The Eastern Visayas Health Research and Development Consortium (EVHRDC) participated in the 11th Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) week celebration held on August 24-25, 2017 at Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Pasay City. The momentous occasion was spearheaded by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The celebration is a gathering of different stakeholders in health research and development to contribute research-based solutions to health problems.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Research and Innovations in Health: Empowering and Transforming Communities,” which focuses on the roles, challenges, and opportunities of health research and innovation in reaching, empowering, and transforming the marginalized Filipino communities.

The activity started with pre-conference sessions at Hotel Jen Manila. On August 22, 2017, morning, the Ethics, and Society of Health Research Communicators (SHARE) Assembly Journal Publishing was conducted simultaneously. In the afternoon of the same day, a Coordinators & Staff Meeting, and SHARE Organizational Meeting/Communication Planning was also conducted. On August 23, 2017, a Technical Review Board (TRB) National Consultative Meeting on TRB Manual was held, to gather inputs and insights of the different consortium in order to finalize the Manual of Operations. There were other parallel sessions being conducted in other rooms at Hotel Jen Manila.

Moreover, sixteen (16) delegates From EVHRDC were among the attendees of the activity, and four (4) different committees (Research Management, Research Information, Capability Building, and Structure, Organization, Monitoring & Evaluation) were represented, including the EVHRDC staff. We were also proud to have Mr. Renz Prudenciado, contestant from Leyte Normal University (LNU), for the National Poster Exhibit Contest, Student Category, to join us in representing the region for the said event.