A lot has been said and written about the Philippine-made test kitthe first in the countryfor the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

As soon as it was announced in March that a Covid-19 test kit is being developed and manufactured in the country, all the news media platforms, columns and talk shows have been awash with stories on the subject. Its been the talk of the town.

Interviews with its creatorled by the multi-awarded Dr. Raul V. Desturahave been held left and right, seeking the story behind the diagnostic system that will help stem the spread of the virus in the country, and proud that it was made in the Philippines, plus being cheaper at P1,300 than the imported P8,000.

Actually the kit is already being used now at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and other major hospitals around the country that are handling Covid-19 cases after the Food and Drug Administration Philippines(FDA) approved its commercial use on April 3.

The test kit was developed in collaboration with the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH), and funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It is manufactured by Manila HealthTek that was also supported by the DOST.

It was a just-in-time scenario for the Philippines when it badly needed test kits for Covid-19 cases.

It was a much-awaited result of research and development, which was conducted immediately when the coronavirus pandemic startled the whole world in January 2020. This completely upholds the DOST of the mantra R&D making change happen.

Despite Desturas being busy attending to interviews, they were mainly about his research on the test kit, and rarely about himself.

Who is this scientist behind the Covid-19 test kit?

As a clinician-scientist, I continuously try to narrow down the gap between basic science, medical science, biotechnology and community service by forging strong collaboration among disciplines to reach a focused goal, Destura said as quoted by the NIH UPM web site.

My research bench to community approach is ultimately geared toward developing low-cost technologies for the control of infectious diseases in the Philippines and the generation of new knowledge to find sustainable and equitable solutions to disease of poverty, added Destura, the vice president and chairman of the Division of Medical Sciences of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP).

A Presidential Lingkod Bayan 2019 Awardee, Destura is a known scientist and molecular microbiologist who is also recognized for developing local and less costly diagnostic kits for rapid detection of the most dreaded infectious diseases such as dengue, hepatitis and tuberculosis.

Notable of these is the Biotek-M, a rapid test kit for dengue that is projected to be more affordable among average Filipino families that may not be able to afford the more expensive polymerase chain reaction technology.

This new technology is hoped to advance the diagnostic capability of the hospitals for better management of the dengue disease. Biotek-M is currently being rolled out to three government hospitals.

Actually the Covid-19 test kit was based on the Biotek-M technology.

Desturas versatility is exhibited by the establishment of two world-class molecular biology laboratoriesthe Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Research Laboratory at the UP NIH and the Clinical Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory of the Medical Cityunder his leadership.

He is also a recipient of several prestigious national and international awards for his innovative research and leadership in research and clinical molecular biology.

Among the awards are the Gold Medal from the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (Salon International Des Inventions Geneve), Geneva, Switzerland in April 2018; International Training and Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Fellowship Award from the Center for Global Health Division of Infectious Disease and International Health, University of Virginia.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Travel Scholarship for 2005 Keystone Symposia; Outstanding Young Scientist of the Philippines in 2008; University of the Philippiness Research Productivity Award in 2011; The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines in 2011; Gawad Agham 2015.

Outstanding Alumni in Microbiology of the University of Santo Tomas; 2015 Outstanding Alumni in Medicine of the De La Salle University; and the prestigious 2015 Dr. Jose Rizal Memorial Award in Research given by the Philippine Medical Association.

At the NRCP, Destura was named the 2015 Dr. Eusebio Y. Garcia awardee. The award is given annually to Filipino scientists in recognition of their outstanding research contributions in the fields of Molecular Biology and Molecular Pathology.

The award was founded by Dr. Eusebio Y. Garcia in 1985 to encourage more researchers to venture into this field and also to recognize the ground breaking researches made by the Filipinos in the said field.

In June 2018, immunization became a hot topic in the country because of the Dengvaxia scare. Amid the controversy, the NRCP made a categorical pronouncement on the importance of vaccines.

The NRCP statement, crafted by Destura, stated that scientific evidence has clearly demonstrated that vaccines have dramatically eradicated small pox and polio and have greatly reduced child mortality in the Philippines and in many parts of the world. The NRCP stands by the government efforts to sustain its immunization programs as we strongly urge the public to pay attention to the knowledge claim of scientists on the beneficial effects of immunization.

On March 7, while in the midst of isolation for his research work on the Covid-19 test kit, NRCP President Dr. Ramon A. Razal consulted Destura when the Department of Health raised Red Code Alert on Covid-19.

Upon Desturas expert advise and with the NRCP Governing Board approval, Razal postponed the NRCPs biggest annual event, the Scientific Conference and 87th General Assembly in Manila on March 9. The conference has an anticipated 1,200 participants from all over the country.

The decision became the Councils contribution to the national efforts to prevent the risk of further local or community transmission of Covid-19.

Destura studied Medicine at the De La Salle University Health Sciences in 1996, and went to pursue training and research fellowship in Infectious Disease at the UP-PGH from years 20012003.

He went to University of Virginia, US, for higher learning and international training in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Maria Elena A. Talingdan, S&T Media Service

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'I focus on low-cost tech to fight infectious diseases' - Business Mirror