Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora formally joined PCAARRD on February 16, 2015 as its Acting Executive Director after having been formally sworn in by Secretary Mario G. Montejo of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
As PCAARRD’s top executive, Dr. Ebora leads the Philippine National Agriculture and Resources Research System in the formulation of framework, thrusts, and programs for the development of the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources sectors as well as the generation and allocation of funds for this purpose.
Dr. Ebora's current engagement with PCAARRD is enriched with both internal and external involvement with the Council and the science community. As the Executive Director of PCAARRD, he serves as the secretary of the PCAARRD Governing Council, which is considered as the council’s highest policy making body. He has been a member of the Technical Working Groups for the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the United States of America on Scientific and Technological Cooperation – Working Group 3: Biotechnology: Agriculture and Food Security effective 2014, of which PCAARRD is the Chair. Dr. Ebora also chaired the Science and Technology Coordinating Council-Committee on Space Technology Applications (STCC-COSTA) and Inter-Agency Committee from 2007 to 2010. Furthermore, Dr. Ebora is also a member of the member of the National Research Council of the Philippines, Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science, Biotechnology Association of the Philippines, Inc. (BAPI), and other professional and socio-cultural organizations.
Having served as Deputy Director in 1996, Acting Director from 1999 to 2000, and Director from 2010 to 2015 at the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB-BIOTECH), Dr. Ebora was instrumental in the commercialization and technology transfer of BIOTECH’s products. Most notable of such products are the biofertilizers Bio N TM, which is widely adopted by the Department of Agriculture in its organic farming program and the Mykovam TM, which is adopted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in its National Greening Program.
From 2005 to 2010, Dr. Ebora served as the Executive Director of the then DOST’s Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development of the DOST (DOST-PCASTRD).
Dr. Ebora has developed several technologies which were protected either by patents or trademarks. These intellectual properties include the E. Coli DAS kit and the Salmonella DAS kit for the detection of the E. coli and Salmonella in food, water, beverage, and feeds. He has led or presented over 100 scientific and technical papers related to biotechnology majority of which were published in scientific journals and books.
Dr. Ebora was bestowed with multiple awards, such as the Outstanding Science Administrator Award (Dioscoro Umali Medal) given by the National Academy of Science and Technology and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as well as the Outstanding Technology Commercialization Award (Gregorio Y. Zara Medal) given during the National Science and Technology Week 2014 and 2013, respectively. He is also the recipient of the University of the Philippines President’s Awards for Academic Distinction (International Publication Award) in 2003 and the Most Outstanding Alumnus in Entomology for the year 2004, given by the Lopez National Comprehensive High School (LNCHS).
Dr. Ebora obtained his BS Agriculture degree major in Entomology and Master’s degree in Entomology from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. He completed his PhD in Entomology at the Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA. He also completed an International Post Graduate University Course in Microbiology at Osaka University in Osaka, Japan and his post-graduate studies as Visiting Fellow on Intellectual Property Management/Technology Transfer at the Internal Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) AmeriCenter/ Department of Plant Breeding, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA.