DNA Sequencing Program Director
Assistant Professor 6, Philippine Genome Center, University of the Philippines System
Areas of Current Research: shrimp, invertebrate immunology, genomics, transcriptomics, next-generation sequencing
Dr. Maralit is the current director of the DNA Sequencing Core Facility. He graduated with a degree in BS Biology from the University of Santo Tomas. With particular interest in fish pathology, his curiosity grew even more when he visited several offices and branches of BFAR during his undergraduate thesis research. Upon taking up his master’s degree at UST, his attention shifted to shrimp studies and explorations on how to prevent disease outbreaks in farms. He and his MS Thesis adviser were able to develop and patent a LAMP detection kit for white spot syndrome disease in shrimp.
During his stay at the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI), he studied the phylogenetics of Pigek, did traceability studies of different fisheries food and products, and conducted high-throughput transcriptome studies on the shrimp immune system. By completing his PhD studies in Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, concluding his Post-doctoral research Fellowship at Chulalongkorn University and finally returning to the Philippines, Dr. Maralit hopes to better understand the shrimp and invertebrate immune system in order to develop new ways of disease prevention, treatment and management in fisheries and aquaculture.
