Dr. Syarida Hasnur Safii is a distinguished academic and clinician specializing in periodontology. She obtained her degree in Dentistry from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2002 and subsequently served as a dental officer with the Ministry of Health Malaysia in Kuantan, Pahang, for four years. In 2006, she joined the Universiti Malaya as a tutor and later pursued her Master of Clinical Dentistry in Periodontology at King’s College London, successfully completing it in 2009. That same year, she was awarded the Membership in Restorative Dentistry from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, further solidifying her expertise. Dr. Safii achieved her PhD at the University of Otago, New Zealand, in 2018, focusing on periodontal research. She currently serves as an associate professor at the Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya, where she is also the Deputy Dean (Clinical Services). In her academic role, she teaches undergraduate dental students and supervises postgraduate students enrolled in the Master of Clinical Dentistry, Master of Dental Science, and PhD programmes. Additionally, she contributes to the development of the curriculum for the Periodontology specialist programme at the Universiti Malaya and other local universities. Her research primarily focuses on periodontal disease and its association with systemic conditions, the use of locally-delivered antimicrobial therapies as adjuncts to scaling and root surface debridement for periodontitis treatment, systematic reviews, and dental education. She has authored numerous publications in peer-reviewed international journals and actively contributes as a reviewer for scholarly manuscripts. Additionally, she holds a position as an editorial board member for BMC Oral Health, reinforcing her commitment to advancing dental research and education.

Dr. Mohd Fairuz Zamani (better known as Fairuz Zamani) is currently attached to the Faculty of Creative Arts, Universiti Malaya (UM) as an academic.His current research interest is within the realm of music compositions by Malaysian contemporary composers and establishing musical frameworks for the works by these composers.  Apart from academic work, Dr. Fairuz writes music for various occasions. He has been a member of the Malaysian Composers Collective since 2022. Under this organization, he premiered Phrygian Fantasy (2023), Kenyalang Rhapsody (2022), and Two Miniatures (2022). During his time with Koir Kebangsaan Malaysia and Permata Seni Koir as the resident arranger, he composed two works commissioned by the Department of Culture and Arts of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MOTAC) - Nuance of Rebab Fantasy (2013) and Mek Mulung Cycle (2018), in addition to countless music arrangements for choir with piano or orchestral accompaniment for various concerts. Dr. Fairuz continues to write choir arrangements for performances and competitions, and many of his arrangements have been sung by national and international award-winning choirs.  Dr. Fairuz is also an active performer and adjudicator. Among notable recent performances were Music of Johan Othman and Razak Aziz (2023), Pini di Roma (2023), and The Carnival of the Animals (2022) with the National Symphony Orchestra of Malaysia, and Beethoven's 250th Birthday Celebration Concert at the German Embassy Kuala Lumpur (2021). Recently, Dr. Fairuz adjudicated the MAME Folksong Festival (Piano category) and the 2nd China-ASEAN Music and Arts Cultural Exchange in 2024.

Prof. Dr. Subha Bhassu is currently an academician at the Institute of Biological Sciences, with 24 years of experience teaching across various programs. She has developed numerous course structures aligned with the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) for the University of Malaya (2008–2015) and INTI University College (2000–2004). Additionally, she served as a moderator for Biotechnology courses at INTI University College from 2008 to 2015, MAHSA University, International Medical University ( Biomed Programs) and other universities. Furthermore, she is a member of the International Biosafety Committee (IBC) at the University of Malaya and serves as an auditor for the Enforcement Committee for Biosafety under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (2014–present). Her passion for research ignited during her second year of undergraduate studies when she realized the challenges and excitement research could offer, which continues to inspire her to this day. Since starting her PhD program in 1996, she has built a global network of research collaborations, mentors, and friends. Her experiences as a student instilled in her the belief that thinking outside the box is crucial in research. While knowledge and research grants are essential, she emphasizes that the two most important elements are love and selfless service, which guide her research to benefit students, universities, communities, industries, the country, and global society. To date, Prof. Subha has supervised 25 PhD students and 25 master’s students to completion and is currently mentoring eight PhD students and five master’s students. She has also guided 50 undergraduate students to completion. Her research output includes over 100 ISI publications, three book chapters,two books, three national patents, and two international patents. She serves as a reviewer for several journals, including PLOS ONE, GENE, META GENE, Aquaculture, Aquaculture Research, and Genomics. Her future research endeavours will continue to prioritize ethics and integrity as she advances her work in the aquatic sciences, employing multidisciplinary approaches. She aims to inspire the scientific community with thought-provoking ideas that align with global needs and foster harmony in the minds, hearts, and souls of humanity. As for research excellence, Professor Dr. Subha Bhassu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science (Honors) from UKM and a PhD in Molecular Biology from UPM, specializing in Molecular, Population, and Quantitative Genetics. Her primary research interest is in the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, a field termed Halo Genomics. This area of study emphasizes the One Health concept within biomedical, agricultural, and environmental contexts. Dr. Bhassu’s expertise spans various aspects of biology, from cellular mechanisms to phenotypic expressions, with a particular focus on aquatic animals as model organisms for exploring host-pathogen-environment interactions. In her research, genomics and molecular biology serve as tools to address challenges related to disease, nutrition, and environmental factors. She aims to deepen our understanding of genetics and its role in phenotypic expression, as well as gene-gene interactions, to provide insights into the relationships among aquatic hosts, pathogens, and their environments. Her research applies genomics, transcriptomics, and molecular biology to develop the innate potential of aquatic species. In her future research, Dr. Bhassu is focusing on the innate immune system, exploring its role in maintaining cellular ecosystem equilibrium. Her team has discovered innate immune biomolecules in shrimp that function before the adaptive immune response is activated. Through this research, she aims to demonstrate how host-pathogen interactions reveal signature immune biomolecules in certain species that have evolved to resist pathogens and coexist with them. These biomolecules' efficiency and specificity can be studied using aptamer technology, while their interactions with pathogens are visualized through spectral flow cytometry, and their abundance is analyzed via single-cell transcriptomics and mRNA expression. This research raises the question: could innate immune biomolecules be harnessed as solutions to disease, similar to gene therapy, for therapeutic applications? As an academic professional, Dr Bhassu has developed numerous course structures in alignment with the Malaysian MQF standards for UM and INTI University College, where she has also served as a course moderator in Biotechnology. She is an associate member of the CEBAR, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, CRYSTAL, NANOCAT and UM’s Marketing & Recruitment Centre. Additionally, she serves on the International Biosafety Committee at UM and as an auditor for the Biosafety Enforcement Committee under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. She is an associate member of the National Framework on Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee (IBBC) for Health under the Ministry of Public Health. Recently, she was appointed as a Research Fellow at the Malaysian Genome Vaccine Institute, part of the National Institute of Biotechnology Malaysia. Contact details: subhabhassu@um.edu.my