Dear Researchers, My name is Dr Mohd Nashriq Nizam. I graduated with a PhD in Journalism from Universiti Malaya and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media and Communication Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. I have over 15 years of experience in various industries including corporate and international non-governmental organisations. My expertise includes journalism, media and communication, public relations, new media, corporate communication, news writing, broadcasting and social sciences. I have supervised three PhD students as the main supervisor and two as the co-supervisor and have also supervised 14 master students at my previous university.

Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Lee Hai Yen (Natasha) is a microbiologist and vaccinologist at the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre (TIDREC), Universiti Malaya. She leads translational research in mRNA vaccine development and biomanufacturing, with a focus on strengthening infectious disease preparedness and national vaccine capability. Her work advances mRNA platforms for neglected tropical diseases, integrating fundamental antigen design, lipid nanoparticle delivery, and scalable process development. In parallel, she develops antimicrobial postbiotic technologies and microbial bioprocessing strategies that bridge laboratory discovery with practical manufacturing and regulatory considerations. Dr. Lee obtained her PhD in Food Safety (Microbiology) from Universiti Putra Malaysia and holds a Diploma in Vaccinology from the Institut Pasteur, Paris. She has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and holds intellectual property in vaccine and microbial platform technologies. She has collaborated internationally, including with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, contributing to vaccine research and translational development efforts. At the national level, she serves as an expert committee member under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), supporting vaccine development technology and biomanufacturing capacity building in Malaysia and was appointed as Associate Research Fellow at Malaysia Genome and Vaccine Institute, a national recognition of her expertise in vaccine development.  In addition to leading competitive research grants, she is actively engaged in postgraduate supervision, scientific training, and capacity development initiatives that align upstream research with translational execution. Her work connects fundamental science with manufacturing and policy priorities, contributing to Malaysia’s long-term vaccine preparedness and biotechnology resilience.

Prof. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mohammed Rafiq bin Dato’ Abdul Kadir is a Professor of Engineering and currently serves at the Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya. He has held the rank of Full Professor since 2014 and has contributed extensively to advancing engineering education, research, and innovation in Malaysia. He also serves as an EAC Council Member at the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) since 2020. Prior to joining Universiti Malaya, Dato’ Rafiq was the pioneering Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), one of the largest engineering faculties in Asia, comprising nearly 700 academics and 10,000 students. His visionary “Business NOT as Usual” approach steered the faculty to international prominence, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership, initiatives such as the Distinguished Lecture Series—featuring 114 professors from 32 countries—and the Captain of Industry Programme—with CEOs from 31 major companies—solidified UTM’s global standing while achieving cost savings of almost RM2 million. In research, Dato’ Rafiq is recognized among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University. He founded the Medical Devices & Technology Group (MEDITEG), one of Malaysia’s most successful research entities, later elevated to a Centre of Excellence (CoE). Under his leadership, the group secured 94 research projects worth RM12 million, graduated 49 PhD and 38 Master’s students by research, and produced 344 Web of Science publications with nearly 8,000 citations. Dato’ Rafiq’s individual h-index is 48, reflecting his strong international research impact. A prolific inventor, Dato’ Rafiq is Malaysia’s No. 1 Inventor (2010–2014) with 27 patents granted during that period, and now holds 38 granted patents and 18 pending inventions. He is an alumnus of both Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, and is professionally registered as a Professional Engineer with Practising Certificate (PEPC), an ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer (ACPE), and a Chartered Engineer (CEng) with the UK Engineering Council.