Dr. Regina “Nina” P. Berba is among the 6 notable individuals awarded as The Outstanding Filipino Physicians (TOFP) for 2022 by the JCI Senate Philippines in collaboration with the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) last 9 February 2023, in Quezon City, Philippines.

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TOFP is an annual search for Filipino doctors who have decided to stay and serve the country with extraordinary impact to Filipino society, leadership in their fields, and remarkable achievements. Since its inception in 2007, it was conceptualized to combat “brain drain” by inspiring future generations through celebrating stories of exemplary service, especially in areas where healthcare matters most.

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Dr. Nina Berba graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM) in 1987. She then pursued her residency in internal medicine from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1994, before coming back to complete a fellowship in Infectious Disease as the Chief Fellow in 1998. She also has a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from the University of the Philippines – Manila, College of Medicine. Today, she continues to pass it forward to future physicians, serving as Professor 3 in the same university.

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In other aspects of her professional career, Dr. Berba had served for over a decade as the head of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Hospital Infection Control Unit (HICU). She led the helm in keeping our health care professionals (HCP) safe during the critical moments of the COVID pandemic – the learnings of which were cascaded to health care institutions nationwide. She serves as a bastion of leadership in professional societies, both as regent of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), an officer of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID), and a past National Chair of the Philippine Coalition against Tuberculosis (PhilCAT). She had also served in the Department of Health through various initiatives and pivotal publications focusing on infection control, antimicrobial stewardship, tuberculosis and HIV-oriented programs. She has multiple publications addressing all levels of readers and audiences, from peer-reviewed journals to lay educational pieces.

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She has been awarded multiple awards through the years, including: UPMAS Most Outstanding in Medical Services Award and UPMAS Most Outstanding Researcher, the Oblation Leadership Award from the PGH, UPAA Distinguished Alumni Award in Health Research and Education, PCP Exemplar for Research & Exemplar for Health Advocacy, Ripple Awards 2019 Individual of the Year Award for HIV advocacy, the Presidential Awards  from PCP, PSMID and PHICS, Gawad Dakilang Babae from the UP Manila Center for Gender & Women Studies, People of the Year 2022 by People Asia, and Most Influential Filipina for Leadership and Thought Innovation Category 2022 by the Filipina Women’s Network.

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At present, she continues to fight for multiple advocacies, academic excellence, and quality care for Filipinos. She is a proud mother of seven and grandmother of two. She loves gardening, BTS, SCUBA diving and exploring the outdoors.

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