Siti Aisyah Alias is a Malaysian mycologist and Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Universiti Malaya. Since 2001, she has been the Deputy Director of the National Antarctic Research Centre (NARC) and the Malaysian Antarctic Research Programme (MARP). In January 2023, she became the Director of the National Antarctic Research Centre (NARC) Malaysia. Her scientific research fields include fungal biodiversity of marine fungi and polar soil fungi, antimicrobial activity and cold-adapted enzymes, and biochemistry of polar microbes. She has described more than twenty new marine fungi to science and published more than 125 peer-reviewed articles. She is co-author and co-editor of 30 books, including two books, namely Checklist of Fungi of Malaysia and Marine Fungi from Mangroves of Malaysia. Under the Higher Institute of Centre of Excellence (HICoE), she is leading a project on Latitudinal Differences in Response and Adaptation of Microbes to Atmospheric Changes. She has significant field experience in the tropics, the Antarctic, and the Arctic, participating in eight polar research expeditions as a result of her strong international networking and collaboration and these include Australian Antarctic (AAD), Instituto Antarctico Chileno (INACH), Instituto Antarctico Equatoriano (INAE), Korean Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), Polish Polar Department and British Antarctic Survey.  She has helped the Malaysian Antarctica Program to develop through her international collaboration. She is also active in outreach activities to promote STEM and polar sciences. She participated in Malaysian Antarctic Research Program (MARP)’s outreach programmes to promote awareness of Antarctica among undergraduate students and secondary school pupils in Malaysia. This outreach activity is called Malaysia’s Journey to the Ice: Women in Antarctica, part of the MOSTI Social Innovation (MSI) grant (2015 – 2017). She has assisted in the development of Malaysia’s Antarctic policies and practices following the country’s accession to the Antarctic Treaty under a grant from the Ministry of Higher Education for the development of Science and Policy in Antarctica (2014- 2017).  Currently, she assists in developing Malaysia's Antarctic Bill. In recognition of her various achievements as a lecturer and researcher, Dr. Siti was awarded Saintis Muda Negara in 2000, CTI-CFF Women Leaders Forum Program and the only Malaysian represented in Wikipedia as recognition for women and their work in Antarctic Research (2016) and MOHE Women Across the World: “Saintis Wanita Terkemuka Dunia Dari 30 Negara Dalam Bidang Sains Antartika”, MOHE, 2018. In 2022, she was featured among the '100 Women Scientists in Global Polar Research'. She sits on various national and international panels such as the MOSTI Science Fund evaluation panel, Asia Forum of Polar Sciences (AFOPs) Panel and Academy of Science Malaysia (ASM) Taskforce Member on Antarctica, Selection Advisory Committee for Australian Research Council (ARC), Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Malaysia Education Blueprint, Academy Sciences of Malaysia and Board Member and Jury in Universal Scientific (USERN) in the field of Biological Sciences since 2019. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

Dr. Kumar is a seasoned medical lecturer with over 16 years of experience at the Department of Physiology, University Malaya. He holds a medical degree from Univerisity of Malaya and a PhD in auditory neuroscience from the University of Western Australia, where he was awarded the IPRS scholarship. As a dedicated educator, Dr. Kumar has taught physiology courses to medical students and mentored graduate students. He is also the principal investigator of an auditory research lab, focusing on innovative hearing screening methods. His research interests include audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, and auditory neuroscience. Dr. Kumar's work is driven by a commitment to improving the quality of life for individuals with hearing impairments. His research aims to develop affordable and accessible hearing screening methods to address the global burden of hearing loss.

Professor Dr Hasniza Zaman Huri, currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic and International at Universiti Malaya, a reputable university ranked 58th in the QS World University Rankings. She is an accomplished academic pharmacist and, prior to her current tenure, was the founding Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Universiti Malaya. Under her leadership, the faculty has achieved numerous accolades, including being a founding member of the Global Alliance for the Development of Pharmaceutical Science (GADPS), an alliance to spearhead the excellent teaching & learning and research of pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences school around the globe, the top KPI achiever for academic centre in 2023, top faculty for graduate employability and for the first time, top 100 (#72) for Pharmacy subject ranking in the QS World University Rankings 2024. Professor Dr Hasniza was also appointed as the GADPS General Assembly Representative.  As a leading clinical scientist in clinical pharmacy, precision medicine and targeted therapy, she was honoured with the World Class Professor Programme by the Indonesian Government in 2022, among 78 professors globally. Professor Dr Hasniza's research expertise focuses on targeted therapy, drug utilisation and precision medicine, especially in metabolic diseases. She has been invited by various countries such as the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Turkey, China, India, Taiwan, and Indonesia as a Keynote or Plenary Speaker at conferences. She has published over 110 publications indexed in the Web of Science (WoS). Professor Dr Hasniza is also an expert in the clinical trial industry and is recognized for her exemplary leadership. She was the Manager and later Director of the Clinical Investigation Centre (CIC) at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). During her tenure, CIC UMMC gained a world-class reputation, winning multiple distinctions, including being the first Strategic Alliance Site for Parexel Inc. in Malaysia, Pfizer’s INSPIRE (Investigator Networks, Site Partnerships and Infrastructure for Research Excellence) Site in Malaysia, Best Clinical Trial Service Provider in Asia, Top-10 IQVIA Prime Sites in the world and many more. She was awarded Best Academic Administrator for Non-Academic Centre in 2015 by Universiti Malaya and recently, in 2024, was awarded the MPS Outstanding Leadership Award by the Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS), an excellence award due to her outstanding performance and exceptional achievement in pharmacy practice in Malaysia. She is also the Honorary Visiting Consultant at CIC and a member of the Drug Control Authority (DCA) Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Professor Dr Hasniza has been awarded Fellow of Malaysian Pharmacists Society (FMPS), beginning January 1, 2026 a prestigious recognition by the national professional association for pharmacists in Malaysia for distinguished leadership and sustained contributions to the development of pharmacy practice, education, and professional advancement within the profession. She was also appointed as the Key Opinion Leader (KOL) to shape the policy and governance of clinical trials by Benchmarking of Academic Research Organisations, a Key Driver of Clinical Research in ASEAN - A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach, based in Japan.