Professor Dr. Ngeow Wei Cheong is currently a lecturer at the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Malaya. He was a visiting professor at the University of California, San Francisco in 2015/2016. He graduated from the University of Malaya in 1992 and was a private practitioner for 9 months before he was offered the post of tutorship at his alma matter. Three years later, he took up a house job at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, England, where he obtained his Fellowship in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He subsequently returned to Malaysia and was a pioneer lecturer at the then newly established Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He later became a lecturer at the University of Malaya in 2000. He later graduated with a Master in Dental Science studying the effect of a combination of long acting analgesic and local anaesthetic on third molar surgery pain in 2008, and obtained a PhD from the University of Sheffield, specialising on Peripheral Nerve Regeneration by studying the effects of different scar reducing agents on nerve repair. He has published more than 160 scientific papers in local and international journals, and was the Editor of the Malaysian Dental Journal from 2005-2007 and the Editor of the MDA Newsletter for 2015. His research interests are craniofacial anthropometry, variations of the mandibular nerve, and recovery of peripheral nerves after microsurgical repair. He is currently an Honorary Supervisor for the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.  

Dr Airina is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University Malaya. She earned both her Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) and Master of Science (Lipid Biochemistry) degree from University Malaya in 2003 and 2008 respectively. In 2013, she graduated from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom with a PhD in Pharmacology. Her PhD thesis work focuses on magnetoreception. A study on how animals having the ability to detect the Earth’s magnetic field whereby her research was to understand the cellular basis and the mechanism underlying the single domain magnetite of magnetoreceptor cells in fish. Her research interests include looking at the uses of natural products especially form Traditional Malaysian plants as an alternative medicine. She is interested in investigating the phytochemistry, molecular biology of medicinal plants and bioassays activity of natural products. Her current research includes the study of various traditional plants that help to reduce hypertension, lowering blood sugar level and oxidative stress. This is an important area to explore as there is still a general lack of knowledge and much misinformation remain about natural products in plants and their uses by people. Besides that, her research interest includes the study of proteolytic enzymes and anti-inflammatory activities of the Butterfly leaf, Christia vespertilionis. Dr Airina is also looking at venturing into projects which involves anti-cancer properties from medicinal plants. Besides doing research, she is teaching undergraduates students of Biohealth Program, Institute of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, University Malaya. Her core teaching subjects includes Pharmacology, Drug Analysis and Analytical Biochemistry. Besides that, she has been teaching various Laboratory courses due to her expertise in Biochemistry. On top of that, Dr Airina has supervised more than 15 undergraduate students for their final year projects and currently supervising and co-supervising up to 4 graduate students. She is the Principal investigator for a research grant and a Co-PI of a research collaborating with MAHSA university. She has authored and co-authored more then 5 research papers with a number of conference proceedings. She was also appointed as the Secretary and fellow of the Fifth Residential college and has been a residential college fellow for almost 10 years. She is dedicated towards helping students to improve in their soft skills abilities and to expose students towards community engagement programs. Dr Airina is the fellow advisor for various established programs such as the Education Malaysia (EDUMAS), Malaysian Blood Donation (NBD) and other community engagement programs.

Associate Professor Dr. Tang Swee Seong is an academic and researcher at the Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry and M.Sc. in Microbiology from Universiti Malaya, and completed his Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology at The Australian National University in 2013. His research expertise lies in bacteriophage biology and phage therapy, with a strong focus on developing sustainable, antibiotic-free solutions against multidrug-resistant pathogens in both human and aquaculture settings. He has led multiple research projects on bacteriophage isolation, genomic characterization, host–phage interaction, and therapeutic applications, with particular interest in polyvalent phages, phage cocktails, and phage-based diagnostic platforms. Associate Professor Tang is recognized nationally and internationally for his contributions to translational phage research. His team was awarded a Gold Medal at the International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX) 2025 for the innovation titled “Microcapsule Containing Bacteriophages for Sustainable Infection Treatment in Aquaculture.” This work introduces an eco-friendly, targeted phage delivery system aimed at reducing antibiotic reliance in aquaculture and addressing global antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Building on this innovation, his project “AquaPhage – Targeted Phage Therapy for Sustainable Aquaculture” has been selected for the Universiti Malaya Deep Tech Accelerator Programme, with two intellectual property (IP) applications filed on the encapsulation process and the encapsulated phage product. These efforts reflect his commitment to translating laboratory research into industry-relevant, commercialization-ready solutions. In addition to research innovation, Associate Professor Tang plays an active leadership role in academic talent development. As the national team leader for the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2025, he guided Team Malaysia to achieve one Silver and one Bronze medal — the highest achievement in Malaysia’s IBO history to date. He has published 29 scientific papers, including 24 Web of Science–indexed journal articles in reputable journals such as Aquaculture, Pharmaceuticals, The Journal of Virology, Phytochemistry, Journal of Bacteriology, and PeerJ. His work has accumulated over 512 citations with an H-index of 10. He has also authored review articles consolidating advances in phage therapy and antimicrobial resistance. Associate Professor Tang actively contributes to the academic community as a manuscript reviewer for numerous international journals, including Aquaculture, Life Sciences, Phytochemistry, Scientific Reports, PLoS ONE, PeerJ, and Microbial Drug Resistance. He has also served as an EXCO member of the Microbiology Society of Malaysia and currently holds the position of Assistant Secretary for the Malaysian Society for Lactic Acid Bacteria. His research vision is to position Universiti Malaya as a regional leader in sustainable biotechnology and phage-based innovation, bridging fundamental microbiology with translational impact to address antimicrobial resistance and global food security challenges.