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

Prof Dr Siti Nursheena is a parasitologist in the Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science. Her expert area is in the field of mammalian helminthology and molecular parasitology to which she obtained her PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her research interests covers host-parasite interactions and epidemiology of a wide range of zoonotic parasites from protozoans, helminth and ectoparasites especially from stray animals, rodents and more recently human. Presently, she is the team leader for an epidemiological investigation into the incidence of parasitic infections among vulnerable community particularly among migrant workers, refugees and the urban poor. Dr Sheena also actively contributes to the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, and was the vice president in 2016-2018 and president in 2018-2020. She contributes her time also on  2 editorial boards; the Tropical Biomedicine (Q3) as chief-in-editor and the editorial board member for Parasitology (Q1).

Professor Dr. Shireene Ratna Vethakkan obtained her MBBS from the University of Malaya, and Masters of Internal Medicine from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She then underwent endocrine training at the University of Malaya Medical Centre and a fellowship at the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne. This was followed by an MD(Doctorate of Medicine-Research) at the University of Melbourne focusing on the evaluation of islet-function and insulin-sensitivity post-islet transplantation in patients with Type 1 diabetes. Her expertise lies in the fields of diabetology and reproductive endocrinology, in particular human islet-transplantation, lipotoxicity and beta-cell function. She is skilled in the evaluation of beta-cell function/insulin sensitivity utilizing computer modelling and the IVGTT, and can also conduct clamp studies. She was Head of the Division of Endocrinology&Diabetes , Department of Medicine, University of Malaya from 2012-2022. She holds several grants and has a passion for clinical research in the field of diabetes in pregnancy and metabolic associated steatotic liver disease.  She has published papers in the  Bristish Journal of Obstetrics & Endocrinology, Clinical Endocrinology, Diabetes Research & Clinical Practice, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Journal of Clinical Lipidology,Clinical Nutrition,Transplantation, Endocrine Practice, Diabetic Medicine and Journal of Diabetes Investigation. She has also supervised to completion many PhD, Masters of Science, Masters of Medicine students and Endocrine Subspecialty Fellows.  Dr. Vethakkan is also an experienced consultant endocrinologist/physician and runs several busy clinics including the combined antenatal endocrine clinic at the University of Malaya Medical Centre.