UP Diliman prof and noted food scientist dies at 39

UP Diliman professor and noted food scientist Alonzo A. Gabriel, PhD., has died on Tuesday, March 31, due to complications from cancer. He was 39.

Gabriel was a full professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the College of Home Economics, who obtained his PhD. in Bio-functional Science and Technology from the Hiroshima University in Japan.

He served as president of the Philippine Society for Microbiology, Inc. (PSMI), which announced the unfortunate news on its Facebook page. 

"A life well lived. Sir Al will be greatly missed," it said in its tribute.

Gabriel has greatly contributed in food sciences. According to the UP Diliman website, a 2014 research study of his “provided food manufacturers with scientific bases on how to safely process juice and food products. His study helped in implementing the Food Safety Act of 2013.”

Gabriel was a member of various international professional societies including the Saint Gallen of Japan, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Germany, and the International Association for Food Protection in the USA. He served as 

He’s been recognised with a slew of awards including the 2017 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipino award, the 2016 DOST Outstanding Research Development Award for Applied Research, and the 2014 Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) of the World from the Junior Chamber International (JCI), for which the Senate of the Philippines honored him through Senate Resolution No. 875.

May he rest in peace. — LA, GMA News