Lourdes M. Portus
Lourdes M. Portus is an educator and researcher that focuses on health, education, and communications. She is a Professor at the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines and serves as the Special Assistant to the President of the said university[2]. She graduated with a Degree in Social Sciences and took up units in the Master of Arts in Community Development[1]. However, she acquired her Master of Arts in Communication in 1999 and completed the Doctor of Philosophy in Communication in 2005[1]. She has affiliations with the Philippines Communication Society wherein she was President, the National Research Council of the Philippines, and the Asian Media Information Center as a member[1]. In addition, she was the former secretary of the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE), CMC Foundation, Inc., and CMC Alumni Association[1]. In connection with this, she is still a member of the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE) and CMC Alumni Association despite her resignation from her previous administrative post[1]. In addition, she served as the former executive director of the ASEAN Academic and Civil Society Network[1].
With her background and expertise, she has notable contributions through her articles published in refereed journals. She mainly specializes in qualitative communication research and has a wide field of interest[2]. She has ventured on discussing in her papers her interest on Health related issues such as Dengue, Reproductive Health, and HIV[1]. Accordingly, she is adept at studying health risk communication proven by her articles entitled, “Health Risk Communication” funded by World Health Organization, and “Experiencing A(H1n1): Health Risk Communication in the Philippines” published in 2011[1]. However, her interest also involves other issues such as Poverty, ICT literacy, and media. For instance, she released articles entitled, “How the Urban Poor Acquire and Give Meaning to the Mobile Phone” in 2008 and “Cultural and Media Practices on Health and Family Planning of Selected Urban Poor Communities” which addresses the needs of the minority[3].
[1] Lourdes M. Portus. University of the Philippines, Open University. (2018, July 26).
[2] Portus, Lourdes M. Plaridel Journal. (2016, February 3).
