A scientist. A mother. A woman who led with quiet strength.

By Dr. Melody Garcia

A Legacy of Strength and Purpose
In the von Seyfried family, strength, wisdom, and grace are more than qualities—they are a legacy passed from one generation to the next. Emmy Von Seyfried, a trailblazing scientist and devoted mother, has spent decades shaping lives with quiet courage, integrity, and excellence. Her daughter, Krystal von Seyfried, carries that legacy forward with her own light—as Miss Asia 2024, a model, and a passionate advocate for Filipino heritage, culture, and faith.
Together, they embody a lineage of influence that is measured not by spotlight or fame, but by impact, purpose, and the lives they touch. From the lab to the runway, from personal discipline to public advocacy, the von Seyfrieds show that true power is quiet, steadfast, and enduring.

She is not a household name by celebrity standards. But walk the halls of UCLA’s scientific labs, and you will hear her name spoken with reverence. Emmy Von Seyfried, Filipina scientist, matriarch, and medical trailblazer, has spent 28 years quietly transforming the lives of patients, colleagues, and the future her daughter now walks into.

This is the story of a woman who never sought the spotlight yet landed on the cover of Manila Up! magazine. A woman who fought for dignity with diplomacy and served in silence while making a lasting impact in science. A woman whose daughter, though absent from this interview, speaks volumes through the life she leads. A daughter who chooses to live in her mother’s backyard, away from celebrity hills, grounded in something deeper: admiration and choice.

I sat down with Emmy for a heart-centered conversation, weaving her career milestones with personal truths. What emerged was not just a professional chronicle but a life story marked by courage, shaped by humility, and carried forward through legacy.

Before the lab coat and accolades, who was Emmy and what moment sparked your journey into science? “Even as a child in the Philippines, I knew I would work in medicine but not as a doctor. I was always drawn to the research side, to the why behind the illness. I came from a large family with six siblings and a father who was a lawyer. Excellence was the norm, but curiosity was mine.”

Her early path was anything but conventional. Emmy began in pharmaceutical sales, finding herself more at ease with scientific conversations than boardroom pitches. It was not until she moved to the United States that her career truly began, although it started with cultural shock and a deeply humbling restart. “I went from private transportation in the Philippines to waiting at bus stops in Los Angeles,” she says with a knowing smile. “But I always knew the detour wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning disguised as difficulty.”

What did working at UCLA Hospital teach you about life and your place in it?

In 1994, Emmy landed a coveted position at UCLA, where she would serve nearly three decades. It was a world of precision, pressure, and power hierarchies.

“I started by working two jobs just to build credibility. Being a Filipina woman in science, you fight invisible wars, assumptions, underestimation, exclusion. But I learned early on to build relationships with everyone from janitors to CEOs.”

It was there that she learned how to challenge authority with professionalism. Emmy once stood up to a superior who tried to humiliate her publicly via email. Her calm but bold response, sent to the same group he copied, was not just self-defense. It was a masterclass in dignity. That manager was later terminated, not solely because of her complaint but because she had the courage to speak where others had stayed silent.

As a mother and scientist, how do you balance logic and emotion?

“You learn patience in both roles because someone’s life, whether it’s your child’s or a patient’s, is in your hands in some form.”

Her greatest challenge was not in the lab but at home.

Emmy: “When I was in immunology, I had to catch myself. Stress from work doesn’t deserve to be poured onto a child. I had to learn the difference between reacting and responding.”

Though her daughter declined a formal interview, her quiet presence speaks loudly. In a rare moment of reflection, Emmy shared a conversation they once had while her daughter was baking late at night. Daughter (as recalled by Emmy): “You always made it look easy, Mom. I never said it back then, but I noticed everything.”

Emmy’s eyes glisten at the memory.

Emmy: “She told me that I never let work take away her worth. That I was present even when I was tired. That hit me hard. You don’t always know what your children are absorbing, but they remember who showed up.”

What is your proudest, least-known accomplishment?

“I was nominated for a Clinical Scientist award, which was a big deal. No one in our department had ever received it. When Manila Up! put me on the cover, it was posted on UCLA’s bulletin board. My peers and my bosses were so proud. But the real joy was that my daughter saw it.”

Though her daughter did not pursue a career in science, Emmy speaks of her often with pride and tender reverence.

“She didn’t follow my path in science. She found her own. Baking is her love. But even there, she honors me in precision, in measurements, in how she manages her rental properties, and in how she speaks multiple languages with grace.”

What do you want your daughter to inherit not just in assets, but in essence?

“Integrity. Precision. Compassion. And the truth that you don’t have to be loud to be powerful.”

Her daughter now owns two properties, chooses to live in her mother’s property with her own bachelorette pad built for her, instead of a Hollywood Hill to be surrounded by celebrities, and has grown into a quiet strength that mirrors Emmy’s own legacy.

Emmy (softly, almost to herself): “She could live anywhere. But she chose here. That says more than any interview ever could.” What keeps your curiosity alive today? “Innovation doesn’t mean breaking rules. It means bending toward relevance without losing your moral compass. Accuracy matters. Sincerity matters. Never think you’re irreplaceable but act like your work is.”

You have seen life enter and exit the world in your lab work. What moment changed you forever?

“Telling someone they found an organ match and in the same breath, telling another family their loved one didn’t make it. That moment of contradiction. That was when I knew this work was sacred.”

If someone wrote your story 50 years from now, what do you hope they say about you—not your achievements, but your character? “That I was resilient. That I broke the stigma around what people think Filipinas are.

That I was quietly excellent, fiercely kind, and unafraid to speak truth when it counted.”

Legacy in Silence

Emmy Von Seyfried is not loud. She does not boast of her achievements or wear her titles like armor. She does not chase the spotlight, but it finds her anyway. She is the kind of woman whose name is rarely in headlines yet permanently etched in the memories of those she touched.

And perhaps her greatest legacy is not her awards or her tenure, but her daughter, who chooses to stay close. Not out of obligation, but love. A daughter who bakes with precision, manages properties with purpose, and speaks multiple languages, yet never forgets the one language that mattered most: unconditional love.