Truly Another Rizal in the Making
Rachel lives up to her name in the field of research development

To encourage multi-national research, collaboration, and discussion in the field of cancer and support scholars in organizing activities, events, and research, the Global Health Impact Scholar program was created.

The Global Health Impact Scholar program of the Cancer Institute Foundation (CIF) for the Cervical Cancer Prevention Network (CECAP) and for the Cancer Institute (CI) of University of the Philippines-Philippines General Hospital (UP-PGH) was established in 2009 following the International Activity for Health collaboration with Kobe University Graduate School of Health. Miss Hitomi Hashimoto, a delegate from the Japanese institution, presented in the convention pertinent data from studies on the burden of cervical cancer in Japan to encourage partnership between Asian countries against the dreaded disease. Dr. Cecilia Ladines-Llave, Program Director of the Cancer Institute Foundation, saw the potential of young people in the field of research (as she herself had her substantial share of researches presented during her yesteryears as a Ronpauko Scholar of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [JSPS] in partnership with UP Manila), thus the idea to support such a cause was conceived. The project aims to build greater international collaboration within the field of cancer. The program recruits student leaders and supports them in their research endeavors and learning pursuits.

Rachel Elise Aquino Rizal is the first Global Health Impact Scholar in the Cancer Institute, following referral and recommendation by Dr. Lulu C. Bravo, the Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health. Joining the Cancer Institute as a United States Fulbright Scholar, Rachel is currently researching the profile of a typical Cervical Cancer patient admitted to the Philippines General Hospital and the costs of cervical cancer screening and treatment for Filipino women. Rachel graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 2009, majoring in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. At Princeton, Rachel was a Global Health Scholar, where she did her senior thesis on vaccines in middle-income countries. She aspires to integrate medicine, health public policy, and business in the future and plans to attend medical school.

If there is any conjecture as to the familial relationship of this young intellectual to our national hero: her genealogy indicates that his great grandfather may be the brother of Dr. Jose Rizal (http://manilajc.tripod.com/valedictorian). Nonetheless, whether or not Miss Rizal is the descendant of the doctor-artist-educator, she without a doubt has the makings of becoming a leader in the field of research oncology and beyond.

Learn more about the International Activity on Health and Miss Hitomi Hashimoto.