospital, and we are truly blessed to have someone of her stature at this year’s workshop.
Dr. Joseph Buensalido practices internal medicine and specializes in infectious diseases. He was awarded the Balik Scientist Award by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology and was a recipient of Infectious Disease Fellow’s Grant by the American Society of Microbiology. His knowledge and skill will surely be integral to our improvement of our HIV care practice.
Dr. Cybele Abad is an Infectious Disease specialist who is part of the I-REACT team at The Medical City, having been an Infectious Diseases Consultant in the institution for 5 years and Chair of the Infection Control Committee starting last year. Her expertise to us is invaluable, having been in HIV medicine for ten years and counting.
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