With 30 years of experience in public health, Dr. John Q. Wong was well aware of the potential of research to contribute to reforms in the Philippine health sector. With significant increases in the Department of Health budget and the membership of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and with the advent of an ambitious universal health care agenda, sound research is needed more than ever to inform government decisions in the pursuit of equitable universal health care and better population health.

Together with three of his mentees from the Health Sciences Program from Ateneo de Manila University, they built an organization that became a space to nurture aspiring public health professionals and to grow local technical expertise – all the while influencing local health policy with relevant and quality research. Later on, Dr. Wong invited a young economist to join the team.

Thus, on 29 June 2015, EpiMetrics, Inc. was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines and Dr. John Wong and his team set out to make his vision of attaining equity through research.