Dr. Lwin Mar Hlaing is Acting Director of National NutritionCentre (NNC), Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health and Sports, Myanmar. Dr. Hlaing attained PhD (Nutrition) in 2014 from Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO RECFON), University of Indonesia. She has involved in nation-wide Nutrition surveys in Myanmar and led the first ever nation-wide Myanmar Micronutrient and Food Consumption Survey (MMFCS 2017-2018). As in charge of NNC, she is leading the national nutrition programs, nutrition surveillance system and nutrition laboratory for nutrient content analysis of foods to update Myanmar food composition database. In close collaboration with relevant ministries (Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation; Social welfare, Relief and Resettlement; Education; Planning and Finance; etc) and development partners, Dr. Hlaing is
The 1st SEAMEO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FOOD AND NUTRITION | 67 leading the development and implementation of Multi-sectoral National Plan of Action on Nutrition (MS-NPAN).
Asst. Prof. Kitti Sranacharoenpong
Professor Sranacharoenpong has worked at the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University in Thailand since 1998. His Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees were in Nutrition Science from Mahidol University. He graduated PhD. in Applied Health Sciences from the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo in Canada in 2009. He also had been training the postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Nutrition at Loma Linda University in California, USA in 2009-2011. His research interests are focusing on public health nutrition and health promotion. He was the key person who developed the Thai Food Based Dietary Guidelines (Thai-FBDGs). It also extended his previous research in developing and implementing Thai national food based dietary guidelines. He also has conducted school lunch program for Thai children to link aspects of Thai-FBDGs and food system for sustainability. He also will support Lao Ministry of Health to develop their own FBDGs based on Lao National Consumption Data.
Dr. Aladdin D. Rillo
Dr. Aladdin D. Rillo is the Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Economic Community. He supports the Secretary-General of ASEAN by providing leadership in the implementation of the AEC Blueprint 2025 and leads the AEC Department of the ASEAN Secretariat. He also provides strategic advice to support ASEAN’s economic integration agenda
Before assuming this role, Dr.. Rillo was a Senior Economist with the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo where he designed and administered capacity building training and policy dialogue on development issues.
Prior to that Dr. Rillo worked at the ASEAN Secretariat for more than ten years where he served in various positions; the latest as Director and Chief Economist of the ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office (2010-2013), during which he spearheaded the implementation of regional economic surveillance and integration monitoring in ASEAN as well as provided high level policy and recommendation to support ASEAN economic integration initiatives.
Dr. Rillo holds PhD and MA degrees in economics from the University of Hawaii, and an AB in economics from the Ateneo de Manila University. He has also held various lecturing and senior economist positions in the region and beyond.
Dr. Rillo has written and published extensively on the ASEAN economy and on the broader economic and finance issues.
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Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela
Dr ETHEL AGNES PASCUA-VALENZUELA Director Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat Bangkok, Thailand
Dr Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela is presently the Director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat, the first female Director since SEAMEO was organized in 1965. She served as the first female Deputy Director for Programme and Development of SEAMEO Secretariat from July 2015 to March 2019 and led the Educational Research and Innovation Office of SEAMEO INNOTECH, from 2006 to June 2015.
Prior to joining SEAMEO, she was and Director IV of the Office of Student Services and Director III at the International Affairs Services in the Commission on Higher Education Philippines (1995-2006) and was responsible for foreign and local scholarship programs, academic mobility and transnational education. She has also served as Vice Chairperson of the UNESCO National Commission Education Commissioner (2000-2010). She is a Professorial lecturer at the University of the Philippines and De la Salle University in Manila.
Dr Valenzuela’s expertise is on internationalization of higher education and transnational education, teacher education, alternative learning and secondary education. She has published international and local articles, journals, technical reports and guidelines for some SEAMEO and other international organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF, CHED and DepEd. Among her well-noted research work were: Philippine Higher Education Guide (CHED), K to 12 Toolkit; Quality Assurance, Mutual Recognition in Higher Education (UNESCO Paris); Toolkit for the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications (UNESCO BKK); Toolkit for National Information Centers (UNESCO Bangkok), ESD Toolkit for Secondary Schools; Internationalization of Philippine Higher Education (UNESCO Natcom) and Reform and Development in Philippine Higher Education; The Southeast Asian Teaching Standards; Multigrade Quality Indicators in Southeast Asia; K to 12 Regional Comparison in Southeast Asia and published at the International Encyclopedia of Education under Elsevier London to name a few.
Dr Valenzuela holds Doctor of Education in Educational Management at De La Salle University, MA in Science Education at the Philippine Normal University and Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education major in English and General Science. She is a Career Executive Service Officer (CESO IV) in the Philippine Government and a member of various international professional and academic organizations including the Phi Lambda Theta Honor Society of Women Leaders in Education and the Phi Delta Kappa. She was awarded as Philippine Normal University’s Blue Ribbon Award for Distinguished Alumni in 2013, and a World Bank Fellow in Multilingual Education.
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