Norma-Rashid is an avid researcher on faunistic living treasures with an extensive field experience. Her job involves four domains teaching, research, administration and providing scientific services to a wider community. The central theme of her research interest is behavioural ecology in the laboratory or various ecosytems (mangrove, marine, riverine, agricultural and forest) in wide ranging animals (insects, spiders & scorpions, selected vertebrates including humans). Currently, she has developed a passion for various aspects (biomonitoring, biocoenosis, ecomorphometrics, taxonomy, behaviour and ecology of dragonflies & spiders. She has described a myriad of species found to be new local records or new to science promoting Malaysian megabiodiversity. Being the only trained local odonatist led her to many connections and recognitions of international repute. Some of her collaborations include Natural History Museum, Leiden, Sussex University, Harvard University, Universiti Brunei Darussalam and National Univesity of Singapore. Her teaching techniques exploited her behaviour expertise relating animal behavioural repertoire as tool usage in capturing student interests which led onto enthusiastic learning. Relating her field activities; I always feel fortunate being part of an expedition as it is a voyage of discovery...

I obtained my BSc and PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Dundee (UK), joined the University of Malaya as a tutor in 1979, and was promoted to Professor of Pharmacology in 2000. I was the Head of the Department of Pharmacology for over 18 years from 1994, which ended in August 2014, following my appointment into the university's Board of Directors (BOD). My appointment as member of BOD ended in Dec 2015. My main research currently is in pharmacogenomics (PGx), being the country representative on PGx research for an international group (Global Genomic Medicine Collaborative under the National Institute of Health, USA) and 2 regional groups (including the Southeast Asian Pharmacogenomics Network). PGx is currently one of the fastest growing research area globally and I have supervised over 25 postgraduate students in this field over the years. My laboratory was awarded research funding of over RM3.5 million over a period of 5 years from 2011 to 2015, and our team has published over 105 papers since then. I have been invited to speak on PGx at international and national conferences.  I am also a member of at least 7 committees at the national level, the most significant being the National Committee for Clinical Research (NCCR), chaired by the Director-General of Health, Malaysia. My expertise in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) is recognised, being invited to be a speaker and facilitator at GCP Workshops throughout the country. My expertise also extends to being a consultant for contract research in the form of Bioequivalence (BE) Studies for various generic drug manufacturers since 1999, and to date, we have completed over 32 consultancies.  My Bioequivalence Centre has two accreditations, one under SAMM ISO-IEC 17025/2001, and the other is under Ministry of Health, and is one of only four accredited centres in Malaysia. I was appointed by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations, to be a member of the National Bioethics Council (NBC) and presented the Keynote Address at its launch. I have been a Vice-Chairman of NBC. I was also appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister (who was also then the Minister of Education), to be a representive of the University's Senate to the University's Board of Directors, the appointment ended in Dec 2015.  I am also an active member of several NGOs, and frequently and passionately participate in various community and student events.  

Biographical note: Dr. Chew Shin Yi is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She graduated with a B.Ed TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and obtained her Ph.D. from Universiti Malaya under a fast-track programme. She has taught students from pre-school up to university level. Her interests include language learning & development, 21st-century learning, computer-mediated communication and computer-assisted language learning.  She is now working on projects related to the education of Indigenous community and Sustainable Development Goals. Her current project, funded by British Council's ISPF grant, is titled "Enhancing Educational Equity and Engagement through AI-Driven Metaverse Environments (EduSphere)."