RECOGNIZED in 2025 as among the world’s leading scientists in rheumatology, a UST professor credits lupus research, “patient-first” teaching, and a homegrown fellowship program for the recognition.
Prof. Sandra Navarra of the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery earned a spot in the world’s top 2% scientists in rheumatology and arthritis, according to a global ranking released by Stanford University and academic publisher Elsevier.
She placed 169,887th overall, with 116 publications and 1,060 citations to her name.
For Navarra, who has devoted more than four decades to rheumatology education and research, the recognition is not a personal achievement but a reflection of shared effort among her mentors, colleagues, and students.
“It just plucked me out of my comfort zone to train in internal medicine,” Navarra told the Varsitarian, recalling how her late mentor Dr. Roberto Anastacio encouraged her to specialize.
Navarra initially considered careers in business and music before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the Philippine Women’s University and ultimately pursuing medicine.
She later pursued additional science units to qualify for medical school at UST, where she eventually joined the faculty after completing her residency in internal medicine.
Under the guidance of the dean, Prof. Emeritus Tito Torralba, an internationally recognized rheumatologist, and department chair Dr. Sol Alvarez, Navarra pursued the field that would later define her career.
Working closely with Torralba, Navarra often managed his clinic, attending to patients whenever the dean’s full schedule kept him from doing so.
Their collaboration led to the establishment of one of the country’s first rheumatology fellowship programs at the UST Hospital, launched alongside a similar initiative at the Philippine General Hospital in the mid-1980s.
Navarra became among the first rheumatology fellows from 1985 to 1988, formalizing what she had learned under Torralba’s mentorship.
“I saw the variety of cases in rheumatology, and that makes [it] very unique. Rheumatology is very, very broad, and that made it even more interesting,” she said.
Navarra found her life’s work in lupus, an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs, affecting the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, and heart.
She described lupus as “fascinating and intimidating,” emphasizing the need to simplify its complexity for both medical students and patients.
“No two lupus patients are ever the same, even if they share the same diagnosis,” she said.
“It can be intimidating, and you will have to present it [in a] simple way, not just to the medical students, but to the patients.”
Motivated to make the field more accessible, Navarra developed “Applied Rheumatology Made Simple” (A.R.M.S.), an educational framework that simplifies the diagnosis and management of rheumatic diseases into four categories: ambulatory rheumatology, arthritis-rash syndromes, chronic rheumatic diseases, and serious rheumatic diseases.
This approach seeks to provide effective treatment guidelines for both specialists and general practitioners.
Her pioneering lupus research began after recognizing the lack of local data on Filipino patients. Through a collaboration with Imperial College London, Navarra initiated studies on lupus genetics and patient profiles using samples from UST Hospital.
The partnership — one of the first of its kind in the country — helped establish the Philippines’s presence in global rheumatology research.
In 2014, her paper titled “Treat-to-target in systemic lupus erythematosus: recommendations from an international task force,” which outlined clinical goals for managing lupus, was published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
“We really started from scratch. I had no background, but there were people who were working for me. Because if I come to think of it, it’s not about me, it’s about other people who helped me get to where I am,” she said.
Navarra said the greatest lessons came not from textbooks but from her patients.
“The patient is always the best teacher, not the books,” she said. “We are doctors for the patient. Kung walang pasyente, wala din namang doktor.”
Now marking her 40th year at UST, Navarra continues to mentor young physicians, advocate for lupus awareness, and inspire the next generation of Thomasian doctors.
“Always put every patient at center stage,” she said. “Go for it, trust the road, and look for your purpose in life.” With reports from Marielle F. Pesa
