Aileen Bongat
Ms. Aileen Fay Bongat obtained her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, Laguna in June 2001. After passing the Philippine Professional Regulatory Commission’s Chemist Licensure exam, she started work as a company chemist for a local drug-testing company. A few months after, her strong inclinations for a career in research took her back to the same University to work as a University Research Associate in a government-funded research project entitled “Biochemical and Chemical Methods for Coconut Fiber Production”, under the supervision of Dr. Veronica Sabularse. Upon the completion of the project, Ms. Bongat entered the Ph. D. program in Chemistry at the University of Missouri – St. Louis with the intention to obtain further training in the field of organic chemistry. She joined Dr. Demchenko’s research group in March 2004.