The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM; ) is a state-funded research university located in Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It is known for being the country's center of excellence in the health sciences, including health professional education, training, and research. It is the oldest of eight constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System, even predating the founding of UP by three years. Originally established on December 1, 1905, as the Philippine Medical School and later called as the UP College of Medicine and Surgery on June 10, 1907. It was renamed as University of the Philippines Manila in 1983. UP Manila administers and operates the Philippine General Hospital, the largest medical center and the national referral center for health in the Philippines. The university is also the home of the National Institutes of Health that led early COVID-19 testing and conducts health research in various fields. Its 14-hectare campus occupies two large city blocks and it contains pre-war heritage buildings and structures built during the American Period designed by American Architect William E. Parsons, which were declared by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines as historical landmarks. Since 2001, the College of Medicine and the College of Nursing has been recognized as Centers of Excellence by the Commission on Higher Education. Its Clinical, Pre-Clinical, and Health subjects was ranked 126-150th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings while the life sciences and medicine programs of the University of the Philippines System placed 401-450th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject Area. History Philippine Medical School On December 1, 1905, the Philippine Medical School was established under Commonwealth Act No. 1415. It opened on June 10, 1907, and was housed at the School for the Deaf and Blind located on Malecon Drive (now Bonifacio Drive). On June 18, 1908, the Philippine Assembly passed the Act No. 1870, also known as the University Charter, marking the birth of the University of the Philippines. The Act renamed the Philippine Medical School as the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and Surgery. The control and management of the medical school was entrusted to the University of the Philippines Board of Regents on December 8, 1910. Its name was shortened to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine on March 1, 1923. UP opened its doors in 1909 with the School of Fine Arts, the College of Liberal Arts,