The USC Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc (OPS) hosted Dr. Peter Azzopardi and Dr. Marie Habito from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) of Melbourne, Australia on June 24–25, 2025.
The visit was in line with the Australia Awards Fellowship “Driving Responsive Actions for Adolescent Health in the Philippines Utilizing Local Data” granted to MCRI and OPS. This grant is a prestigious development cooperation window funded by the Australian Government that supports work in submitting papers for publication in international journals using data from Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child (LCSFC).
The LCSFC is a national study, implemented by OPS, that tracks the lives of Filipinos as they transition from childhood to young adulthood during the implementation period of the Sustainable Development Goals (2016–2030).
Aside from the OPS Research team, the grant fellows (see above photo) include the LCSFC research collaborators from the University of San Carlos (Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History, Department of Economics, Department of Psychology), University of the Philippines Population Institute, University of the Philippines Cebu, and the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture at Xavier University. The grant includes two writing workshop rounds in Melbourne (in February and September, 2025) and the June 24–25 workshop in Cebu.
Dr. Azzopardi and Dr. Habito were also speakers in a public seminar “Driving Action in Adolescent Health: Key Recommendations from the Second Lancet Commission” held at the Kabilin Center on June 25, 2025. This seminar was organized by OPS and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI). Dr. Azzopardi, one of the Lancet Commissioners, presented key findings from the Second Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing (published on May 31, 2025).
The First Lancet Commission (2016) called attention to adolescence as a largely neglected period in the life course by the global health community. The Second Commission, on the other hand, highlights recommendations for advancing adolescent health and wellbeing amidst new developments in this changing world. Among these are increasing concerns for mental health, rapid changes in the digital environment, and the widening of armed conflicts.
Dr. Habito also discussed the role of youth engagement in achieving the goals set by the Second Commission, particularly in having the youth define their problems and propose ways of addressing these. She also presented initial efforts at building youth hubs across Southeast Asia for these purposes.
by USC Office of Population Studies Inc.