Imee Su Martinez, PhD, a professor at the UP Diliman (UPD) Institute of Chemistry is the new chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
According to the Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands Facebook page, “Martinez was elected during the 38th session of the OPCW-SAB held from May 27 to 31 at the OPCW headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Martinez will assume the position beginning 2025.”
OPCW, according to its website, “is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.” Composed of 193 member states, the organization’s mission is to achieve a world free of chemical weapons.
On the other hand, the SAB “is an OPCW subsidiary body that enables the director-general to render specialized advice in science and technology to the conference, executive council, or state parties to the convention.”
Martinez is the current vice chairperson of the OPCW-SAB. She also serves as UP assistant vice president for academic affairs (Internationalization) and director of the Office of International Linkages.
Specializing in physical and surface chemistry, Martinez obtained her PhD in chemistry from the University of Houston in Texas, USA in 2010 under the Robert Welch Foundation Research Fellowship. She was a post-doctoral fellow (2010-2011) at the Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University-Evanston.