• Posted on: 18 January 2023

3 UPPI grads pursue PhD in Europe



From L to R: MADEM graduates Ms. Musni, Ms. Cabaraban, and Mr. Afable

Three recent Master of Arts in Demography (MADEM) graduates of the UP Population Institute (UPPI) embark on a new academic journey as they pursue their doctorate degrees in various academic institutions in Europe.

Ms. Denise Hyacinth Joy Musni (Class of 2022) moved to Belgium in November 2022 to study Demography at the Université Catholique de Louvain. Under the supervision of Dr. Christine Schnor, she will be analyzing single motherhood in Belgium.

During her master’s at UPPI, Ms. Musni’s thesis examined the gap between antenatal care and facility-based delivery among Filipino mothers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sanny Boy Afable (Class of 2021) will be leaving in January 2023 to undergo PhD training in population health under the joint initiative of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Under the supervision of Dr. Hill Kulu, Dr. Julia Mikolai, Dr. Mikko Myrskylä, and Dr. Yana Vierboom, Mr. Afable will be working on a project that studies the contribution of adult children to their older parents’ health and survival, including the role of residential proximity.

Mr. Afable was the first recipient of the Loreta Makasiar Sicat Prize for the Social Sciences in 2022 for his MA thesis entitled Demographic Correlates of Late-Life Depression in the Philippines: Exploring Gender Differences.

In the first half of 2022, both Ms. Musni and Mr. Afable, together with MADEM student Jane Siwa, were sent to Belgium for the Erasmus student and staff exchange program between UPPI and the University of Namur.

Finally, starting April 2023, Ms. Karlene Cabaraban (Class of 2022) will be moving to Austria to join the Cognitive Aging in Ageing Society (CHIAS) project as a prae-doc at the Department of Sociology of the University of Vienna. She will be supervised by Dr. Valeria Bordone and Dr. Daniela Weber. CHIAS aims to investigate the link between labor force participation and cognitive aging in Europe and over the life course.

Both studying ageing, Mr. Afable and Ms. Cabaraban’s MA theses also focused on older Filipinos, particularly late-life depression. Mr. Afable investigated, among other things, the association between late-life depression, gender, and intergenerational exchange. Ms. Cabaraban, on the other hand, examined the link between late-life depression and widowhood. For both works, the two received the Josefina V. Cabigon Memorial Scholarship Grant of UPPI.

The UPPI wishes Ms. Musni, Mr. Afable, and Ms. Cabaraban success in their PhD journeys!


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