Professor Dr. Nazirah Hasnan is a Consultant Rehabilitation Physician at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and a faculty member at Universiti Malaya. Her clinical and academic interests include spinal cord injury rehabilitation, functional electrical stimulation, exercise for special populations,  assistive technology in rehabilitation and hospital and health systems management. She has held key leadership roles most notably Director of UMMC (2020–2025) and Chairman of Malaysian Public University Hospitals Consortium. Professor Nazirah is actively involved in national and international professional organisations, with a focus on multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary rehabilitation,  technology-enabled clinical practice, health technology integration and sustainable healthcare models. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Professor Dr. Nazirah Hasnan is one of the pioneers in the field of Rehabilitation Medicine in Malaysia whose extensive career and academic achievements have significantly contributed to medical advancements, particularly in spinal cord injury rehabilitation, functional electrical stimulation, exercise for special population and assistive technology in rehabilitation. Her dedication to both clinical practice and academic research, exemplifies the impactful intersection of medicine, technology, and education. Her leadership skills have driven the development of specialized rehabilitation services and incorporating technology into rehabilitation. She has been a Consultant Rehabilitation Physician at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Malaysia’s premier and leading academic medical center since 2001 and has held various key positions, including Head of Department, Deputy Director and most notably, the Director of UMMC from 2020 to 2025. At the national academic and professional level, she is a member of the National Rehabilitation Medicine Conjoint Board, member of the Academy of Medicine, and member of the National Specialist Registry (NSR) Specialist Sub-Committee. She is the immediate past President of Malaysian Association of Rehabilitation Physicians (MARP) and the past President of Malaysian Chapter of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society. Professor Nazirah is anexecutive member of the Asian Spinal Cord Network (ASCoN), member of the Education Committee of the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS), previously the National leader for the International Spinal Cord Injury Survey, a Swiss Paraplegic Centre and World Health Organization project. A key focus of her leadership is the integration of digital health innovation across UMMC’s clinical and operational ecosystem. She has championed initiatives to strengthen electronic medical records, data-driven decision-making, telehealth expansion, and the adoption of AI-supported clinical workflows. Her work emphasises improving patient safety, care continuity, and operational efficiency through responsible and human-centred digital transformation. Dr. Nazirah’s leadership extends to fostering multidisciplinary collaboration, nurturing the next generation of healthcare professionals, and positioning UMMC as a regional centre of excellence. She is an advocate for precision medicine, health technology integration, and sustainable healthcare models that future-proof academic medical institutions. With a career spanning clinical leadership, health system transformation, and academic contribution, Dr. Nazirah is acknowledged for her strategic vision and commitment to advancing healthcare delivery. Her ongoing contributions reflect her belief that modern healthcare must be compassionate, data-enabled, and patient-centred—values she continues to embed throughout the university’s evolving mission.  

Professor Dr. Raja Jasmin is a consultant rheumatologist and the Head of Rheumatology at Universiti Malaya and University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Her areas of expertise include scleroderma, lupus, connective tissue diseases and autoimmune related arthritis. She obtained her advanced subspecialty training in Rheumatology at the Royal Free Hospital, University College of London (UCL), focusing on scleroderma. Her research work in various field of rheumatology was presented in international conferences and published in ISI-indexed peer reviewed journals. Dr Raja Jasmin is also actively involved as principal investigator in rheumatology clinical trials. She is a committee member of Malaysian Society of Rheumatology (MSR) and she has various appointed positions in the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) including scientific committee member, co-convenor and steering committee of scleroderma special interest group. She is the founder of Arthritis PPUM Care Fund in UMMC. She is also actively involved as a coordinator of University Malaya Medical Programme (UMMP) curriculum at University Malaya

VGR Chandran is Professor of Industrial Development at the Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Business and Economics at University of Malaya. He has also worked as Principal Analyst of Economic and Policy Studies with Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and his research interests are mainly on innovation, technology development, trade and globalization that relate to industrial development. His field research covers sectors such as electrical and electronics, automotive, food, chemical, oil palm, machinery, iron and steel, ICT, and the newly emerging sector - renewable energy. He had extensive fieldwork covering the Asian region that includes countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, India, China, Thailand, and Malaysia. In recent years, his research interest expanded into investigating newly emerging enterprises within the context of social innovation and social enterprises, as well as open innovation. His interest has also expanded in studying the issues of NTMs, mainly regulatory and procedural requirements that serve as a barrier for firms to integrate into the Global Value Chain. He has also worked as a consultant for international organizations such as UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNESCO, UNEP, ERIA, OECD as well as governmental organizations in Malaysia. He has published articles in international journals - Economics of New Technology and Innovation, Policy Modelling, as well as book chapters and books on industrial development and innovation. He is the recipient of various national and international grants – to name a few - European Union Horizon 2020 and IDR, Canada, among others. His work is widely quoted in government policy documents contributing to numerous policy changes. He has contributed to the Malaysian regulatory reform efforts, STI and Industrial policy development at national as well as state level. His work via Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Economic Planning Unit, Academic of Sciences, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, MIGHT, Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysian Productivity Corporation and Institute Darul Ridzuan (state level) was instrumental in making the policy changes. His engagement with the industry are mainly in the form of undertaking studies and providing expert opinions. He has received various awards, e.g., excellence in teaching award and outstanding paper award from Emerald and Elsevier. Details of his current projects as follows: (1) Catching-up along the GVC: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/214786/factsheet/en (2) Regional Economic Corridors: http://www.crisea.eu/researchers/chandran-vgr