Mark Jaypee Gonzales: SEAOHUN Fellowship — Mapping a Path to One Health Leadership

“It broadened my understanding of One Health and gave me a much bigger, more global perspective.”

Mark Jaypee C. Gonzales was one of SEAOHUN's 2023 Fellows and an instructor at Central Bicol University of Agriculture, a university in the Philippines, before joining the program. Fresh out of a master's degree in veterinary medicine (Public Health) from the University of the Philippines – Los Baños, he was eager to learn beyond his local setting and expand his professional network and experience. Jaypee was matched with the World Organisation for Animal Health's Sub-Regional Representation for South-East Asia (WOAH SRR-SEA).

His first task was building an interactive dashboard to track rabies cases across the region, his introduction to Power BI. Drawing on WOAH's existing notes and data, he worked with the team to complete the map. The dashboard draft debuted at World Rabies Day 2023, then traveled further than Jaypee expected: to the SEAOHUN 2024 International Conference in Chiang Mai, the 17th International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics in Sydney, and to first place at the 1st Philippine One Health Conference in Manila.

He kept building. Jaypee helped design a study estimating the stray dog population in Bali, working alongside mentors, Mission Rabies, and the APCAT initiative. He also contributed to a One Health Training Catalogue for Southeast Asia, coordinating with SEAOHUN's country liaisons to bring the project together. It was later published as a chapter in the One Health Atlas (CABI, 2025).

"This placement taught me to work well in an international team and gave me the tools to handle complex projects," Jaypee said. "It broadened my understanding of One Health and gave me a much bigger, more global perspective."

The fellowship followed him home. He was promoted to Assistant Professor II, and as the university's Director for Research at the time, he advocated for One Health to be made a priority in the university's research policy. Together with early career professionals, he also co-led the 3rd Annual Ecohealth Global Summit, organized with the Network for Ecohealth and One Health. Today, he is regularly invited by government agencies, schools, universities, and communities to serve as a resource person for One Health and animal welfare talks. He also lectures on One Health, zoonoses, and food hygiene at veterinary board review centers, helping graduates prepare for their licensure exam, and works with JoVE, an international journal that connects him to researchers across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

For Jaypee, the fellowship's value reaches well past his own career. "The clearest proof this program works is what happens after fellows go home," he said. "It doesn't just train one person. It sends that person back with new knowledge, new connections, and new values, and they carry all of that into their own institutions and communities."

That is the outcome SEAOHUN set out to build when it launched the Fellowship: a stronger, more connected One Health workforce across Southeast Asia, and a network of universities and professionals working together across human, animal, and environmental health. Jaypee's placement, and the work it produced, is one direct result of that goal. It is also one of 31 fellowship placements SEAOHUN has supported since 2014, across all seven member countries.

His advice for the next person considering the fellowship is simple. "I encourage you to apply," Jaypee said. "Believe in yourself and the experience you bring, and stay open to learning from others."