Our Story
The Pilipino Undergraduate Society for Health informally began when two Kaibigang Pilipin@ members, Heidi Tuason and Jeremy Verango, wanted to bring a pre-health program for Filipinos similar to Berkeley’s, PAHC (Pilipino Association for Health Careers) to UCSD. They planned an event for anyone to attend where three medical students would be in attendance to talk to any of the undergraduates. Although only four undergraduates attended the event, both of PUSH’s founders were present! Two years later, Kathleen Coquia, one of our founders, after serving on the Kaibigang Pilipin@ board for 3 years wanted an organization that would combine the love and community she felt from KP, something she didn’t receive in other pre-health organizations, with the resources for Filipinos and other minorities to help one another achieve their pre-health goals. The meeting she attended two years back with Michael Del Rosario, our other founder, also inspired and motivated Kathleen and thus, PUSH was established in 2009 with the mindset of peers empowering each other, while also helping out the local Filipino community in San Diego.Mission Statement
As members of the Pilipino Undergraduate Society for Health (PUSH), we believe in the academic empowerment of Pilipino(a) American students. We are leaders of the Pilipino community who strive to be an active presence through service, who establish networking opportunities and collaborations, and who promote education and awareness of health issues in order to productively direct ourselves towards future goals in health professions.Community Advisers
Dr. Happy Araneta
Maria Rosario (Happy) G. Araneta, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the UCSD School of Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from UCSD and PhD in Epidemiology from Yale University.She directs the UCSD Filipino Health Study, a clinical study of osteoporosis, diabetes and cardiovascular disease among Filipino men and women. Her research interests include pediatric HIV/AIDS, birth defects, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and ethnic health disparities. She collaborates with the University of the Philippines, the University of Hawaii, and Tijuana General Hospital. Her teaching responsibilities include lectures on epidemiology and guiding research projects of medical and doctoral students.
Dr. Weg Ongkeko
Dr. Ongkeko is a faculty member in the Division of Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford.Dr. Ongkeko’s main research interest is on cancer stem cells, a very small population of cells within tumors that have unique properties and are responsible for tumor initiation, resistance to apoptotic stimuli, tumor invasion, and metastasis. His laboratory’s focus is on characterizing head and neck cancer stem cells to better understand how to target them for therapy.
