Annual International Research Colloquium between Ehime University (EU) and De La Salle University (DLSU) “Recent trends in biological control: Interdisciplinary approaches for vector-borne diseases and agricultural pest management.”

The Annual International Research Colloquium between Ehime University (EU) and De La Salle University (DLSU) with the theme “Recent trends in biological control: Interdisciplinary approaches for vector-borne diseases and agricultural pest management.” was held on February 20, 2024 at the 2nd floor, Room 212 of General Research Building No. 2, Johoku campus, Ehime University. It was organized by the EU-DLSU International Collaborative Research Laboratory (ICRL) with the physical address in De La Salle University (DLSU), Laguna Campus and the Molecular Ecology and Health (MECOH) Laboratory of Ehime University. The symposium was sponsored by the Leading Academia in Marine and Environment Pollution Research (LaMer). It was attended by 21 participants, 3 and 18 from DLSU and EU, respectively. The participants were mainly from the MECOH laboratory members. There were three speakers from the De La Salle University (DLSU).  

The symposium convened professors, researchers and graduate students of the two universities and to exchange research results from the research activities conducted at the ICRL and MECOH laboratories. The objective of the symposium was to present and discuss the current technological and interdisciplinary research advances from ecological, biochemical, molecular, and computational approaches to develop or improve biological control strategies. The three presentations covered biological control of viral, microbial, and insect pests in agriculture, natural resources, and urban environments. The symposium highlighted the importance of biological control as an environmentally sound and effective means for reducing or mitigating pests and pest effects through the use of biologically based technologies.  

Dr. Kozo Watanabe, CMES Professor, delivered the welcome remarks.

​Open forum after the presentations of the three speakers.

​Dr. Divina Amalin, CENSER Director, DLSU presented the topic on the “Biological Control Approaches in the Management of Pests of Some High Value Crops in the Philippines”

Mr. Kris Lord Santos, Senior Research Specialist, BCRU-DLSU, presented the topic “Chemical Ecology and Biological Control: Applications in the Control of Insect Pests of Medical and Agricultural Importance" 

​Dr. Ana Karen Laserna, Academic Service Faculty, CIF-DLSU, presented the topic on “Metabolomics as a tool in the assessment of biological control”

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​During the three members from DLSU's stay in Japan from February 19-24, 2024, they had a number of research meetings with MECOH lab members and with Associate Professor Rumi Taue of CMES and Professor Hisato Iwata, Director of LaMer, as well as a visit to Hiroshima Prefecture. The stay was fruitful for further collaboration in the future.