MMSU students win $2K grant for Paoay Lake One Health project
By Monaliz Nagrampa, ππ°π―π΅π³πͺπ£πΆπ΅π°π³
A team of seven students of Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) secured a USD 2,000 grant from the Southeast Asian One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) Student Engagement Program to implement a community-based project that addresses human, animal, and environmental health issues.
The community-based project aims to assess overall water quality and evaluate how local environmental factors impact human, animal, and ecosystem health in the Paoay Lake area.
Team leader Gimilca Princess Bagasol, a fourth-year veterinary medicine student, explained that the choice of the study area was driven by the need to protect the provinceβs vital water resources.
βWe chose to study Paoay Lake specifically because it is the largest lake in Ilocos Norte and a highly vulnerable ecosystem that is legally designated as a protected landscape. The risks that cause eutrophication and waterborne diseases create a critical One Health issue where human, animal, and environmental health collide,β she said.
One Health is an approach that integrates and considers human, animal, and environmental health as linked and interdependent.
Bagasol is joined by fellow veterinary medicine seniors Clarenz Alvarez, Julliene Vhae Ruguian, and Gene Lloyd Cabang, as well as Mikylla Gatoc (first-year BS Development Communication), Haifa Loraine Ramat (fourth-year BS Marine Biology), and John Lynyrd Ganitano (first-year BS Nursing). They are mentored by Dr. Monaliz Nagrampa, a faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine.
The team submitted their project proposal in April of 2026 as part of the One Health Campus-to-Community (OH-C2C) regional competition of the SEAOHUN. Their selection was announced on the last week of May, alongside eight other winners from other countries in the Southeast Asian region. The grant was funded by Chevron.
MMSU became a member of the Philippine One Health University Network (PhilOHUN) in September 2024. It is a group of 25 member Philippine universities committed to promoting One Health initiatives in the country. PhilOHUN is a member of the wider regional organization SEAOHUN.
Jun, 05, 2026 10:44:am
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