Dr Benedict Francis is a psychiatrist at the University Malaya Medical Centre. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya and was selected for the Brightsparks scholarship to pursue his Masters in Psychological Medicine at his alma mater, the University of Malaya. Subsequently, he completed a fellowship program in Aged Healthcare Services at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, in 2019. Dr Benedict is a keen researcher and is involved in several international, multi-centre clinical trials involving novel antipsychotics and antidepressants. He has also published in several international and regional peer-reviewed journals and presented in international congresses. Dr Benedict is a clinical expert in treatment resistant depression. He was part of the Ministry of Health’s  National Advisory Board committee that drafted the guidelines for prescribing and dispensing Esketamine, a novel adjunct antidepressant treatment. Dr Benedict is regarded as a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) in the fields of treatment resistant depression and schizophrenia, and is regularly invited as a speaker at both local and regional events. His passion and interest is in the mechanism of action of rapid-acting antidepressants and treatment optimization of patients with treatment resistant depression. 

  Zuwati Hasim Associate Professor Department of Language & Literacy Education, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, WP, Malaysia Email: zuwati_hasim@um.edu.my   Zuwati Hasim is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Completed her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, with a research focus on understanding ESL writing and its assessment practice through the sociocultural lens. She was formerly a Deputy Director at the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, University Malaya (UMCCD) during which she managed programmes in collaboration with the agencies and institutions in building understandings (through dialogues) of certain topics of discussions along with the themes found in the UN/UNESCO International Days. Upon completion of her tenure at the UMCCD, she was then appointed as the Deputy Director at the International Institute of Public Policy & Management (INPUMA), Universiti Malaya where she managed the Master of Public Policy (MPP) programme, organized evaluation and training programmes, and developed collaborations with local and international agencies. Among the programmes managed were the Malaysia Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MPP Outbound Programme, and Education Policy Lab. She currently serves as Deputy Dean of Research and a Chief Liaison Officer at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya. In the field of research, she has led several national research projects such a Bullying Phenomena Among Malaysian Students (lead consultant to MOHE & MOE), Evaluation of School-Based Assessment (funded by MOE), Digital Resilience & Cyberbullying (funded by MBPJ and UM), and Community English Support System (funded by MOE under IIRG). She has also collaborated in a few research projects funded by the government agencies such as MCMC (Click Wisely Project) and MPC (Behavioral Insights Research Project). She was appointed as a research coordinator (2022-2024) by an international organization, Education International (in Brussels), for a Teacher-Led Learning Circles Project - Looking into Formative Assessment Practice. In 2023, she participated in the In-Person Exchange Program on Media and Information Literacy sponsored by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Office and hosted by the Global Launch of Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA in cooperation with FHI360. Her research work continues in which for 2024 she explores on Social Innovation in Education research projects that focus on three elements: communitize, industrialize, and internationalize higher education institution (HEI) - aligning with the university's vision.  Acknowledging her expertise - in the field of ESL, assessment, and education - she has been appointed as external examiner, curriculum evaluator, advisor, panel of expert, and reviewer by several higher learning institutions and government agencies, local and abroad. She was appointed by MOHE (Bahagian Mahasiswa Holistik)/MOE, as Lead Consultant for a nationwide research on bullying phenomenon in 2018. In 2023, she was consulted by the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) on revieweing the  CEFR Aligned Language Assessment instruments. In 2024 she was engaged as Lead Consultant to the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) focused on Developing and Validating MCQ Items for ELPA Reading Test Component.  Her research interests include ESL, language assessment, action research, behavioral insights, pedagogy, teacher education, reflective practice, higher education, media and information literacy, and school-based assessment. Among her book publications are Barnard & Hasim (Eds.) (2018) English Medium Instruction: Perspectives from Southeast Asian Universities published by Routledge and Hasim & Barnard (Eds.) (2017) Pedagogical Research Practices in Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia by UMPress.  For both publications and research, she has collaborated with academics, locally and internationally. She is also actively involved with community projects where her interest is to share knowledge and to bring about positive social change in practice and perspectives of the communities. To add, she is actively involved with Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and activities celebrated by UNESCO in which she was a programme director for the Celebration of UNESCO World Teachers’ Day 2017 through 2019 (Malaysia chapter), funded by the Malaysia National Commission for UNESCO and Education International. Some of her completed UNESCO projects were documented in Hasim & Chang (2016) Narratives of Intercultural Relationships & Understanding. In 2019, she was given the honor to coordinate inaugural Academia Day Celebration (National Level), hosted by the Malaysia Ministry of Education/Ministry of Higher Education & Universiti Malaya. As part of the community contribution, she is actively participating in the Parent-Teacher-School and Community associated programmes. For local and international network recognition and effort, she was a guest researcher and a visiting scholar at the University of Muenster, Germany in 2017; an advisory panel for Zulfaqar Journal of Defence Management, UPNM; a member to International Literacy Association, Qualitative Research Association of Malaysia (QRAM), Malaysia English Language Teaching Association (MELTA), Applied Linguistics Association New Zealand; an auditor to Malaysia Academic Movement Association (2017-2019); an evaluation expert for UPNM (2019); Testing & Evaluation trainer for ASWARA (2021); an adjunct Senior Lecturer at Asia E University (2020); a member of UM Academic Staff Association, as well as a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator. Her expertise is further acknowledged when she was appointed as a visiting lecturer/professor at several institutions - Universitas Negeri Medan, Indonesia (2022-2023); adjunct professor at Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta (2025) and as an adjunct Associate Professor at Ningde Normal University in Fujian, China (2023-2025). She is the recipient of Erasmus+ Teaching Staff Mobility Award to Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania (2025). She is also the recipient of several outstanding awards such as Excellence Service Award (2025), Best Teacher Award (2025), Award for Best Community Engagement Project from Universiti Malaya (2022); a Gold Award for Innovation Project from IPGM (2022); Award of Excellent Contribution as Reviewer from CALL-EJ (2018); Certificate of Excellence Service (2015) and granted a Professional Certificate for Entrepreneurship Educator (ProCEEd) from MOHE and UiTM (2022). With her expertise, she has contributed ideas and thoughts related to education through various recognized local media platforms (printed, telecast & online) such as The Star, News Straits Times, Radio IKIM, Berita RTM, Selamat Pagi Malaysia (RTM), Bernama TV, Berita Harian, Utusan, etc.

Dr Nik Soffiya is an early career researcher at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya. Her scholarly interests are often situated at the intersection of language and social (in)justice. She is an emerging expert in Critical Discourse Studies with a strong inclination towards interdisciplinary research. Her current projects primarily revolve around discourses related to (violence against) women and children, including topics such as female genital cutting and online misogyny within the Malaysian context. She is also a co-founder of the Alliance of Linguists for Palestine (ALPS) research working group, driving linguistics-based research on the Palestinian resistance and liberation. Beyond her academic endeavours, Dr Nik Soffiya is actively involved in training doctoral candidates for Three Minute Thesis competition. She welcomes supervision request from students who are interested in exploring discourses of social issues through a critical discursive lens.