DR. ADIBI RAHIMAN BIN MD NOR

Dr Adibi M. Nor is a multidisciplinary marine biologist and aquaculturist by training, with 20 years of experience in the fisheries sector. His work focuses on fisheries policy, particularly the sustainability of seaweed commercialisation among Malaysian coastal communities and the impact of this activity on their livelihoods. He was an employee of the Department of Fisheries (DOF) Malaysia, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, from 2003 until 2018. Dr Adibi was involved with the development of the national seaweed policy, in particular the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of this policy. He is now a senior lecturer and PhD and MPhil programme coordinator at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Universiti Malaya. Throughout his career as a policymaker, scientist, and business development leader with the agri/aquaculture company, he has developed a deep understanding of and a strong background in food security and agri/aquaculture, specialising in addressing the challenges and complexities of the global food system. This breadth of experience has shaped his insights into the flow of using scientific evidence in the policy-making process. To ensure sustainability and share his expertise with society, Dr Adibi has developed the Student Holistic Empowerment (SHE) academic course known as Nasi Lemak and Food Systems at Universiti Malaya. He has published widely on seaweed and fisheries research related to policy, biology, and value chain aspects. He was appointed as a reviewer for the International Journal of Food Science & Technology, the Journal of Aquaculture, Fish, and Fisheries, the Journal of Quality and Quantity, the Journal of Applied Phycology, the Journal of Socioeconomics and Development, and Botanica Marina in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019. He was a consultant for international and local seaweed projects from 2019 until 2025 and a scientific advisor and business development planner for the Abalone Aquaculture Company in 2018. Currently, he is actively pursuing innovation in seaweed cultivation as nature-based solutions (website: https://drcweedaquasolutions.com/). Dr Adibi experimented with new farming methods, such as Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems, to enhance seaweed production for food security while minimising environmental impact. His research led to discoveries that improved seaweed disease management and optimised the extraction of valuable compounds for various industries, including food, cosmetics, bioplastics, biostimulants and animal feed. He is passionate about making aquaculture development sustainable and equitable for the local community and the environment. Endearingly, his social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) are called Dr C+Weed, which he started in July 2021 as a forum for conversing with and educating people about seaweed. Dr Adibi intends to make seaweed a superfood to combat global and local food security issues. His publications and research areas can be accessed at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adibi_Nor Current Research Endeavours: Seaweed Cultivation for Blue Carbon: Advancing Sustainable Decarbonization Efforts. Evaluating Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) Implementation Among Malaysian Aquaculturists, Using the Quantitative Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) Survey Technique.   Sea Grapes Seaweed Cultivation Offers Avenue Toward Greater Food Security, Healthier Diets, and Better Nutrition in Malaysia. Seaweed Cultivation for Climate Mitigation, Food Security, and Local Community Development in Abandoned Shrimp Ponds in Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah, Malaysia Food Security in Malaysia: The Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Paddy and Rice Industry in Malaysia. The Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) Approach Using Land-Based Farming System Between Seaweed and Marine Finfish. Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) on GlobalSeaweedSTAR program: Safeguarding the Future of the Seaweed Industry in Developing Countries.  Influence of Black Soldier Fly Larvae and Gracilaria sp. seaweed on Physiological and Fillet Quality of Tilapia, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS). Developing Regenerative Aquaculture in Southeast Asia. Seaweed Cultivation: A Nature-Based Solution to Climate Change and Food Insecurity. Revitalising the Malaysia Seaweed Industry through the Blue Economy.        

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DR. SUJATHA A/P RAMASAMY

Dr Sujatha Ramasamy is a Senior Lecturer at the Program Science Biology with Education, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya. Dr Sujatha was previously the Head of Academic Quality Assurance Unit at the Quality Management & Enhancement Center (QMEC) responsible for accreditation and quality assurance of all levels of academic programmes in Universiti Malaya. She has had a wide of experience in quality management systems and academic quality assurance. Currently she is the Quality Manager for Faculty of Science. Dr Sujatha Ramasamy completed her BSc. (Biomedical Technology). MSc. and PhD. (Natural Product Research) from Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. She had more than 20 years of experience in research in the field of plants-derived natural products, which is focusing on medicinal food and underutilized plants. Her main interest is mainly on assessing the bioactive compounds from plants as source for potential candidates for anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and wound healing agents. Dr Sujatha also exploring on the natural pigments from plants as potential food colorants. Her current focus is on medicinal food plants which consumed by Asian culture with the intention of health maintenance. Through the research findings, she aimed to understand the medicinal food plant’s efficacy in its cultural context and promoting its consumption in enhancing well-being. Dr Sujatha is also had more than 20 years’ experience in animal (cancer and normal cells) cell culture techniques in which most of the biological screening had been conducted in in vitro model. She had experienced in handling ELISA assay and immunochemistry test. Her study also includes on the biological mechanism that trigger the plant’s therapeutic activity.

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ASSOCIATE PROF. ZURAIDA RASTAM SHAHROM

Associate Professor Zuraida Rastam Shahrom began her legal career as a Magistrate in the Klang Sessions and Magistrate court where she presided over civil and criminal matters. She also presided over juvenile matters in the Court for Children. After serving as a Magistrate for 7 years she was then promoted to the position of Senior Federal Counsel with the Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. In the Attorney General's Chambers she headed the Human Rights and International Organisations Unit which provided advisory services to the Government of Malaysia on various legal issues in general and specifically on issues relating to human rights and international organisations.  Her major accomplishments during her 10 years of service with the Attorney General's Chambers are as follows: - Attorney General's Chambers representative to the United Nations Legal Committee meetings in New York for years 2002, 2004 and 2006. During these meetings she was involved in the multilateral negotiation of the Optional Protocol to United Nations Convention on the Safety of the United Nations Personnel which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005. - Attorney General's Chambers representative to the United Nations Commission of Human Rights and the Human Rights Council meetings where she presented Malaysia's initiatives to promote and protect human rights in Malaysia. - Participation in Malaysia's reporting before the United Nations Compliance Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2008 to present the legal initiatives taken by Malaysia to ensure Malaysia's compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Committee concluded that Malaysia has satisfactorily complied with the Convention and encourages Malaysia to uplift the reservations that it has made to certain provisions of the Convention. - Attorney General's Chambers representative to the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCPIL) in Australia where she presented a paper on Malaysia's legal position in relation to cross-border family, child protection and legal cooperation under the HCPIL Conventions. - Together with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development drafted Malaysia's country report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which was presented to the CEDAW Committee and CRC Committee During her period of private practice she handled civil litigation cases and as Head of Advisory in the the Securities Commission, together with her team of officers initiated various enforcement actions in the form of administrative actions against capital market intermediaries that breached provisions of the securities law.  Details of the administrative actions taken and sanctions imposed on the breaching parties are available on the Securities Commission's website and Annual Reports for years 2013 - 2016. Her Masters in Law research was in the area of traditional knowledge and access and benefit sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Her current research interest is in the area of sustainable finance and she holds the Faculty Research Grant researching in the area of sustainable banking regulatory framework in Malaysia.

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