Pinoy awarded PhD scholarship in Australia

Former UP Assistant Professor in Anthropology, Richard Jonathan O. Taduran, was recently awarded a postgraduate scholarship at the University of Adelaide in Australia. He is now pursuing Doctoral Studies in the field of Craniofacial Biology. Taduran is the only Filipino to ever formally specialize in this field.
 
The very rarefied field is a multidisciplinary melange of applied bio-ethical, medical, anthropological, odontological and forensic research, covering key molecular, cellular, and anatomical processes, development, remodelling, evolution and disease, giving an integrated view of the mouth, head, face and neck as a system.
 
Richard Jonathan O. Taduran with noted broadcaster Cheche Lazaro. St Jamestown News Service
 "It is basically skull science," Taduran simplified and continued, "as a Forensic Anthropologist, specializing in Craniofacial Biology will further develop my knowledge and skills in human identification."
 
Taduran is also the only Filipino to formally study the unique field of Forensic Anthropology at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom. He is now working on his dissertation, which aims to derive new methodologies and formulae that can be used as primary tools for sex determination and ancestry estimation of children's remains in forensic and disaster cases. He is confident about his research because of Adelaide, Australia's large collection of records, he explained, "that would enable scientists like me to elucidate the contributions of genetic, epigenetic and environmental influences to variation in craniofacial features."
 
Taduran admits that his specialization can be very helpful to any country in the world, as the development and advancement in forensic sciences has been gaining prominence in terms of solving criminal cases and assisting in dealing with natural disasters. In the Philippines, disasters like the recent typhoon Haiyan and forensic and human rights cases, like the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, who are still missing as of this writing, can benefit from his field of study.
 
Taduran is the son of Toronto-based Journalist  Joaquin (Jojo) Taduran Jr., who hopes that Richard would eventually practice his specialization in Canada after he completes his PhD. — St Jamestown News Service

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