Dr. Maria Alenor Yaranon-Sunga graduated from MCU College of Medicine in 1986. Her pre-Medicine course BS Biology, was obtained at the University of Santo Tomas in 1982. She served as University Physician in MCU-Mayhaligue and taught Biochemistry at the MCU College of Medicine, before she completed her Post Graduate Residency Training in Internal Medicine at MCU Hospital in 1993, through scholarship from Roche Philippines. She completed her Post graduate residency training in Family Medicine at St. John Hospital Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan in 2006, then they relocated back to California in 2008.

Dr. Yaranon-Sunga co-authored and published three major research works in the US with 163
citations and 1,253 reads worldwide that became the reference materials to other researchscientists and led to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approval of L-glutamine as treatment for Sickle Cell Disease. From 1998-2001, she collaborated with the research team at National Institute of Transplantation in Los Angeles on several research projects involving adult kidney transplant recipients. These collaborations resulted in the issuance of patent for Sang-35, a cyclosporin formulation used in immunosuppression.

Her training in two medical specialties (Internal Medicine and Family Medicine) enabled her to
work with other research institutes in Los Angeles, and eventually established her own
research company.

She recently became a recipient of the Blue Falcon Award, the highest recognition bestowed on an outstanding alumnus of Victorino Mapa High School, which is a highly regarded public high
school in Manila, Philippines.