DR. CHOONG WAI KWONG

     As a Consultant Sports, Exercise and Musculoskeletal Medicine Physician at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and UM Specialist Centre (UMSC), and Senior Lecturer at the University of Malaya, Dr. Alston Choong Wai Kwong expertise lies in teaching, researching, and designing effective sports-specific injury prevention programs, implementing preparticipation examinations, and treating sports-related and musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries of athletes from various sports across all levels of participation. His approach is comprehensive and holistic, encompassing acute injury management to individualise sports rehabilitation programs to cater for different athletes until they achieve full return-to-performance. He has honed his skills in treating MSK injuries by integrating advanced, cutting-edge treatments such as ultrasound-guided neuromusculoskeletal pain intervention with regenerative therapy, i.e., biologics, radiofrequency stimulation or ablation, and complementary treatments such as combined acupuncture and dry needling, osteopathic manipulation therapy, etc. based on a case-by-case basis.     Recently, his focus has expanded to include sports anthropology and sociology, such as Olympic and Paralympic stuck, sports integrity and ethics, diversity, equality, and inclusion, as he has come to understand that today's sporting landscape presents numerous challenges beyond the solution of sports medicine and science.     In addition to his clinical and academic roles, he has extensive experience as a team physician, providing volunteer sports coverage for multiple sports events, including parasports, at all levels of participation, especially at the national and international levels. He is also actively involved in anti-doping activities and has numerous experiences as a qualified doping control officer, anti-doping educator, Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) Committee member, and panellist on the national anti-doping agency's Hearing and Appeals Panel. He also proud to serve as a committee member of the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF)'s Medical and Sports Science Commission.      Dr. Alston is actively seeking opportunities to further his career overseas or to collaborate on research related to sports and exercise medicine, performance science and precision nutrition, doping control, sports governance, leadership, and management. He is a staunch advocate for sports integrity and ethics, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and this has led him to pursue an M.A. in Olympic Studies and a Master of Legal Studies (International Sports Law).    Dr. Alston currently serves as the Secretary of the International Olympic Academy Participants Association (IOAPA), and the Vice Chairperson of the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine (AFSM)'s Scientific and Education Commission. He was the immediate past Vice President of the Malaysian Association of Sports Medicine (MASM) for 2 terms, in which he successfully organised the 18th Asian Federation of Sports Medicine Congress as the organising chair in Kota Kinabalu Convention Centre, Malaysia. He is an active member of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee (IPCC), the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the World Institute of Pain (WIP), the Academy of Medicine, Malaysia (AMM), the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), Society of Exercise is Medicine Malaysia (SEIMM), the Malaysian Arthroscopy Society (MAS), the Malaysian Orthopaedic Association (MOA) and the Malaysian Society of International Pain Practice Practitioners (MSIPPP).     Beyond his professional career, he is also a certified high-intensity interval training (HIIT) coach, an active dragon boat racing athlete, a certified dragon boat racing coach, and an international race officer. He spends his time coaching dragon boat athletes of all levels of participation, regardless of gender, socioeconomic background, fitness level, or disability, and educating the community about the importance of physical activity and exercise in promoting physical, mental and social wellbeing.    Dr. Alston received numerous national and international awards for his outstanding leadership and academic contributions, such as the Top 15 Malaysian Influential Educators Award 2022/2023, Asia's Most Outstanding Achiever Award 2022, and the International People's Choice Award (Most Outstanding Young Achiever) 2022.

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ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. LOW VAN LUN

Lucas Low VL received his bachelor’ degree in Biodiversity Management with first-class honours from the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in 2010. He then earned his PhD with ‘distinction thesis’ from the University of Malaya (UM) in 2013, for his studies on the molecular and biochemical basis of insecticide resistance in medically important group of mosquitoes. Currently, he is the Executive Director and an associate professor at Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), a Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) in Malaysia. His current research interests include insect vectors of medical-veterinary importance such as mosquitoes, flies, ticks, fleas, lice and mites; and their associated infectious disease agents. In his scientific career, he has been fortunate to work under the mentorship of the world-renowned black fly taxonomist, Prof. Emeritus Dr. Hiroyuki Takaoka for the discovery of new species and taxonomic classification of black flies in the Oriental region. At present, he owned taxonomic authorities for 11 new species of black flies discovered in Southeast Asia. In recognition of his research excellence in vector-borne diseases, and significant advancement in molecular phylogenetics and systematics of black flies, two new species of black flies Simulium vanluni from Malaysia, and Simulium lowi from Vietnam were named after him in 2017. In March 2020, he organized and chaired the 3rd Asian Simuliidae Symposium which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His expertise in the field of insecticide resistance is recognized by the Malaysian Ministry of Health. He has been appointed as a member of the Technical Working Committee for Insecticide Resistance, which aims to provide mitigation plans against insecticide resistance issue throughout the country. He was also appointed as a consultant for testing commercial mosquito repellent products in a private company. His reputation has convinced local and international funders. Notably, he is the principal investigator for the Tick Cell Biobank Asia Outpost project funded by the prestigious research foundation, Wellcome Trust (2022-2026). The Asia Outpost (the only one in Asia) provides insect cell line resources and training to fellow researchers in Asia. His role is important in increasing regional capacity in the implementation of research in tick-borne diseases. He is also the principal investigator of the black fly DNA barcode project in Southeast Asia funded by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Denmark (2021-2023). His role is to establish and strengthen black fly biodiversity information facilities and increase the capacity of researchers in Asia in accessing data needed for biodiversity management. He has strong research networks in both local and international institutions and has authored more than 180 articles in ISI-indexed journals. He has been a reviewer of several world-leading scientific journals. He is an Associate Editor of Tropical Biomedicine and a Section Editor of Parasitology Research, both of which are the WoS indexed journals. He is an active member of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (MSPTM). Currently, he serves as the President for the society.  He shows high commitment in educational activities, as well social responsibility in increasing the level of public awareness of vector-borne diseases. He is involved in various talks to raise awareness among students, Orang Asli, pet owners and the general public at disease outbreak areas. He is also a facilitator in the development of national biosafety and biosecurity policies and guidelines. Since 2018, he has successfully supervised 6 Master’s and 9 PhD students to completion. Currently, he is supervising 14 postgraduate students. He received the Certificate of Excellent Service in 2018 and the Excellence Service Award in 2019 from Universiti Malaya. In 2020, he was awarded the Nadchatram Medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to parasitology and tropical medicine. He is also listed among the world’s top 2% scientists in the field of tropical medicine (2025).  

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ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. PETER ANING ANAK TEDONG

Associate Professor Dr. 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 and was formerly the Head of the Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies. As an urban studies and housing scholar, Dr. Peter Aning’s broad areas of interest cover housing policy and governance, the political economy of urban planning, and neighborhood sustainability and planning. He has received numerous research grants from both the public and private sectors and has led several high-impact national and international projects. Notably, he served as Project Leader for the Family Wellbeing Index funded by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), with findings published in the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13). He is also the Project Leader for a study on poverty alleviation funded by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) Sarawak, and the Principal Investigator of a comparative study on informal housing in Makassar (Indonesia) and Sabah (Malaysia) funded by the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC). His recently completed projects explored socio-spatial planning in the context of Malaysia’s urban future and the dynamics of poverty among Indigenous communities in rural areas. He has also conducted extensive work on the role of governance in addressing the needs of vulnerable communities—including refugees, stateless persons, and foreign workers—while examining broader issues of housing and migration in Malaysian cities. His latest research interests center on multi-layered governance of affordable housing, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to neighborhood and community planning, and the impacts of migration on regional and urban development. While his empirical focus is on Southeast Asia, Dr. Peter Aning has also conducted fieldwork in Europe, the Borneo Islands, North America, and Oceania.        

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RECENT PUBLICATION

  • Adams, Donnie; Sothinathan, Jayanti S.; Radzi, Norfariza Mohd (2026). Science Mapping The Evolution of Middle Leadership Research, 2002-2023. Educational Management Administration & Leadership


  • Uchiyama, Yosuke; Furuoka, Fumitaka (2026). Uberisation and Resistance to Online Food Delivery Gig Work in Asia: Lessons from Malaysia. Journal of Contemporary Asia


  • Shee, Pay Yee; Dollard, Maureen F.; Idris, Mohd Awang (2026). How Psychosocial Safety Climate Affects Employee Well-being Via Basic Psychological Needs: a Longitudinal Multilevel Moderated Mediation Study. Journal of Applied Psychology


  • Xu, Jinpeng; Yang, Jing; Huang, Yaqun; Por, Lip Yee; Chen, Xiaotong; Zhao, Chunna (2026). Dfgnet: a Dual-pathway Graph Neural Network Via Frequency Decomposition for Spatiotemporal Forecasting. Expert Systems With Applications


  • Nawi, S. N. Mat; Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin; Ihsan, N. S. Mohd Nor; Masdukin, A. I.; Osman, Hamid; Bradley, D. A.; Ajaj, R.; Arifin, Zaenal; Sani, S. F. Abdul (2026). Unveiling The Dosimetric Potential of Natural Malaysian Zeolite Powder: a Comprehensive Thermoluminescent Study. Radiation Physics and Chemistry


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