The University of the Philippines Visayas appointed Dr. Victor Marco Emmanuel “Noel” N. Ferriols, from the Institute of Aquaculture (IA), College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS) as the first Director of the UP Visayas Regional Research Center from November 2022 – November 2023.
Dr. Ferriols is an Associate Professor 6 at the CFOS IA, where he also acquired his Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Fisheries. He took up his Doctor of Philosophy [Aquatic Bioscience] at the University of Tokyo. His research interests include aquaculture, molecular biology, and genomics science. He also implemented several research projects, which includes aquaculture commodities, genomics, establishment of Genomics Consortium and Core Facility in the Visayas, and COVID-19 bio-surveillance.
Aside from his research projects, he served as the Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension for the RRC since 2018. In his five-year term as the AVCRE for the RRC, his leadership has secured the institutionalization of the UPV Regional Research Center last November 11, 2022 [https://bit.ly/RRCInstitutionalization]. Together with the RRC, they were also able to secure fundings through various research projects and other sources in support to the full operationalization of the facility. At the same time, he is also the Program Director of the Philippine Genome Center Visayas.
The UPV RRC is a newly established and institutionalized research facility which aims to support the research and extension endeavors of UP Visayas through its five laboratories, namely Applied Chemistry (AC), Biology (Bio), Food, Feeds, and Functional Nutrition (Food), Material Science and Nanotechnology (MSN), and Microbiology and Bioengineering (MCB). The RRC has several services, which includes sample processing, use of equipment, capacity building and trainings, research collaborations, and use of [non-laboratory] facilities.
Several graduate and undergraduate researches, and also research projects among faculty researchers inside and outside of UPV, have been supported and facilitated by the UPV RRC through their various specialized equipment and expertise of their respective laboratories-in-charge. The research center continues to thrive towards extending its research endeavors to its stakeholders and the grassroots communities by conducting capacity building schemes and training activities through its newly established Training, Extension, and Communication Division [TECD].
Dr. Ferriols and the RRC continue to commit themselves towards aligning their research and extension endeavors with UP’s motto of Honor and Excellence in the Service of the [Filipino] People.
