The UP Population Institute is pleased to share the good news that Ms. Denise Hyacinth Musni (MA Demography 2022) is this year’s winner of the prestigious Loretta Makasiar-Sikat (LMS) Prize for the Social Sciences. The LMS Prize recognizes excellence in research in the social science by Filipino graduate students. Ms. Musni’s MA thesis explored the discontinuity between antenatal care and facility-based delivery among Filipino women based on the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey. Prof. Maria Paz N. Marquez served as her thesis adviser. Ms. Musni is currently a PhD student in Demography at Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.

This is the second time that a UPPI graduate emerged as winner of the LMS Prize. Mr. Sanny B.D. Afable (MA Demography 2021) was the first recipient of the prize in 2022 (see an article based on his MA thesis here) while Ms. Karlene Shawn Cabaraban was a finalist in 2023.

Congratulations Denise!