Dr. Mohamad NorTaufiq Nor Hashim is a scholar specializing primarily in Malay etymology, with further expertise in Malay language and culture, and the history of the Malay language. He obtained his PhD in Malay Linguistics from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 2022, after completing a Master of Arts in 2018 and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 2017, also in Malay Linguistics at USM. His research explores the intersections of etymology, language, culture, and history, and he has published academic works in these areas. Together with lecturers from Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), he co-developed Easy Malay, an interactive smart application designed to support Chinese learners in acquiring Malay vocabulary more effectively. His international academic experience includes serving as a Lecturer at Xi’an International Studies University (2020–2025), Yunnan University (2021–2023), and Tianjin Foreign Studies University (2019–2020), as well as a Visiting Lecturer at Yunnan Uniasia International Education Center (2023). Beyond academia, he also worked as Public Relations (PR) at the Malaysia Chamber of Commerce (MAYCHAM) Xi’an, China (2024–2025), where he contributed to strengthening bilateral and academic collaborations between Malaysia and China.

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.

Lik-Voon Kiew obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biopolymer Technology and Therapeutics from the Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. His research interests and expertise are in the development of nano-sized complexes and particles for anticancer and organ-selective drug delivery and therapy. He also evaluates synthetic and bioactive compounds/materials for toxicity, physiology impact and disease treatment efficacy. He also assesses the acute and chronic impacts of intravenous administration of nano-drug-carriers and nanotherapeutics to the cardiovascular physiology of rats using radio-telemetry techniques. He has 22 years of research experience in nanomedicine and pharmacology, and has published over 65 research manuscripts and graduated 10 PhD students and 6 MSc students. He has also been appointed previously as the visiting Associate Professor to the National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan (2020) and visiting scientist to the Principe Felipe Research Centre, Valencia, Spain (2014). Kiew is currently a Professor and the Head of the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia. He is also a Jointly-Appointed Professor of the College of Engneering Bioscience, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), Taiwan. He has 15 years of experience as a pharmacologist and pharmacology educator, and has been appointed previously as the external examiner (Pharmacology) for the (i)  Second Professional Bachelor of Dental Surgery Examination 2021/2022, International Medical University, Malaysia, (ii) Second Professional Examination 2020/2021, Bachelor of Dentistry, National University of Malaysia (UKM), (iii) Second Professional Examination 2019/2020, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, Penang International Dental College-MASHA University, Malaysia, (iv) Pre-Clinical Professional Examination, Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program, Quest International University Perak, Malaysia (2019); the internal examiner for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery program and the Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS/UMMP) program, University of Malaya, Malaysia; a PhD thesis examiner for the National University of Singapore (2021) and the University of Nottingham Malaysia (2019), and an independent assessor for the Academic Promotion Exercise of Monash University Malaysia (2021-2022). He is also the Deputy head (Asia Pacific Region), Internationalization Unit, Faculty of Medicine; and the Protem Head, Centre of Excellence for Innovative Medical Devices, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. In the research community, Kiew serves as an International Committee of the Controlled Release Society (CRS, 2019 - 2022), a committee member for the (i) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 229 / Work Group 3 (ISO/TC 229/WG 03) "Health, Safety and Environmental Aspects of Nanotechnologies", and (ii) Technical Committee TC15 - Nanotechnologies (Work Group 3 - Safety and Health), Department of Standards Malaysia, Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia (2019 – present), a member of The Ministry of Education Malaysia Research Fund Evaluation Committee (2019-2020), a committee member of the Malaysian Local Chapter of the Controlled Release Society (MyCRS), and a scholarship panellist for the Human Life Advancement Foundation (2016-2017, 2019-2020). He s also an editor for the Journal of Health and Translational Medicine (2017- present), a guest editor for the Journal of Drug Delivery and Translational Research (2018), and a manuscript reviewer for Theranostics, Nanomedicine NBM, the Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology, RSC Advances, International Journal of Nanomedicine, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, Journal of Photochemistry & Photobiology A: Chemistry, Journal of Materials Chemistry B and BMC Nephrology.