Scientific representation

Pia Marie Albano, Ph.D. is a researcher specializing in molecular diagnostics and infrared (IR) spectroscopy for cancer detection. She earned her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Manila, Philippines, conducting her dissertation research at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany, under a Ph.D. Sandwich Program. She later received a DAAD Research Fellowship at Ruhr University Bochum’s Centre for Protein Diagnostics (PRODI), where she explored AI-enhanced IR spectroscopy and imaging for breast cancer classification.

Currently a faculty member at UST’s Department of Biological Sciences and a University Researcher at the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, Dr. Albano leads government- and industry-funded projects utilizing Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for cancer diagnostics. Her work focuses on integrating AI with spectral analysis to improve the detection and classification of various cancers. Through her research, she aims to develop cost-effective, accessible diagnostic tools while mentoring future scientists.