Dr. Arutchelvan Rajamanikam is a researcher and senior lecturer from the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya (UM). He has been active in understanding the role of highly prevalent protozoan parasite, mainly, Blastocystis sp. in healthy and diseased individuals. Arutchelvan completed his undergraduate studies in the field of Resource Biotechnology in 2010 and ventured into Parasitology during his Masters studies(MMedSc) in University of Malaya (2015). His interest in understanding the interaction and synergism of intestinal parasite and gut microbiome led him to complete his doctoral studies(PhD) in University of Malaya in the year 2019. Arutchelvan currently aims to make use of data analytics and data science to  decipher the gut microbial diversity patterns, metabolic profile and function in understanding health and explore the predictive ability of the gut microbiome for the benefit of preventive medicine. He has currently embarked into various projects relating to gut microbiome in colorectal cancer and mental illness with special reference to parasite with fundings closed to RM 1 million. He also contributes as reviewer for various ISI-indexed journals. Recently he was appointed as a working group member for European Cooperation in Science and Technology action (CA21105). His current research interest includes the host-parasite interaction in Blastocystis sp. and Acanthamoeba sp.

Dr Tengku Sarina Aini Binti Tengku Kasim is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Islamic History, Civilization and Education, Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya. She graduated with a bachelor degree in Islamic Education (BIsEd) in 1996 and a master degree in Education (MEd-Guidance and Counselling) in 2000 from University of Malaya. She then received her PhD in Education from Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand in 2012. Her areas of research interest include Islamic Education (curriculum and psychology), Teacher Education (Islamic Education teaching and learning) and Guidance and Counselling from Islamic perspective. Her research cover topics such as Islamic Education teachers’ professional development, Islamic Educational curriculum development, educational psychology (Islamic perspective), psychosocial development, religiosity and spiritual, moral and ethics etc.

Dr Mohammed Rizman bin Idid is an evolutionary biologist and molecular ecologist, whose scientific research projects mainly focus in providing baseline information on biodiversity and ecology of various terrestrial and marine organisms in Malaysia. His initial research projects were focused on freshwater fishes, before expanding towards the marine and coastal environment investigating jellyfish, marine fungi, and mangroves. These studies employ molecular genetic techniques, such as DNA sequencing of biological resources, species assemblages and communities in natural ecosystems. Elements of DNA barcoding and phylogenetics are utilized for species identification, detection and monitoring that facilitate conservation and management of natural ecosystems. He also applies ‘omics’ technologies to study organismal responses and adaptations to environmental stressors in the context of climate change. He is also considered as a pioneer and authority of jellyfish biodiversity and ecology in Malaysia, thus contributing his expertise towards jellyfish studies in Southeast Asia. He is active in polar research looking into the response and adaptation of climate change on fungi and the phylogenetics of marine and polar fungi. As environmental changes may elicit chemical changes, he is also interested in the bioactivity of compounds derived from fungi and marine organisms. He is currently a senior lecturer attached to the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), Universiti Malaya, where he is the Coordinator for Course Development of Academic Program and IOES Risk Coordinator. In IOES, he previously served as the Head of Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystems Studies Research Unit (2013-2018) and was the Coordinator of Bachok Marine Research Station (2012). He was also Coordinator for Bioinformatics Programme in the Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya (2008-2012). At a national level, he represents the Malaysian Society of Marine Sciences as Executive Committee of the Confederation of Scientific and Technological Associations in Malaysia (2022-2024). He was also President of Malaysian Society of Marine Sciences (2012-2014). Since 2008, he has secured national and international research grants as Principal Investigator and as Co-Investigator totalling to RM 1,205,304 and RM 765,400, respectively. His expertise in the field of jellyfish taxonomy and ecology has earned regional recognition through regular invitations under ‘IOC-Westpac Harmful Jellyfish Workshops’ and as reviewer of international journals. His jellyfish photos have even been immortalised by Pos Malaysia as a postage stamp under Malaysia-Thailand joint issue ‘Marine Creatures’. Being a scuba-diver, he has led several national and internationally organized expedition surveys of marine parks and protected areas in Malaysia. Findings from the 2018 ‘Biodiversity Expedition in Melaka and Negeri Sembilan’ have led to the gazettement of three islands in Melaka as marine protected areas. As a polar fungi scientist, he has contributed towards many workshops and several ‘Malaysian International Symposium on Antarctica’ conferences. He is also a research grant recipient of the Sultan Mizan Antarctic Research Foundation (YPASM). He was Data Deputy Advisor for Ocean Hackathon Kuala Lumpur 2022, organized by the French Embassy, Malaysia.        To date, he has H-index = 10  and published over 40 peer-reviewed articles, 4 books and 6 book chapters, with over 400 citations. He has supervised 4 PhD students and 10 master students to completion and currently oversees 6 ongoing students (2 PhD and 4 MSc).