Advisor, Research for Impact Singapore

● Diplomas:

● BA Political Science (University of the Philippines, Diliman) (2007)
● MSc Asian Studies (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) (2012)

● Biography:

Gayle is Advisor and Chief Communications Officer at Research for Impact, a Singapore-based social enterprise which aims to make research and evaluation accessible, inclusive, and transformative for social and economic development policy and practice in Asia. Gayle is currently a PhD student (Global Health track) at the University of Geneva's Institute of Global Health. She holds an MSc in Asian Studies from RSIS (2012) and a BA in Political Science (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines, Diliman (2007). She was Research Fellow for the Advancing Tobacco Taxation in Southeast Asia project supported by the IDRC and Cancer Research UK (2019-2021), and Senior Researcher for a research project on “Strengthening Pack Warnings on Tobacco Products in the Philippines,” funded by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) titled (2020-2021), at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government. She also serves as a Board Member of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance, and Secretary of the Asia Pacific Alcohol Policy Alliance. She was Research Associate at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy from September 2015 to September 2020. She was part of the consulting team for the ASEAN Secretariat's 2015 report on the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Scorecard. She was also Senior Analyst at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) from 2012-2015. She served as a Student Research Analyst in the US Programme of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at RSIS. Prior to that, she was Research Officer at the Department of National Defense in the Philippines. She has also taught at the University of Philippines and De La Salle University (Lipa); and assisted on research projects on human security and the MDGs and a policy review project on the Mining Act and the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act in the Philippines, supported by the UNDP. She has published peer-reviewed journal articles and commentaries on alcohol and tobacco control in the Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, International Journal of Health Policy and Management, Global Health Governance Journal, the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, the Lancet and Lancet Global Health. She is also a collaborator in the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation's Global Burden of Disease Study.

• Why is this PhD important for you (for your career, organization or country)

Pursuing this PhD was rooted in my previous policy research in alcohol and tobacco control in Southeast Asia and more deeply from promoting evidence-based advocacies for alcohol and tobacco control in the region. Its importance lies in my goal as a researcher-advocate to contribute to the evidence base for effective alcohol and tobacco control policies not only in Southeast Asia but to the broader Asia Pacific where more countries and communities are gradually being exposed to health harmful industries’ strategies and tactics that influence commercial determinants of health in the region.

• Why did you choose our PhD?

The unique structure of the PhD in Global Health track at the Institute of Global Health offers the flexibility for a PhD student that allows me to continue pursuing my research career, to work full-time while doing the PhD. As a researcher from the Global South privileged enough to work and study in the Global North (Singapore and Switzerland), the costs of the PhD program (tuition, course fees, travel and accommodation expenses for seasonal schools) was also part of the considerations in choosing the PhD in Global Health track. While I am not attached to any research project under the University, being a self-funded PhD researcher offers me the opportunity to independently define and shape my PhD project without constraints that come with research grants or external research funding.