Afiq received his First-Class Honors Degree in Biotechnology from the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST) in 2013. He received the MUST President's Award for academic excellence and being the most accomplished student in his class. In 2014, he decided to follow his passion for research and enrolled in an MSc program in Genetic Manipulation and Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Sussex, UK. After completing his MSc program, Afiq gained valuable research experience by working as a research assistant at the Cancer Research Center (CaRC), Institute for Medical Research (IMR) in Kuala Lumpur. In 2015, he was awarded an Academic Training Fellowship (SLAB/SLAI) by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to pursue his PhD at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. His doctoral research focuses on the discovery of new antiviral HIV-1 and VSV restriction factors. His findings have been published in reputable scientific journals and have gained the interest of the global scientific community. After completing his PhD in 2019, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the MRC-Centre for Virus Research (CVR) at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. In 2020, he returned to Malaysia to work as a senior lecturer in the microbiology program at the Institute of Biological Sciences, Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur. He currently teaches public health microbiology, diagnostic microbiology, microbial pathogenesis, and virology to undergraduate students. In addition to teaching, he also conducts research on various aspects of microbiology, with a particular focus on viral diseases. His research aims to understand the mechanisms of viral replication and pathogenesis as well as develop novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of viral infections. He actively collaborates with other researchers, both locally and internationally, to contribute to the global understanding of infectious diseases. In 2023, he was awarded a prestigious ASEAN-India Research & Training (A-IRTF) Fellowship from the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India for 3-month research attachment at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi).

Ts. Dr. Siti Nurliana Jamalai@ Jamali is a senior lecturer in the Software Engineering Department at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya. She obtained a doctoral degree in Human-Computer Interaction from the Universiti Putra Malaysia. Her research interests span a wide range of areas within computing and interactive technologies, including Software Engineering, Software Design, Tangible Interaction, Augmented Reality, User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX), Assistive Technology and AI. She is particularly passionate about designing human-centred solutions that improve accessibility, usability, enhance learning experiences, and support diverse user needs. She is passionate about strengthening her research, teaching, and learning, and actively pursues opportunities that deepen her knowledge and expand her capabilities.

  Professor Hany Ariffin  is  Professor of Paediatrics and Head of the Division of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). She also heads the Biobank Unit in the Faculty of Medicine and is a member of the UM Senate.  Her main research interest is childhood leukaemia and she has been the Malaysian lead for the Malaysia-Singapore (MASPORE) Leukaemia Study Group since 2003. Her other research areas include childhood cancer survivorship, stem cell transplantation and inherited cancers. In 2015, she won the Anugerah Akademik Negara award and in 2018 received the Distinguished Researcher Award from University Malaya. Professor Hany is chairperson of the paediatric oncology accreditation committee for the National Specialist Register and a past president of the Malaysian Society of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology. She is also the chairperson of the VIVA-Asia Bone Marrow Transplantation Consortium. Professor Hany is an Editorial Board member of JCO Global Oncology and OncoDaily as well as an Associate Editor for Technology in Cancer Reseach &Treatment (Tumour Biology) and Frontiers in Oncology (Paediatric Oncology).