Carmencita Padilla

Dra. Padilla is a leading advocate for newborn screening.^[4] She and her colleagues helped to establish the Newborn Screening System (NBS) in the Philippines, which began as a data gathering project in Metro Manila in 1996. She is the founding president of the Newborn Screening Society of the Philippines.^[5]

Padilla helped in the establishment of the Philippine Genome Center in 2009,^[4] where she also served as executive director from 2011 to 2016.^[2]

The University of the Philippines Manila has Padilla as its chancellor since 2014^[6] and has been serving for at least three terms.^[7] Her term ended in October 31, 2023.^[8] She was a professor in pediatrics in the institution.^[7] She also helped set up a genetic services department in UP Manila in 1990.^[4]

Padilla would also aid in founding a clinical services department at the Philippine General Hospital and laboratories at the National Institutes of Health's Institute of Human Genetics.^[4]

Padilla contributed on forming the basis of The Newborn Screening Act of 2004 (Republic Act No. 9288), with her knowledge on clinical genetics and her research on newborn screening.^[2] Her work would also help draft the Rare Diseases Act of 2016 (Republic Act No. 10747).^[9][10]

On August 31, 2023, Padilla was conferred the Order of National Scientists by President Bongbong Marcos for her contributions in the field of medicine.^[11] The following year, she was a laureate of the Asian Scientist 100 by the Asian Scientist.