Yin Kia Chiam received a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia. She is currently a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Malaysia. She has published in several reputable journals and conferences both locally and internationally. Her research focus is in the field of Software Engineering and Data Mining.

Dr Wong Kah Hui is an Associate Professor at the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology (Honours with Distinction) in 2003, Master of Science (with distinction) in 2007 and Doctor of Philosophy in Human and Animal Physiology in 2011 from Universiti Malaya. She is currently the Academic Editor of PLOS ONE, Review Editor of Frontiers in Pharmacology (former Guest Associate Editor of Frontiers in Pharmacology), Editorial Board Member of BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, Guest Editor of Cells, Subeditor of Journal of Health and Translational Medicine (JUMMEC, Malaysia), Coordinator of Postgraduate Research Programme (Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya) and the life member of Malaysian Anatomical Association (MAA) (former treasurer of MAA, 2015-2021). She was honoured as Outstanding Anatomist (Research)–Established Career Category by MAA on 30 Aug 2023 for her remarkable contributions to anatomical sciences research. She has published 64 articles in Web of Science (WOS)-indexed journals with an H-index of 22 and total citations of 1313; and five book chapters. Her research focuses on using alternative medicines, in particular the culinary and medicinal mushrooms cultivated in Malaysia for neuroprotection and neuroregeneration in cellular and animal models. She is also engaged with Ganofarm R&D Sdn Bhd through the collaborative planning on Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Agreement; Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine University of Hong Kong as a Visiting Research Fellow; and Corielle Institute for Medical Research, New Jersey, USA to pursuit scientific research leading to treatments for hereditary ataxia, on Material Transfer Agreement. Alternative medicines have the advantages of non-invasive, cost-effective and no adverse reactions for patients which could eventually be a breakthrough in the treatment for hereditary ataxia. She aims to integrate Hericium erinaceus mushroom dietary supplement as a novel treatment strategy in clinical practice at the Traditional and Complementary Medicine units of Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals and its future application in degenerative cerebellar ataxia and movement disorders. The above-mentioned areas are conducted by 7 PhD (3 former and 4 active) candidates who have always been enthusiastic about neuroscience research. A PhD thesis titled Protective Mechanisms of Hericium erinaceus (NevGro®) against Oxidative Stress in in vitro models of Friedreich’s ataxia and Depression was awarded Distinction for Thesis by the University on 27 September 2022.  As a team leader, her research group was granted with 12 awards (2 special awards, 7 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze) at various international invention and innovation exhibitions with NevGro® and its functional metabolites for spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 being the latest innovation that received a bronze medal at the recently held 24th Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) 2025 – International Innovation Awards on 20-22 February 2025. She also won gold awards at the International Invention, Innovation, Technology Competition & Exhibition (ITEX) 2023 and 2024, Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) 2020 and 2022, a gold medal at the Creation and Innovation, Technology & Research Exposition (CITREX) 2021, Platinum, Most Outstanding Academician and Gold awards at the Penang International Invention, Innovation and Design (PIID) 2019; a gold award at the Melaka International Intellectual Exposition (MIIEx) 2019, two silver medals as a co-inventor at the Special Edition 2022-The Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days-Virtual Event) and ITEX 2024. The achievements were featured on UM Research Bulletin (2019 and 2024) Rubrica News Bulletin (2022), The University of Hong Kong Media-Press Releases (2022), pulse@UM (2020-2022), Milestone@UM Newsletter (2019 and 2020) and The Petri Dish (2018). Apart from research, dispensing high-quality teaching and professional education is the primary goal of any university. She teaches human anatomy to the MBBS, BDS, BBiomedSc and Postgraduate Basic/Clinical Teaching Programme students. Her teaching philosophy is to be passionate, enthusiastic and engaging. She was awarded the Best Preclinical Lecturer for MBBS-UMMP Programme of Universiti Malaya in 2017 and 2019. As for the medical education research, her team comprising of fellow colleagues of Department of Anatomy, and Medical Education Research and Development Unit (MERDU) of the Faculty of Medicine won a silver award for a project titled “Bridging The Gap in The Knowledge of Anatomy as a Doctor Journeys Through The Postgraduate Medical Training” at the Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement Research Conference 2017 (UM-LiTeR 2017) and a bronze award for a project titled “Practical Guide to Facilitate Problem-Based Learning Among Novice Medical Students: Eight Top Tips” at the kNOVASI 2020 Teaching and Learning Congress and Innovation Competition. She represented Universiti Malaya to present a status report of Anatomy Resource Centre (ARC) of Faculty of Medicine at the Committee of Museums and Galleries for Malaysian Public Universities (MyMUSE) Conference and Exhibition in 2019 showcasing the anatomical specimens, its primary function in medical education and future development. She was appointed as the Advisor and one of the trainers by the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Society (MEDSOC) of Universiti Malaya to facilitate the selected Stage 1&2 MBBS students in the preparation for various national competitions including the Intervarsity Medical Quiz Challenge (IMQC) and Intervarsity Medical Olympiad (IVMO). In the 10th edition of IMVO held in 2021, the students secured first and second positions in the individual and group categories, defeating 16 public and private universities in Malaysia.

Azirah Hashim is Professor Emeritus in the English Language Department, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya. She has held several leadership positions including Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Institute (2015-2020), Director of the Centre for ASEAN Regionalism (2015-2018), Dean of the Humanities Research Cluster (2010-2015), Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee (2013-2015) and Dean and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya (2003-2009, 1996-2002). Currently, she is a member of the steering group for the ASEAN Higher Education Community of Practice, RIHED-SHARE and a member of the Standing Working Group of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Education representing the Asia-Europe Institute. Her research interests include English in multilingual contexts, internationalisation of higher education in ASEAN and Academic and Professional Discourse. Publications include English in Southeast Asia and ASEAN: Transformation of Language Habitats, Routledge co-authored with Gerhard Leitner (2021),  Communicating with Asia: the Future of English as a Global Language , Cambridge University Press edited with Gerhard Leitner and Hans-Georg Wolf (2016, 2019) and articles in journals such as English Today, Discourse Studies and Multilingua. She was President of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA - https://aila.info/) from 2021 to 2024 and is Founding President of the Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics. In addition, she is an honorary life member and in the executive committee of the Asia Pacific Languages for Specific Purposes and Professional Communication Association and is a former executive committee member of the International Association of Forensic Linguists. She was on the MyExpert committee at the Ministry of Higher Education involved in capacity building in higher education projects in Cambodia and Laos and was project leader of an Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education 'Building research capacity in Malaysia and Laos' (2017-2021).  She also headed the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence: ASEAN and the EU in Dialogue (2017-2021).  In 2009, she was awarded the Georg Forster Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany for a research stay at Free University Berlin and is a Fellow of the Foundation. In 2020, she was a recipient of the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute Research Fellowship, Trinity College Dublin and in 2021, recipient of the Humboldt Fellowship for a renewed stay at FRIAS, University of Freiburg, Germany. She was also FRIAS Senior Fellow and Marie Curie Fellow of the European Union at University of Freiburg, Germany in 2022. She is Humboldt Ambassador Scientist of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/) from 2021 to 2027 and ASEAN Higher Education Expert in the EU SHARE programme on higher education in the ASEAN region from 2021 to 2022. Azirah is on the editorial and advisory board of English Today, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, World Englishes, Journal of Sociolinguistic Studies, GEMA Journal of Language Studies, Journal of Intercultural Communication, Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics,  Asian Journal of English Language Studies and AEI Insights: an international journal on Asia-Europe relations. Also, she is a reviewer for several journals, external examiner and assessor for several universities and on the editorial board of the Asia TEFL book series. On 29 April 2023, Azirah was awarded Honorary Membership of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines for distinguished contribution to linguistics and language research. She was also elected Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia in April 2023.