Associate Professor Dr. Yong Adilah Binti Shamsul Harumain is an academic leader in transportation planning and a leading researcher on women’s mobility in Southeast Asia at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya. Her expertise stems from extensive research, policy engagement, and long-standing international collaborations with partners in Japan, Indonesia, Korea, the United Kingdom, and South Asia. She is currently the Coordinator of the Dual PhD Programme, having previously served as Coordinator for the Master by Research Programme (2022).

At Universiti Malaya, she plays a significant leadership role as Deputy Head of the Centre of Sustainable Planning and Real Estate (Research Centre) and Deputy Head (Pro-tem) of the Smart Mobility Centre of Excellence, while also contributing as a member of the JK Penasihat MRT Universiti Malaya and the Faculty QS World University Rankings Task Force. Her academic supervision spans ten PhD candidates, with research themes including transportation planning, women’s mobility, safe city initiatives, urban design, and inclusive urban planning.

Beyond the university, Associate Professor Dr. Adilah was appointed as a Public Hearing Committee Member for the Kuala Lumpur Draft Local Plan (PTKL 2040) under the Ministry of Federal Territories and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), reflecting her trusted role in national-level planning deliberations and policy review. She is a mentee of the Asia-Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) Program under the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), engaging in regional leadership development and mentoring women in academia. She is also a mentee of the Women Leadership Foundation Programme and recently involved with AKEPT (Higher Education Leadership Academy), contributing to leadership development, governance discourse, and capacity-building initiatives aligned with strengthening academic leadership and institutional excellence in Malaysia’s higher education sector.

Dr. Adilah is recognised for her pioneering and community-centred research. She led the first Malaysian exploration of the Machinoeki (Hentian Komuniti) concept in Taiping, inspired by Japanese community infrastructure traditions. This work earned her the Sumitomo Foundation Research Grant twice (2016; 2021), including support for her flagship Safe City for Children initiative. Her international research leadership is further demonstrated through the AHRC–UKRI Research Networking Grant (2018), facilitating collaboration with Coventry University (UK), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and DesignPAK (Pakistan) on barriers to women’s mobility. Recently she was awarded a grant from the British Council and SEAMEO-Rihed working on projects related to women leadership in collaboration with University of Gadjah Mada and University of West England at Bristol. She is also now working with Majlis Bandaraya Kuantan on understanding the persona of the elderly at the Temporary Relief Centre during disaster with Dr Nik Elyna Myeda and Dr Nur Aulia Rosni and on urban farming and community farming with Associate Professor Dr Nikmatul Adha Nordin. 

She actively integrates empirical findings into undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, ensuring their relevance to real-world urban challenges. Her applied work includes close collaboration with the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, community empowerment programs, and advisory roles with the Ministry of Federal Territories, particularly in flood mitigation and urban resilience. She has also secured and contributed to numerous competitive grants, including UMCARES, the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), and the Integrated Research Grant (IIRG) involving cross-faculty collaboration with Engineering and Medicine on active transportation and public health. She authored 2 books, Mobiliti Pengangkutan Wanita and Children in the Built Environment and many other chapters in books. 

Her recent accolades include the SATU Grant, supporting collaboration with National Cheng Kung University, IIT Roorkee, and Universiti Sains Malaysia, and the ASEAN University Alliance (AUA) Scholars Grant (2020/2021) for research on women’s mobility with Universitas Indonesia. She contributes to scholarly governance as an Editor for Universitas Indonesia’s in-house journal, and regularly serves as a reviewer and scientific committee member for international journals, conferences, and research platforms.

Associate Professor Dr. Adilah is an active member of regional and international professional networks, including the APRU Children and Youth Working Group, the Asia-Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) Mentorship Programme, and the Women Leadership Foundation. Professionally, she is a graduate of the Malaysian Institute of Planners, registered with the Board of Town Planners Malaysia, a member of the Transportation Science Society Malaysia, and an affiliate of heritage-focused organisations such as the UM Cultural Heritage Research Centre and the Perak Heritage Society.

Through her interdisciplinary scholarship, policy engagement, and commitment to leadership development, Associate Professor Dr. Yong Adilah Binti Shamsul Harumain exemplifies a forward-thinking academic leader grounded in strong planning traditions. Her work continues to advance inclusive mobility, safe cities, urban heritage, and community-based planning, reflecting Universiti Malaya’s ethos as a Home of the Bright, Land of the Brave.