Fe del Mundo is the first woman and the only female at the time admitted as a student of the Harvard Medical School.
Ms del Mundo founded the first paediatric hospital in the Philippines, known to many as The Children’s Medical Center. The hospital was inaugurated in 1957 and it expanded in 1966 through the establishment of an Institute of Maternal and Child Health, the first institution of its kind in Asia that trains doctors and nurses.
Her pioneering work in infectious diseases and paediatrics in the Philippines won her international recognition, including the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for Outstanding Service to Mankind, handed in 1966 by Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the citation as Outstanding Pediatrician and Humanitarian by the International Pediatric Association and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1977.
In 1980, she was the first woman to be conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines and in 2010, she was conferred the order of Lakandula.
Ms del Mundo was still active in her practice of pediatrics until 1990s.
She died in August 2011 after suffering cardiac arrest and was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
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