Eastern and
South-Eastern Asia
Regional Community Convenor (RCC)
The Planetary and Global Health Program (PGHP) of the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine aims to become a leading center of planetary and global health education, research, and translation in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia over the next decade. In the past three years, the PGHP introduced innovative educational opportunities; implemented externally funded research projects on a diverse array of planetary health issues; and meaningfully engaged with local, national, and international governmental institutions, including the Philippine Climate Change Commission, Department of Health, and World Health Organization. The PGHP serves as the secretariat of Planetary Health Philippines and is a member of various national and international networks including the Planetary Health Alliance, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, and Consortium of Universities for Global Health.
Renzo R. Guinto, MD DrPH, Director, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines
Renzo R. Guinto, MD DrPH is the Associate Professor of the Practice of Global Public Health and Inaugural Director of the Planetary and Global Health Program of the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine in the Philippines. He is also a member of the National Panel of Technical Experts of the Climate Change Commission of the Philippines, and convener of Planetary Health Philippines – a community of Filipino scholars and practitioners for advancing the new discipline of planetary health.
John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta, PhD, Visiting Fellow, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines. and Associate Professor, De La Salle University, Philippines
John Aruta, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at De La Salle University and A Visiting Fellow at the Planetary and Global Health Program of St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine. John is a counseling psychologist actively practicing counseling and psychotherapy in the Philippines. He is also a pioneering figure in Environmental Psychology in the Philippines. His work focused on the application of psychology principles towards sustainability and the nexus between climate change and mental health.
Gail Co, MD MBA, Research Fellow, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines
Gail Co is a research fellow under the St. Luke's College of Medicine Planetary and Global Health Program. She is also the project coordinator for Next Generation One Health Philippines, a fellowship program that aims to strengthen domestic capacity for One Health research in tackling wildlife trade and biodiversity loss as drivers of infectious disease emergence.
Alfredo Lorenzo R. Sablay, MD, Engagement Officer and Psychosocial Support Consultant, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines
Alfredo Lorenzo Sablay is a biologist, physician, trainer-facilitator, youth coach, and staunch advocate for people, planet, peace, and prosperity - being active in the socio-civic space since 2010 and having trained more than 5,000 youth globally about the Sustainable Development Goals, social entrepreneurship, and leadership. Dr. Lorenzo is a Diana Award Recipient, which is the most prestigious accolade a young person can receive for their social action or humanitarian work.
AJ Sunglao, MSc, Technical and Psychosocial Support Consultant, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines
AJ is a mental health professional and a licensed psychologist from the Philippines. As a clinician, AJ maintains a practice at two clinics, Mind+ and InTouch. He serves as a consultant for healthcare, development, advocacy, and private sector organizations both locally and internationally, AJ uses his experiences as a clinician, researcher, consultant, and as a person-with-lived experience to integrate mental health in spaces and topics that may need it.
Dianne Cunanan, MD, Communication Support, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines
Dianne J. Cunanan, MD is a research fellow of the Planetary and Global Health Program. She finished her Doctor of Medicine at St. Luke’s Medical Center under an academic scholarship where she jumpstarted multiple student-led projects on environment and mental health. Dianne was awarded as one of the Ten Outstanding Medical Students by the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges.
Tris Esteban, Research Associate, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine, Philippines
Tris is a fresh graduate of the BS Public Health program of the University of the Philippines Manila. Her passion for climate change, planetary health, and mental health has led her to pursue her undergraduate study in the same fields as well as co-found the first mental health organization in her home city.
Sena Salcedo, Psychosocial Support Adviser
Sena is a licensed psychologist and a cognitive behavior therapist from the Philippines. She is also a certified mental health first responder, resource speaker, and facilitator of various mental health talks. She is the present Chief Psychologist for Betterteem, an HR technology platform, and is currently affiliated with Saint Arnold Center for Integral Development as a Clinical Psychologist.
Co-Convenors
Center For Health Environment Research And Development
Center for Health Environment Research and Development (CHERAD) is a non-governmental organization based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Since its inception in 2012, CHERAD has been working closely with multiple state and private establishments to promote and support sustainability, strengthening communities to adapt to and reverse the effects of climate change and environmental pollution, piloting models and supporting advocacy for better environmental policies. Our mission is to create a healthy environment for the people, achieving it by providing the people with adequate training, education and tools to protect themselves and their own living environment, working toward mutual benefit and long-term sustainability. CHERAD is a pioneer NGO in promoting the movement of green, healthy and climate-resilient hospitals in Vietnam.
Joji Sugawara,Vice President
Joji Sugawara, policy studies graduate from Chuo University, Japan, is a dedicated advocate for policy dialogue and decision-making processes at domestic and global levels. He has actively organized global expert meetings on various health-related topics. Currently, he focuses on the interdisciplinary planetary health challenges, as well as management, public relations, and fundraising efforts at Health and Global Policy Institute.
Health and Global Policy Institute
Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) is a Tokyo-based independent and non-profit health policy think-tank established in 2004. Since our establishment, HGPI has been working to help citizens shape health policy by generating policy options and bringing together stakeholders as a non-partisan think-tank. Our mission is to enhance the civic mind along with individuals’ well-being and to foster sustainable, healthy communities by shaping ideas and values, reaching out to global needs, and catalyzing society for impact. We commit to bringing stakeholders together and helping interested citizens understand available options and their benefits from broader, global, long-term perspectives.
John Leo Algo, MSc, Deputy Executive Director
John Leo is the Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Campaigns of Living Laudato Si Philippines, an interfaith movement campaigning for fossil fuel divestment and sustainable development, and a member of the interim Secretariat of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, the country’s largest civil society network for climate action. He has been a climate and environment journalist since 2016.
Living Laudato Si’ Philippines
Living Laudato Si’ Philippines (LLS) is an interfaith movement initiated by Catholic lay people calling on Philippine financial institutions to divest from coal-related operations and other environmentally-destructive activities. It is inspired by Pope Francis's landmark encyclical, Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home. LLS primarily engages with faith-based institutions to influence them to divest from corporations financing environmentally-harmful operations and implement programs promoting ecological education and citizenship. It also works closely with other civil society and people's organizations in advocating for sustainable development and addressing the climate crisis, environmental degradation, and social injustice through multi-sectoral campaigns and actions.
Laurence L. Delina, PhD, Assistant Professor
Laurence Delina is an Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests are on sustainable development with a focus on rapid mitigation of climate change and accelerating sustainable and just energy transitions.
Division of Environment and Sustainability,
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was established in 2010 to strengthen HKUST’s position as a global leader in multidisciplinary education and research in the areas of environment and sustainability, so that we can light the way forward in seizing opportunities and addressing the challenges of our times. Within HKUST, ENVR is a platform for fostering existing strengths and enhancing cooperation among different academic units. It also tackles new challenges in the study, application and education of environment and sustainability sciences, technology, and policy. Outside the university, ENVR strives to become an intellectual hub where academic, government, business and community leaders can come together and develop impactful and innovative solutions for our environment and sustainability problems. The Division has three research themes: climate adaptation and resilience, air and health, and green finance and net-zero solutions.
Maria Puspa Kartika, Medical Director
Maria Puspa Kartika, MD is a medical doctor who currently works as a medical director at Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI). She works in the planetary health sector which put her interests in primary healthcare and healthcare delivery in indigenous and grassroots communities around National Parks in Borneo and Papua, Indonesia. She has a broad understanding of primary health care in rural areas which she sharpened by living within grassroots communities for three years. Now, she is also an activist to promote the environmental aspect of healthcare services.
Laetania Belai Djandam, Climate Officer
Belai is a Climate Reality Leader and Indigenous Environmental Activist from Indonesia who is passionate about integrating a systems-oriented approach to planetary health and empowering healthcare professionals to become climate leaders. As the Climate Officer at HCWH Southeast Asia, she spearheads health professional advocacy under the RISE Southeast Asia Alliance for Health and Climate, along with other research, campaigns, and advocacies on climate and health.
ASRI works to conserve the biodiversity of tropical rain forests by meeting the health and economic needs of surrounding communities. Since 2007, ASRI has worked near Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP), a 108,000-hectare rain forest in western Borneo that serves as home to 5-10% of the world’s remaining orangutans and a watershed for 60,000 people. The ASRI Clinic provides high-quality, discounted health care to local communities in exchange for commitments to forest conservation. ASRI is a world-renowned organization that has been recognized with multiple awards globally and within Indonesia including the Kalpataru Award. Our integrated work with human health and conservation has brought about a dramatic decline in logging. In 2018, ASRI expanded to a second site: Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (BBBRNP), a 181,090-hectare rainforest in central Borneo, critical for orangutan reintroduction. ASRI’s Planetary Health model has been replicated by its US-based sister organization, Health in Harmony, in Madagascar and Brazil.
To Thi Lien, MPH, Coordinator, Environmentally Sustainable Healthcare Program
Lien is a master in public health with more than 10 years of experience in research and implementation of environmental health programs in Vietnam. She is Coordinator of Green, Healthy and Climate-Resilient Hospitals program of CHERAD; Vietnam Focal Person of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry (USA), and an ADB’s expert in some TA projects in healthcare.
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global environmental health non-government organization that works to transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a community anchor for sustainability and a leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice. For more than two decades, HCWH has been at the forefront of aligning with and mobilizing the health sector in every corner of the world to sound the alarm on critical issues and to provide solutions on how to mitigate the damaging effects of climate-related health and environmental emergencies. The Southeast Asia regional office of HCWH is based in Manila and is composed of 11 full-time staff working on its flagship climate and sustainability programs, Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) network, and RISE Southeast Asia Alliance for Health and Climate.
Niaya Harper Igarashi, Program Specialist
Niaya Harper Igarashi is a researcher in community and global health with a focus on migrants' health and mental health and is currently working toward her PhD at the University of Tokyo. At HGPI she works on international projects in relation to planetary health and global health human resource development.
Youth Ambassador
Jasmin Irisha Jim Ilham
Youth Climate Advocate
Jasmin Irisha is a climate action advocate from Malaysia who works at the intersection of children's rights and climate change. She is passionate in providing a safe, inclusive space for youth participation in climate decision-making processes with a focus on intergenerational equity.
Lived Experience Advisory Group
Marinel Ubaldo
Living Laudato Si'
Marinel Ubaldo is an advocate for climate justice and the environment. She is a Registered Social Worker and one of the Founders of the Youth Leaders for Environmental Action Federation, a youth-led organization based in Eastern Visayas that aims to mentor youth individuals and organizations in climate advocacy. Currently, she is taking her Masters in Environmental Management at Duke University - Nicholas School of the Environment while working as Climate Education Program Assistant at the Nicholas Institute of Energy, Environment and Sustainability and Duke Climate Commitment.
Veronica "Derek" Cabe
Coal and Nuclear-Free Bataan Movement
Derek is a staunch environmental and political activist and human rights defender. She has actively campaigned in protecting and defending the communities against the damage caused by unclean and harmful sources of energy. She has also been active in the anti-nuclear plant campaign since 2009. In 2018, she testified in the public inquiry hearings to share her personal experiences of extreme weather events in the Philippines. Her more than 28 years of experience on the frontlines galvanized her commitment in promoting environmental awareness and protection, as well as human rights and social justice.
Laily Lutfiana Dhia
Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI)
Laily Lutfiana Dhia, is an Exchange and Public Relation Coordinator at Yayasan ASRI who promotes Planetary Health to foreign and domestic visitors coming to ASRI. She is passionate about climate change and mental health.
Madihah A. Puaad
Angsana Health
Dr. Madihah A. Puaad is a medical doctor with a background in Medical Law & Ethics, working in public healthcare since 2010. She is passionate about accessible, equitable and resilient healthcare systems, and currently co-leads Angsana Health's Accelerator, supporting the growth of healthtech startups.
Muhammad Daniel Azlan Mahadzir
Adeante Corporation & Nanyang Technological University
Daniel Mahadzir is a clinical nutritionist and social entrepereneur working in the intersection of food and agriculture, digital society and planetary health. Daniel is an active advocate for green and sustainable investments in ASEAN region with his firm, Adeante. Additionally, he is active in research and currently a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University and WHO Collaborating Center for Digital Health and Education.
Jhonatan Yuditya Pratama
Patamuan Talino Foundation
Jhonatan Yuditya Pratama is a Dayak Indigenous climate activist and environmentalist from West Kalimantan Indonesia. He is also well known as a Dayak Youth Ambassador. As a nurse and leader of the indigenous community, he uses his passion as a spokesperson to obtain the Dayak people's rights for climate justice.