I'm a Senior Lecturer at the English Language Department, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics. After more than two decades of working in language, communication and skills development, I joined UM in 2019 to contribute to progressing the field of health(care) discourse in Malaysia and beyond. In my current role, I teach languages and linguistics courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level, while supervising and conducting research. Research Focus - Improving Health & Wellbeing by Applying a Discursive ToolkitI study matters related to language, health(care) and wellbeing, applying qualitative and discursive perspectives to address problems and inform practice in provider-patient interaction, health education and other related topics. I am particularly interested in analysis of real-life interaction, to answer questions on how people "do things" with language in health-related contexts. For example, how do doctors and patients collaboratively make decisions about treatment, manage chronic health conditions, and discuss concerns by interacting with each other in person or online? I'm also interested in communication in healthcare education, interprofessional discourse and patient education, alongside how people express and make meaning of health-related issues via their talk and stories. My current funded  projects include studies on professional socialisation of house officers (FRGS), patient experience of gum disease (IIRG, UM). Expertise -Enhancing Language and Communication in Diverse SettingsBeyond my research and academic duties, I help enhance language and communication in academic and professional settings, applying a diverse knowledge and skillset composed over 25 years of experience. Before joining academia, I was engaged in various positions mostly as a consultant/independent contractor, including as a language/content service provider for over 15 years and as a language/communication skills instructor for over 17 years. In these roles, I provided language consulting services and skills training for corporate and individual clients in Malaysia and internationally. I have a CELTA qualification and am a HRDF certified trainer. My work history is available at https://my.linkedin.com/in/ayeshah-syed-0468293 Professional Activities and LeadershipAt UM, I have been actively involved in advancement of research and academic practices. From 2022-2024, I led the research portfolio at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics as the Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation, with other appointments including as the Protem-Deputy Head of the Medical Devices Centre of Excellence, UM and Taskforce member for UM's Programme Educational goals. Outside the university, I  am involved in professional associations related to languages and linguistics and social advancement, including Persatuan Bahasa Moden Malaysia (President, 2022-2024, Vice President-2024 - 2026, Exco member since 2013) and the citizens' movement organisation, the Association of Voices of Peace, Conscience and Reason (Exco member - since 2016, Treasurer-2025-present).Research Collaboration and Supervision Opportunities I welcome potential collaborations aligned with my expertise and also enjoy connecting with other researchers to learn about their work, gain insight into new contexts, fields and perspectives and explore how I might contribute to their research activities.  In terms of postgraduate supervision, I supervise projects that apply discursive approaches to address problems in health-related contexts, focusing on interaction. Note to potential supervisees: I have limited availability for 2025-2026 due to a heavy supervision load. 

Seon-Hahn KIM, MD, PhD, FACS  Dr. Kim Seon Hahn is Professor and Consultant colorectal surgeon working at Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as his new academic position appointed in Sep 2022. He had been Professor of Colorectal Division, Department of Surgery at Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (2006-2022). He has been specifically interested in robotic and minimally invasive surgery and surgical anatomy in the colorectum during the past 30 years.   Prof. Kim has performed more than 3500 laparoscopic colon and rectal resections and over 1000 robotic rectal resections, mainly for cancer. He performed many live robotic and laparoscopic surgeries at various international congresses and at oversea hospitals. He was honored to give several orations such as; the ‘BJS Lecture’ at the 2015 Congress of European Society of Coloproctology in Dublin, the very first ‘Yasunobu Tsujinaka Memorial Oration’ at the 27th Annual Jagelman/37th Turnbull International Colorectal Symposium 2016 held in Florida, ‘The William Hugh Isbister Lecture’ at the 2019 Saudi-International Colorectal Diseases Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and ‘Dr. Pradeep Chowbay Oration’ at Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endosurgeons (IAGES) 2023 Midterm Conference in Bhopal, India.   Prof. Kim was the Founding President of Korean Association of Robotic Surgeons (KAROS, 2013-15) and the Chairman of the Korean Society of Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons (KSELS, 2014-16). He was awarded the Yeoh Ghim Seng Professor of Surgery by National University of Singapore (2008-14), and Dr. Anthony PC Yim Professorship in Minimally Invasive Surgery and Innovative Technology by Chinese University of Hong Kong (2011). He has been also invited as visiting professor/scholarship worldwide, including Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH, USA (2009), Royal Brisbane Hospital in Australia (2011), National Cheng Gong University in Taiwan (2012/2015), Kumamoto University in Japan (2013), Karolinska Institute Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden (2015/2017), and University of Western Sydney, Australia (2018-2024).

Dr. Tang Swee Seong is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Malaysia. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry in 2000 and M.Sc. in Microbiology in 2004 from the University of Malaya. He was awarded a tutorship by the university for his MSc studies and later received the SLAI fellowship (University Academic Training Scheme) from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia to pursue his PhD at the Australian National University, Australia. He completed his PhD in Molecular Microbiology in 2013 and subsequently returned to Malaysia to take up a tenure-track lectureship at the University of Malaya. Dr. Tang has played a key role as a principal investigator (PI) and has led several research projects, including the Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophage Against Shigella spp. and Elucidating the Molecular Mechanistic Interaction of Polyvalent Bacteriophages Against Bacterial Hosts. Over the past few years, his research team has characterized a collection of phages targeting Salmonella enterica and other enteric bacteria. He is also interested in developing bacteriophage cocktails as diagnostic and therapeutic agents against multidrug-resistant pathogens in aquatic animals. His ultimate goal is to develop natural alternatives to combat the crisis of multidrug resistance and explore the use of phages in the treatment of infectious diseases in humans and agricultural animals. Dr. Tang served as an editorial board member for the Special Issue on Recent Topics in Life Sciences in the Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences (Elsevier) in 2015. He has also acted as a guest reviewer for numerous national and international journals, including Frontiers in Life Sciences, Malaysian Journal of Science, Carbohydrate Research, JSM Tropical Medicine & Research, Journal of Tropical Agriculture and Food Science, Malaysian Applied Biology, PLoS ONE, Phytochemistry, PeerJ, International Journal of Nanomedicine, Microbial Drug Resistance, Journal of Cellular Physiology, Malaysian Journal of Microbiology, Journal of Health and Translational Medicine, Philippine Journal of Science, and Tropical Biomedicine.