Assoc. Prof. Glory Dee A. Romo was a resource speaker during the "Webinar on Gender and Nutrition: Equipping Women to Improve Nutrition," held on September 7, 2023. Prof. Romo talked about "Gender dimensions of food and nutrition security" in the webinar organized by the Gender and Development Resource Center (GADRC) of the Cavite State University.

Prof. Romo is a faculty member of the School of Management - Master in Management program. She is involved in research projects and extension services as a gender/socio- economist.

She is skilled in complex adaptive system thinking, strategic planning, value chain and gender studies. She builds partnerships that support women's empowerment and business continuity planning.

A University of the Philippines Mindanao team held the launch of its Molecular Tracker web application on October 23, 2023, for the use of the technical agencies and the local government units. The Molecular Tracker app is a tool for monitoring the prevalence of COVID-19 within the community using data from wastewater systems. The app is a product of the DOST-funded Project IWAS, or "Integrated Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) and Data Analytics for Community-Level Pathogen Surveillance and Genetic Tracking: Proof-of-Concept," 

At the launch, Project Leader Assoc. Prof. Dann Marie del Mundo introduced Project IWAS as Project 4 of the research program of the Center for Applied Modeling, Data Analytics, and Bioinformatics for Decision Support Systems in Health (AMDABiDSS-Health). It is dedicated to mitigating health-related risks through the implementation of wastewater surveillance.

Its pilot sites comprise six communities (barangays) in Davao City, particularly Brgy. Matina Crossing, the focal site of Project iWAS. Through the analysis of wastewater samples and the conduct of comprehensive analyses and risk categorization, the project successfully generated predictive disease models, its milestone achievement. 

She highlighted the significance of the collaboration between the academe and the government offices in contributing to the project's achievements. These collaborators are the Department of Science & Technology-Region XI (DOST-XI), the Davao City Engineer's Office, the Davao City Health Office, the Davao City Planning and Development Office, and Barangay 74-A: Matina Crossing. 

In addition, one of the project's objectives is to develop a molecular community tracker for SARS-CoV2. From their preliminary efforts using integrated WBE and bioinformatic analysis, the project developed the Molecular Tracker web application, led by Assoc. Prof. Vladimer Kobayashi. 

Project Technical Assistant for Data Analytics Kieffer Arben Go introduced the Molecular Tracker app. He demonstrated the interactive aspects of the app by opening and explaining the contribution of each of the app's tabs. The app can calculate COVID-19 risk and measure the number of possible COVID-19-infected individuals in a community from data provided by the users. The team has tested the application through its Alpha and Beta phases, and is ready for use. 

In closing, AMDABIDSS Program Leader Prof. May Anne Mata thanked the project collaborators for highlighting the importance of public health surveillance and for lobbying the project to the city government. In particular, on behalf of Project IWAS and AMDABIDSS-Health, which is now renamed Disease Watch & Analytics, or DiWA. She disclosed the future plans of the research program and how government units and research projects can continue to go hand-in-hand in tackling health issues in the community. 

Project IWAS touches on the Sustainable Development Goals of Good Health and Well-Being, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Project Leader Assoc. Prof. Armacheska M. Satina introduces the project staff

Durian industry leaders and government partners join the project staff on the October 10, 2023, launch

UPMin administrative and academic staff join the project meeting on October 11, 2023*

The UP Mindanao team held a launch for their project, “AI-based Non-Invasive Grading System of Durian,” or AIDurian, at the University Library on 10 October 2023. The AIDurian project will develop durian quality classification applications using Artificial Intelligence (AI). It aims to serve the booming Davao durian export industry, which is expected to earn P14.3 billion in 2023 alone. 

Project leader Assoc. Prof. Armacheska Satina said with an 11 Million Peso grant from the DOST for multispectral and infrared cameras, the team will develop desktop and mobile phone applications for fruit quality classification. 

DuDONG, an acronym for the Durian Desktop-Operated Non-Invasive Grading System, is an app in development that uses computer vision and image processing for fruit classification. Audio technology will disclose fruit quality from the sound of gentle knocking on a durian fruit. 

INDAI, an acronym for Inspection of Durian Using AI, is an app that will generate durian fruit classification on a smartphone. INDAI has farm management tools and data storage and retrieval, as well.

At the launch, industry partners from Belviz Farms, Rosario's Delicacies, and D'Farmers Market discussed some of the challenges to the local durian industry at the launch. The other industry partners are VJT Enterprises and Eng Seng Food Products. 

The AI Durian project is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) under the Accelerated R & D Program for Capacity Building of Research & Development Institutions and Industrial Competitiveness: Industry-Level Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (I-CRADLE). Present during the launch were Supervising Science Research Specialist Maria Teresa De Guzman and Science Research Specialist Kathleen Faith Villarma of the PCAARRD’s Agricultural Resources Management Research Division. 

Also present during the launch were representatives of government partners who pledged policy actions to support the project. These are the Department of Agriculture’s High-Value Crops unit, the Bureau of Plant Industry’s Davao National Crops Research and Development Center, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Science and Technology-XI, and the Mindanao Development Authority.

The UP Mindanao interdisciplinary team is composed of Associate Professors Armacheska Satina, Vicente Calag, and Vladimer Kobayashi from the Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science and Adjunct Professor Emma Ruth Bayogan of the Department of Biological Science and Environmental Studies. They will be assisted by Mr. Jenno Fred Villarino, Mr. Marlon Maddara, Ms.  Leizel Secretaria, and Ms. Mary Jean Tuando.

The AIDurian project addresses the Sustainable Development Goals of work and economic growth, innovation, and quality education.   

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* The UP Mindanao AI DURIAN project proponents at the project launch on October 10, 2023, with their project partners. The persons holding the project title are (left-right) DOST-XI Asst. Regional Director Mirasol Domingo, DOST-PCAARRD Science Research Specialist Kathleen Faith Villarma, Supervising Science Research Specialist Maria Teresa De Guzman, UPMin Adjunct Professor Emma Ruth Bayogan, durian grower Mary Grace Belvis, UPMin Assoc. Prof. Armacheska Satina, UPMin Asst. Prof. Vic Calag, DTI-XI Asst. Regional Director Romeo Castañaga, and grower Larry Miculob of D' Farmers Market.

**In the bottom photo, seated left-right are: Assoc. Prof. Armacheska Satina, DOST-PCAARRD Science Research Specialist Kathleen Faith Villarma, Supervising Science Research Specialist Maria Teresa De Guzman, VCAA Annabelle Novero, Vic Calag, Leo Manuel Estaña. Standing behind are project staff members Marlon Maddara, Jenno Fred Villarino, and Mary Jean Tuando, UPMin Chief Accountant Zenaida Calatrava, Assoc. Prof. Vladimer Kobayashi, Adjunct Professor Emma Ruth Bayogan, Budget Officer and BAC representative Jo-An Garcia, Project Technical Specialist Leizel Secretaria, and Michael Angela J. Urquiola.