Academician Professor Maribel G. Nonato, PhD was elected Chair of the Division of Chemical Sciences (Division X) of the National Research Council of the Philippines in June 2020. Nonato, UST’s Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation and a faculty member of the Department of Chemistry and the Graduate School, is the pioneer of pandanus research in the country. Her seminal work led to many other studies into the potentials of the pandanus species.
Per the NRCP website, the Division of Chemical Sciences recommends for approval to NRCP’s Governing Board “research projects which are oriented towards basic studies in chemistry. These proposals would normally not be within the priority of other DOST research councils. However, these projects possess the potential of making a significant contribution to chemical knowledge and hopefully would find practical application.” Among the projects are studies pertaining to plant materials, environmental chemistry, food chemistry, biochemistry, and material science.
Nonato succeeds, Prof. Mafel C. Ysrael, PhD as Chair. Ysrael is a faculty member of the Graduate School and was a former faculty member of the Department of Biochemistry.
