Before working in ADB’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, she received her BS degree in business economics and MA in economics from the University of the Philippines. Before joining ADB as a staff member in 2000, she was consultant to an ADB cross-country poverty study and was a research associate at various institutions, working on projects on public health policy, local government decentralization and international trade. She is co-editor of the book Governance in Developing Asia: Public Service Delivery and Empowerment with Anil Deolalikar and Shikha Jha and is part of the team that produces the Asian Development Outlook, ADB’s flagship biannual publication.