Debra Si-Mui Sim is currently an honorary professor at the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya.  She obtained her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Liverpool, U.K., before joining the present university as a lecturer in 1984. She retired as a professor in 2018, after 34 years of service. Even after retirement, she is still active in the education field, serving as the principal of Charis international school in Tawau, Sabah.

During her tenure at the University of Malaya, Debra played a pivotal role in the introduction of problem-based learning (PBL) in the university’s MBBS programme in 1999/2000.  She was also instrumental in introducing interprofessional learning (IPL) through her FAIMER project on the training of prescribing skills in medical students, which developed into a module that involves collaborative learning between final-year medical and pharmacy students (since 2008). Just before retirement, she initiated a living-lab study on medicinal wastage. Debra’s research interests include snake venom pharmacology, PBL, IPL, and action research. She has published in both scientific and educational journals and books in the above areas. She has also won several awards (notably the AAN 2016 in Teaching category) for her teaching-learning innovations and research works.