Dr. Melbourne Rio Talactac is one of the Outstanding Young Scientist (2020) by the National Academy of Science & Technology and the Outstanding Veterinarian in Education (2020) by the Philippine Veterinary Medical Association. He was also the Philippine Nominee for the APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education “ASPIRE” 2020. His key researches include screening of plant extracts, natural substances and synthetic peptides for their anti-microbial properties. He also ventured on vaccine production against Influenza A virus on mice and evaluated the innate immunity of chickens and mice focusing on Toll-like receptor 4. Currently, he is now involved in detecting economically important diseases in animals like Avian Influenza virus in the coastal areas in Cavite and tick-borne diseases from different animal species. He is presently the Vice-President for Research and Extension of Cavite State University.