Dr. Shani Ann Mani graduated in 1995 from The Tamil Nadu Dr.M.G.R Medical University, Chennai, India with a Bachelor in Dental Surgery and in 1998 from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Panjab University), Chandigarh, India with a Master of Dental Surgery (Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry). She is also a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Glasgow. She enjoys teaching having been in academia for more than 22 years, teaching Paediatric Dentistry to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She was appointed the post-graduate coordinator in Paediatric Dentistry at the Faculty of Dentistry, University Malaya since 2014. She has been an external and internal examiner for both undergraduate and postgraduate students during her career. She is also keen in research and has authored about 30 articles published in international and national peer-reviewed journals, majority being indexed in the ISI Web of Science database, and also contributed to chapters in books. She routinely reviews manuscripts for international journals in her field of specialisation and is on the editorial board of the European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry,  Malaysian Journal of Paediatric Dentistry and BMC Oral Health.  She has also obtained research grants pertaining to her research in Paediatric Dentistry over the course of her career. She is a member of the Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry and Malaysian Association of Paediatric Dentistry besides other academic associations.    

Dr Tan Boon Chin is an Associate Professor holding the position of Deputy Director at the Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR) at the University of Malaya (UM). He completed his BSc in Biotechnology at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and a PhD in Plant Biotechnology at the University of Nottingham. Dr Tan was employed by UM as a postdoctoral research fellow before taking up the senior lecturer role. Dr Tan's interests span the fields of plant molecular biology and biochemistry. His current research aims to combine omics and molecular approaches to understanding the regulatory mechanism of transcription factors in environmental-stressed crops, hoping to find ways to improve crop tolerance for near-future climates. These include (1) developing a product in the form of biostimulants to mitigate climate stress for these crops, (2) developing appropriate educational programmes for farmers to promote sustainable agriculture, and (3) making recommendations to policymakers. Dr Tan's research interests also encompass genetically manipulating biosynthetic pathways in plants to produce beneficial bioactive compounds. Additionally, he explores the potential of using plants as an alternative platform for producing high-value recombinant pharmaceutical proteins. He received several awards, including the Royal Society-Newton Advanced Fellowship (2017), the Travel Award for the Asia Pacific Biosafety Association Conference from the United States Department of State Biosecurity Engagement Program (2017), and the Alltech Young Scientist Award 2012/13. Dr Tan is currently the Lead Consultant for the National Biosafety Policy project. He is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation (JPGR) and an Editorial Board Member of BMC Plant Biology, Heliyon, Molecular Biotechnology (MOBI), Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (APJMBB), Discover Food, Discover Plants, and the Journal of Agribusiness Marketing (JAMA). Dr Tan is also the President of the Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MSMBB), an Honorary Secretary of the Asia Oceania Agricultural Proteomics Organization (AOAPO), a council member of the Malaysian Proteomics Society (MAPS), Malaysian Society of Plant Physiology (MSPP), and Malaysian Society of Systems and Synthetic Biology (MyBioSS), and an eLife Community Ambassador.  His research group is committed to dedicating their expertise and ideas to catalyse efforts toward achieving the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2). See the interview: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/the-source/blog/blogposts-communicating-research/enhan...

Professor Dr. Yvonne Lim Ai Lian currently serves as the Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) at Universiti Malaya. She holds the position of Senior Professor in the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, and is a member of the University Senate. A Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), she also co-chairs the Asia Pacific Women in Leadership Programme and is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities. Throughout her career, Dr. Lim has held several prominent university and national leadership positions, including Deputy Dean (Research) at the Faculty of Medicine, Director of the International Relations Office, and Associate Vice-Chancellor of Global Engagement at Universiti Malaya. She also served as the President of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine and as a Council Member of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Her research focuses on unravelling the complex host-parasite-environment interactions that contribute to diseases among indigenous and underserved communities, aiming to develop multi-targeted solutions. Additionally, she studies the diversity of gut and skin microbiomes across communities spanning diverse socioeconomic and ecological gradients, ranging from traditional to industrialized societies. For nearly three decades, she has focused on studying infectious diseases among the Orang Asli (indigenous) communities of Peninsular Malaysia, collaborating closely with the Hospital Orang Asli Gombak. Her active involvement in shaping national policies, including contributing to the Orang Asli Development Policy (DPOA), underscores her deep commitment to community welfare. Her collaboration with New York University revealed how low levels of helminth (worm) infections promote the growth of probiotic gut microbiota, a groundbreaking discovery published in Science (2016). Her research on the gut microbiome has since expanded to include studies among HIV and cancer patients. More recently, her work in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA has delved deeper into parasitic infections and gut microbiome dynamics, as well as the association between skin infections and the skin microbiome. Dr. Lim’s work has been supported by a range of national and international grants, including the prestigious US NIH R01 grants. More recently, she was awarded another US NIH R01 grant as the principal investigator. She has published over 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles, contributed 9 book chapters, and authored 3 books. A dedicated mentor, she has supervised to completion more than 40 postgraduate students and hosted researchers through extensive collaborations spanning countries such as the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. Dr. Lim has held visiting research and academic roles at prominent institutions, including the Scottish Parasite Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory (formerly Scottish Parasite Diagnostic Laboratory) in Glasgow, Scotland; the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne, Australia; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA; and the Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases at Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. Dr. Lim has received a host of accolades, including the MSPTM Medal (2008) for outstanding young scientists, the Universiti Malaya Excellent Lecturer Award for Science Disciplines (2015), and the Top Research Scientists of Malaysia Award (2016). In 2017, she was inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Dr. Lim has also been featured in the Stanford University's list of the top 2% of scientists globally in her field for several consecutive years. In 2021, she was honoured with the Fulbright Scholar Award (2021/2022) for a fellowship at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at NIAID, NIH, USA. Most recently, she received the prestigious Sandosham Gold Medal Award in 2024, the highest distinction awarded by the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, for her outstanding achievements in the fields of parasitology and tropical medicine. Dr. Lim is deeply passionate about her journey with the Orang Asli (indigenous) communities and is dedicated to inspiring and empowering her colleagues and students to achieve their fullest potential.