CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY SHORT COURSE (2nd SEMESTER OF AY 2020-2021)

Course Awarding Ceremonies

Realizing the need for a deeper theoretical background in the practice of Cell and Molecular Biology and Molecular Diagnostics, thirty-six (36) young professionals in life science took their time and enroll the course offered by the Biology Department, College of Arts Sciences and Education of the Trinity University of Asia.

The short-term course was offered for the 2nd semester of AY 2020-2021 in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic. Ms. Jacqueline Marjorie Pereda, a faculty of the Biology Department who has taught the course for many years with an MS degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Santo Tomas handled the two sections of the short-term course. The Cell and Molecular Biology course allowed the students to take it on weekends even with their busy work schedules in their respective laboratories or clinics. Last 27th and 28th of March 2021, the students were given certificate of commendation for their Exemplary Participation and Commitment during the awarding ceremonies (Images 1 and 2).  Also, part of the program which is the Opening Remarks was done by Dr. Anacleto Argayosa (Department Chair of Biology Department), the awarding of certificates and closing remarks were prepared by Ms. Pereda, and a send-off message from the Dean of CASE, Dr. Howell Ho.

The students who finished the course were also awarded for their exemplary accomplishments in the course. This includes Ms. Alyssa Dianne Abarintos, Ms. Lou Manalo, Ms. Naira Mendez, Ms. Mea Jane Wong (Section 1), and Mr. Rogin Artem Alamban, Ms. Raphaella Nadine Yang, Ms. Crystal Gem Ledang, Ms. Stefanie Carbonel, Ms. Juvenia Lunes (Section 2) for Exemplary Contribution and Course Engagement; Ms. Zoe Francine Flores (Section 1) and Michelle San Luis (Section 2) for Exemplary Character and Course Leadership; while Ms. Anthonette Mary Vito topped the class in Section 1 and Mr. Babbie Jhon Esteva in Section 2, both were awarded with Exemplary Performance and Course Excellence (Image 3).

The 5-unit short course syllabus included topics in the Introduction to the study of Cell Biology, The Gene and Genome, Transcription to Translation, Gene Expression, DNA Replication and Repair, Signal Transduction, and Methods in Cell and Molecular Biology. In the laboratory portion simulated experiments such as Microscopy and Cell Culture or videos of standard techniques in DNA Barcoding and Bioinformatics were taught. Invited speakers namely Ms. Shana Genavia from the Philippine Genome Center and Dr. Jose Luis De Guzman from Makati Development Corporation – Medical and Health Services conducted a mini webinar on the topics under COVID-18 Basics, as well as on its Cinical Aspects for the whole class. The major references use for the course was the Essential Cell Biology 5th edition by Alberts, et al. and Cell and Molecular Biology Concepts and Experiments 6th edition by Karp, et al., and also were supplemented with various other online resources in the TUA Learning Cloud.

The Department wish to thank the support of Dr. Howell Ho, Dean of the College of Arts Sciences and Education, Trinity University of Asia, Ms. Jinky Carnaje-Gamit, Marketing and Communications Manager and all those who contributed to the successful offering and completion of the course.

For those interested to take the Cell and Molecular Biology short course, you may inquire at tuacase_bio@tua.edu.ph