A Chance Encounter: SDRC Receives Visit from Health Experts in Malaysia

The first Friday of August was a busy one for the Center, but the afternoon still had one more surprise in store.

SDRC received visitors from HEIs in Malaysia and its Ministry of Health, who were on a tour of campus after attending a school event on August 2. Accompanied by Research Fellow and Department of Sociology and Behavioral Sciences Associate Professor Dr. Crisanto Regadio, members of the group expressed interest in social determinants of health, an area that the Center has pursued a number of studies in (particularly reproductive and mental health).

The group was composed of Dr. Mohd Dzulkhairi Mohd Rani, Medical Associate Professor in Public Health Medicine of the Department of Primary Care Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Islamic Science University of Malaysia; Dr. Noor Rafizah Aminah Aziz, Head of the Non-Communicable Disease Unit of the Selangor State Health Department of the Malaysian Ministry of Health; Dr. Sharifah Fatimah Al Zahrah Binti Syed Hussien, Assistant Professor of the International Islamic University Malaysia Department of Sociology and Anthropology AHAS Kulliyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, a sociologist who specializes in Gender Studies; and Dr. Norshuhani B. Zamin, a Malaysian who is currently an associate professor teaching with the DLSU College of Computer Studies Department of Software Technology, and who expressed interest in participating in future collaborations with the Center.

Members of the core staff and SDRC Visiting Researcher Coordinator Rommel Billena welcomed the health specialists, with Dr. Regadio presenting the Center’s organizational chart and research thrusts. He also shared that SDRC is in the early stages of exploring Islamic Studies, as his area of interest is in Muslim Filipinos; University Scientist in Residence and SDRC Senior Research Fellow Dr. Pilar Ramos Jimenez pursues extensive research in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao; and DSBS Associate Professor and SDRC Research Fellow Dr. Zaldy Collado is an emerging BARMM scholar.

The impromptu visit ended with an exchange of tokens between SDRC and the Malaysian guests.