Day 1: 16:40 – 16:55
Innovations in Capacity Building: The Philippine e-learning Academy Initiative

Eva Maria Cutiongco-de la Paz MD. PhD.
(Executive Director, National Institute of Health,
University of the Philippines-Manila, Philippines )Short CVDr. Eva Maria C. Cutiongco-de la Paz is the Executive Director of the National
Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila.
She is a Research Professor at the National Institutes of Health as well as a Clinical
Professor of the Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, Department of Pediatrics,
Philippine General Hospital.
She finished her Doctor of Medicine degree from the UP College of Medicine in 1989
and completed her Pediatric residency at the Philippine General Hospital in 1992.
She had her research fellowship in Molecular Genetics at the International Center for
Medical Research at the Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan andtook her subspecialty training in Clinical Genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children,
University of Toronto, Canada.
Her research interests include genetics of monogenic and complex genetic conditions in
the Filipino population such as birth defects, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes
mellitus.

Abstract
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) with its mandate toserve as an institutional home of a network of researchers and research institutions, recognizes its role toset the standards in the conduct of quality research outputs.
In March of 2022, the National Clinical Trials and Translation Center (NCTTC) of the National Institutesof Health, was formally established. The NCTTC serves as an academic center that connects clinical trial
units and coordinates and supports the conduct of government, national and international research
networks, and multinational clinical trials. It facilitates and standardizes clinical trial sites identificationand set-up, workflow SOPs, recruitment sites and strategies. It also provides an infrastructure to support
the conduct of the clinical trials from initiation/conceptualization to close-out and archiving; andimportantly, it provides training for Principal Investigators and Research Staff in the conduct of worldclass clinical research. Between 2021 to 2022, two online trainings on good clinical practice and clinical
trials were conducted in collaboration with Japan’s National Center of Global Health and Medicine(NCGM) and funded by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).
Post-training evaluation and feedback among training participants, a series of consultative meetings withestablished clinical trialists and experts, and a local competency assessment survey among clinicalresearchers were conducted to identify learning needs and gaps. In addition, feedback among training
participants showed that delivery through synchronous and asynchronous methods was effective inmaximizing reach and participation all over the country. As a result, the Philippine e-learning Academy
initiative has been organized. This initiative will provide training using the e-learning platform to establish
regional e-learning hubs in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It aims to empower promising clinicalresearchers and trialists throughout the country in the conduct of high quality and effective clinical trials.
Four priority modules have been identified to be developed into e-learning formats: good clinical practice,ethics, and informed consent; clinical trial design and management; data safety analysis and adverse event
monitoring; and regulatory frameworks and processes. These training modules will be offered as aninteractive learning program in a variety of formats including interactive PDFs and gamification through amobile application. The effectiveness of hybrid versus the traditional face-to-face methods of training will
also be evaluated. Through these innovations in training, the NIH NCTTC hopes to increase the number ofFilipino health professionals conducting clinical trials research of international standards.