Peter Aning Tedong joined the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Malaya in December 2014. He is currently the Head of Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He also serves as the Head of Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies. As urban studies and housing scholar, Peter Aning’s broad areas of interest cover housing policy and governance, political economy in urban planning, and neighborhood sustainability and planning. He has received numerous research grants both from the public and private sectors. Recently completed projects explored the socio-spatial planning plans in the context of the urban future in Malaysia and the poverty among the indigenous communities in rural areas. He has also carried out work on the role of governance in governing vulnerable communities (refugees, stateless and foreign workers) and examining various issues related to housing and migration in Malaysian Cities. His latest area of interest is multi-layered governance of affordable housing, the Sustainable Development Goals in relation to neighborhood and community planning, and the impacts of migration towards regional and urban development.  Peter’s empirical focus is on the South East Asia region, but he has conducted fieldwork in Europe, Borneo Islands, North America, and also Oceania countries.        

Dr Sam is a medical graduate from the University of Nottingham in the UK, and completed his postgraduate training in Medical Microbiology in London. He joined the University of Malaya in 2005. He is head of the diagnostic virology and advanced (molecular) diagnostics units in the University of Malaya Medical Centre, a 1000-bed tertiary referral centre. His clinical diagnostic work includes expanding molecular diagnostic services and involvement in hospital responses to emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19. He teaches both undergraduates and postgraduates. His research interests cover clinical, epidemiological, diagnostic and pathogenesis aspects of chikungunya virus and other arboviruses, respiratory viruses (including influenza and SARS-CoV-2), and enterovirus A71, and he has held several national and international grants.

Dr. Nurshafarina serves as a senior lecturer in the Department of Building Surveying at Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Housing, Building, and Planning (Building Surveying), a Master’s in Building Technology, and a PhD in Construction Materials and Technology, all conferred by Universiti Sains Malaysia. Before joining Universiti Malaya, Dr. Nurshafarina amassed considerable industry experience with a leading construction chemicals firm, where she specialized in designing sustainable concrete solutions and developing advanced chemical admixtures for both ready-mix and pre-cast concrete applications. Her research portfolio encompasses a breadth of cutting-edge construction technologies, with particular focus on sustainable cementitious materials, concrete admixtures and durability enhancement.